India Giving Day to be launched on October 2

By Aishwarya Singh

The India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA), in collaboration with Drexel University, has announced the launch of its second India Giving Day, to begin on Gandhi Jayanti this October 2 and will culminate on March 1, 2024.

The speakers at the India Giving Day Symposium, being held at the LeBow College of Business at Drexel, will include Alex Counts, Executive Director of the India Philanthropy Alliance; Raj Gupta, India Giving Day National Co-Chair; Venkatesh Raghavendra, India Giving Day Advisor; Sumeet Rawla, India Philanthropy Alliance board member, along with student leaders from Drexel University.

Offering the ability to attend the in-person event at Drexel or join in virtually, India Giving Day opens the door for a day-long, collective push towards increasing charitable donations from America’s highest-earning ethnic group, Indian Americans, to India.

READ: First India Giving Day raises $1 million for 25 Indian nonprofits (March 7, 2023)

The India Philanthropy Alliance was formed in October 2019, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150^th birth anniversary. At its core was an overarching goal— creating a network of philanthropic organizations within the United States that would help mobilize resources for humanitarian causes in India.

This year, on Mahatma Gandhi’s 154^th birth anniversary, the alliance will stick true to its founding goal by organizing through this 24-hour donation drive to be held on March 1, 2024. The day is meant to bring together donors within the US, especially those from the Indian diaspora, to donate to causes such as poverty reduction, gender equality, and education in India.

The donations raised through the campaign contribute significantly to a country that, despite its tremendous economic progress, still faces social inequities, like most other parts of the world. For instance, while India’s economic growth has been unprecedented and is set to make it the third-largest economy by 2030, the share of women in India’s workforce has steadily declined from 32 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2021.

Washington, D.C. to celebrate India Giving Day (February 18, 2023)

To uplift girls in rural India and enable their access to quality education, countless organizations work tirelessly and have gone on to benefit immensely from the first India Giving Day. Sehgal Foundation is one such example. So far, through India Giving Day, Sehgal Foundation has raised more than $70,000. That amount is enough to afford digital literacy to more than 7,000 girls.

“The coming together of India’s diaspora within the United States acts as a formidable force of change in the philanthropic world. The community’s cultural ties to India combined with their higher-than-average income is a vehicle for betterment that needs to be optimized and utilized,” said Alex Counts, the Executive Director of IPA.

First-ever India Giving Day on March 2 (February 9, 2023)

This is where the role of the India Philanthropy Alliance shines through. Connecting the 4.9 million members of the Indian diaspora within the United States to the 200+ million who live below India’s poverty line or the millions of Indian children who lack access to primary education has made the alliance a beacon of hope.

This India Giving Day, register for the event at Drexel University and give back causes in India that will go on to collectively change the lives of millions.

READ MORE:
First India Giving Day raises over 100 million rupees for non-profit causes in India (7 March, 2023)