Innovative Finance Made Simple: A Primer for Innovative Financing Instruments in India

This primer aims to demystify existing financial instruments in India, enabling and empowering social sector organizations to make informed decisions to access funding. It provides an introductory overview of innovative finance instruments, including stakeholders, processes, value propositions, applicability, and associated risks. The resource is designed to help social purpose organizations understand and navigate the landscape of innovative financing options available to them.

Benchmarking of Employee Benefits in the Indian Social Sector

This report documents the key findings from the study on benefits benchmarking in the Indian social sector. It draws from a sample of 59 organisations to provide a comprehensive understanding of the employee benefits being provided by Indian social purpose organisations. Importantly, it also compares social sector benefits with those being provided by general industry.

Bridging perspectives: Innovative Finance Insights from India

This study advocates for a comprehensive understanding on innovative finance by delving into the perspectives of both donors and recipients, contributing significantly to the emerging discourse on innovative finance. It also simplifies information on innovative finance instruments. The study elucidates the various innovative financing structures, processes, stakeholders, applicability, for organisations.

Villgro: Crafting an Incubator

This case study engages with the journey of Villgro, a social enterprise “incubator” founded in 2001 by Paul Basil. Initially coming into being with a focus on rural, grassroots innovators and entrepreneurs, Villgro looked to scout for, support and grow their ideas into viable enterprises, with the ultimate goal of rural prosperity and wealth creation. This case traces Villgro’s journey in laying the foundations for and contributing to the development of an ecosystem able to support and nurture early-stage innovations; and explores in detail what an end-to-end incubation process entails.

The Power of Data for Impact Part 2: An overview of data enablers in the social sector

The report delves into data enablers within India’s social sector ecosystem. It maps key actors, including government open‑data initiatives at central and state levels, private-sector platforms, consulting firms, cloud providers, volunteers, academia, and global organisations like the UN. Through case studies and policy analysis, the report demonstrates how these intermediaries facilitate adoption of data-driven solutions by SPOs. It presents concrete recommendations for both implementing organisations and enablers, driving a holistic approach to strengthen data infrastructure, governance, capability, and partnerships across the sector.

Navigating Outcomes-based Financing in India: Perceptions of the Not-for-Profits

This ISDM/CIFSI report surveys 71 Indian non‑profits to understand their perspectives on outcomes‑based financing (OBF)—models where funding is tied to measurable results. It outlines how OBF promises greater accountability, efficiency, and outcome orientation, while also revealing nonprofits’ concerns around financial risks, readiness, and misaligned expectations between funders and implementers. The findings highlight the need for improved dialogue, capacity, and tools to support nonprofits in navigating OBF effectively, ensuring sustainable adoption and reducing friction between funding providers and recipients

SIVA Trust: Building relational capital Transforming the resolve of one to that of many

This case study unfolds the evolution of a small and local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Service Initiative for Voluntary Action (SIVA), set up in 1994 in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, in Southern India—an area in which industrialsation and commercial development have been ignored for a long time. Diving deep into local issues at the grassroots level, the founder Subramania Siva, addressed the needs of distressed, marginalised families directly. SIVA Trust began small, and remained in a hyper-local mode for close to 30 years, but made a disproportionately large impact that helped root a “culture of volunteerism” throughout SIVA and its work.

Decolonising Philanthropy: From conceptual apprehension to functional progress

​This article examines the imperative of transforming philanthropic practices to dismantle enduring colonial power structures. The authors advocate for a shift from merely addressing symptoms of poverty and inequality to tackling their systemic roots. They emphasise the importance of empowering communities by involving them in co-creating strategies, focusing on historically marginalised groups through an intersectional lens, enhancing internal diversity and transparency within philanthropic organisations, and enabling trust-based, non-controlling partnerships. The article underscores that decolonising philanthropy requires intentional efforts to redistribute power and promote social justice, moving beyond traditional hierarchical approaches to effect transformative change.

Reinventing the role of Philanthropy for Social Justice in India

Philanthropy in Asia is maturing from a culture where giving has been historically grounded in religious and political beliefs towards a more systemic and responsive approach. Consistent efforts by civil society, the private sector and citizens along with increased government recognition towards inequities through appropriate policies have been making visible developmental and social changes. However, the fact remains that the progress is uneven with evidences of varying degrees of development in different regions, different societies and communities.

Moving beyond charity towards philanthropy for social justice: Role of local leadership in philanthropy

This blog is based on an episode of the ISDM-CPSJ 2022 Philanthropy and Social Justice Conversation Series that features conversations with thought leaders and action leaders on the need to reshape and tap the potential of philanthropy for social justice in India. As we continue to grapple with how best philanthropy can enable solving the many pressing issues of our times, it is crucial to consider the potential of local and community-driven leadership. We need to reflect on and evaluate how philanthropy
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