Evolution Of A Diaspora Foundation

Evolution of a Diaspora Foundation May 2008

Overview • AIF’s mission is to accelerate social and economic change in India • AIF is the largest collective platform for Diaspora-led philanthropy focused on India • Since its inception in 2001, AIF has directly touched nearly 1 million lives in India through grant making and various programs • AIF demonstrates the value of collective philanthropy (providing an outlet through which individuals and corporations can channel their donor dollars) and strategic philanthropy (systematically addressing social and economic development issues).

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On the Ground in India G R A N T M A K I N G

P R O G R A M S

Education

Livelihoods

Public Health

Disaster Rehabilitation

Increasing access to quality elementary education

Increasing livelihood security and options among marginalized workers

Improving the health and survival of women and children

Special grants made following major national disasters

Digital Equalizer

Service Corps

Increasing effectiveness of education by using computers and Internet in the classroom

Enhancing the capacity of Indian NGOs through placement of skilled and experienced volunteers

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Operational Strategy

• Invest in high quality organizations

• Demonstrate innovative, scalable models

• Develop public-private funding partnerships

• Share best practices across geographies

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Catalyzing Change By using a strategic approach in its grantmaking and programs, AIF has built successful models to accelerate social and economic change. Sustained and nurtured by AIF’s public-private partnerships, these models have grown from small pilot investments to a scale where they demonstrate the potential for transformational change in society.

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Genesis and Initial years • Credibility Transfer is critical • Startup requires credibility who buys into this idea to help coalesce • Credibility on both sides -

US Side - Board and Trustees, Advisory Council, Chapters India Side: India Advisory Group, Top-notch NGO Partners

• Build, Cultivate, Nurture

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Building A Diverse Coalition of US Donors •Largest non-endowed US-based organization for impacting India’s development •Nationwide platform, with offices in New York City and Silicon Valley as well as volunteer-led chapters in major metropolitan areas •Also reaches out to non-Indian individual supporters and corporations with a deep interest in India’s development •Engaging a growing base of second generation Indian Americans through Young Professionals and Junior Clubs (middle to high school students)

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AIF Leadership • AIF’s Board of Directors, Council of Trustees and Advisory Council are a powerful blend of leaders from India and the US. – President Bill Clinton serves as Honorary Chair of Council of Trustees – Prof. Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate serves as Chair of US Advisory Council – Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Co., and Victor Menezes, Retired Senior Vice President, Citigroup chair AIF’s Board of Directors – AIF Executive Leadership has a vast range of leadership experience in the private and non-profit sector

• AIF has a full-time professional staff across offices in 8 New York, Silicon Valley, Delhi and Bangalore

AIF Differentiators  Professional staff in India  Strategic Approach  Low overheads  Transparent and Accountable  Secular  Nationwide presence in India and US 9

Serving Diaspora Communities

• Establishing a trusted bridge • Enabling environment for giving • Credible alternate to religious giving and/or narrow geographic giving • Secular approach 10

Serving Countries of Origin • To spotlight issue of most disadvantaged • Bring to bear effective and innovative solutions • Leveraging government support and resources in three areas – Universalizing elementary education – Increasing access to primary health care – Draw multiple stakeholders to build effective solutions

• Policy shift and thereby enhance impact

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Challenges • Trade off in the pursuit of a credible platform - Challenge of engaging vast numbers v/s HNWIs – low hanging fruits

• Super High Net Worth Individuals - Focused on private giving and do not wish to participate on common platform

• Intimidating cost of engaging people down the pyramid - Difficult to reach those reasonably affluent but not very wealthy

• Physical & metaphorical distance between end-beneficiary & giver - To effectively engage long term supporters, they actually need to see the work and directly interact with the beneficiaries. Distance between ultimate beneficiaries and giver. (As opposed to neighborhood giving that is most visible) 12

Improved facilitation of Diaspora philanthropy • Build a large enough critical mass of givers and derive freedom from the influence of very large donors. (which most times comes with strings attached) • More freedom to do the right thing. Helps move away from narrow agenda of big givers. • Greater engagement of corporate sector. Tap into global investment in India and make philanthropy integral to business strategy • The influence of the Diaspora on the establishment in India is disproportionate to the numbers. Better harness this power.

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