Women Philanthropists In India Herald A New Era
When women givers look through a gender, equity, diversity and inclusion lens, they are able to correlate that with their lived experiences.
Traditionally, women philanthropists were far and few in India: a Rohini Nilekani here from a professional business background, or a Rajshree Birla there from a family business.
But the latest Bain/Dasra India Philanthropy Report 2024 finds that women are now actively involved in giving, beyond the historical role of being part of a business’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The report has some new and interesting insights into the mind of women philanthropists. Among them:
Women show greater accountability through their funding initiatives.
Women philanthropists lead with high involvement, preferring “own and operate” initiatives to directly impact outcomes.
Early insights based on a limited dataset suggest that women contribute more as a percentage of their net worth towards philanthropy, than men.
Women are reshaping funding narratives and institutions by adopting a Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lens to their giving.
With the growth of professional women leaders with high-paying jobs in corporate India, they are also entering mainstream philanthropy.
Experts say that one of the reasons why there is a rise in women givers is that when they look through a GEDI lens, they are able to correlate that with their lived experiences with regard to justice, mental health and social differentiation. Similar trends have been captured through studies undertaken in the U.S. Women philanthropists prioritise adopting a GEDI lens in their giving approach.
“Women philanthropists are often able to relate in a very personal way to the gender equity agenda being addressed by grassroots organisations. This leads them to question norms and entrenched behaviours, placing more trust in their funding relationships, and understanding that there is a nuance to meaningfully measuring impact over the long term, as it takes time to shift attitudes and cultures," said Sonal Patel of God My Silent Partner Foundation (GMSP) in the report.
Heralding A New Era
Bengaluru-based Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies is one of the pioneers in giving in India, that focuses on areas like mental health, gender, education, healthcare, access to justice, environment, science and arts, where about 28% of the total grants were paid to NGOs working in the area of mental health and about 29% towards gender development. Through 43 grants, about Rs 30 crore were distributed last year. Rohini and her husband Nandan Nilekani are also part of the Giving Pledge initiative, where they have promised to give 50% of their wealth to charity. Besides, Rohini has been judged as the ‘most generous women in India’ for several years by the Hurun India Philanthropy List in India.
A new trend that is seen these days is that a husband and wife are teaming together to create non-profit philanthropic organisations. These include Swades by Ronnie Screwvala and Zarina and the Koita Foundation by Rekha and Rizwan Koita.
Take the example of Swadesh. It is reported that in 2012, Ronnie Screwvala turned to his wife, Zarina, with an audacious idea, “Why don’t we work to lift a million people out of poverty?” And Zarina replied, “Why not try?” This may sound over-ambitious until one realises that in just 10 years, their philanthropic efforts have impacted 2,700 hamlets across Raigad and Nashik districts of Maharashtra, impacting over 7.5 lakh people from 1.6 lakh households. "It was such a crazy idea," recalls Zarina, reflecting on that pivotal moment. "But it was precisely the audacity and awareness of the challenges ahead that compelled us to take it up. We were not afraid to fail, we were eager to learn a lot, and thus, Swades Foundation was born." The money from their divestment in UTV Motion Pictures was used for this initiative.
Family business groups have long been leaders in philanthropy in India. Leading family businesses like that of the Birlas, the Tatas, Bajaj and the Mahindras have been giving consistently for decades. Take Rajashree Birla, who spearheads the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development—the group’s apex body responsible for development projects. The footprint of the centre’s work straddles over 7,000 villages, reaching out to 9 million people. Today, the group runs 20 hospitals and 5,000 medical camps, treating over a million patients. Its 56 schools pan India impart quality education to over 46,500 children. Both its hospitals as well as schools are ‘not-for-profit’ institutions. The above three examples are only a reflection of thousands of women in philanthropy, who are heralding a new era.
George Skaria is former editor of Indian Management and Asian Management Review.
The views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of NDTV Profit or its editorial team.
