• Book

Data, In Deed

  • Source : ISDM
  • November 2024
Data Stories features 6 inspirational stories of how SPOs are using data to maximise their impact. Five of these stories are told in the unique format of a graphic novel and emphasise how data-driven decision-making has helped these SPOs create real, measurable change on the ground. Told in a narrative, storytelling style, each story shows how the use of data has helped the SPO become more efficient, and have a greater positive impact on the community it works with.
  • Paper / Report

Effective Philanthropy with an Inclusive Development Lens Insights and Good Practices from Philanthropic Organisations

  • Source : ISDM
  • November 2024
Drawing on insights from 37 philanthropic organisations, this report introduces the Six-Point PID Framework to guide philanthropies on their journey towards more inclusive practices. The framework emphasises six critical principles: focusing on marginalised communities, fostering trust among stakeholders, prioritising community-centric approaches, enabling long-term and flexible funding, promoting transparency and inclusivity, and encouraging collaborative action. It highlights how philanthropies can achieve meaningful impact by adopting these principles, shifting from traditional charity models to inclusive development strategies.
  • Paper / Report

Unleashing the Power of Philanthropy

  • Source : ISDM
  • September 2023
This working paper provides valuable insights and knowledge to reshape philanthropy for justice, equality, and inclusive development. These insights and perspectives are based on interviews conducted with diverse stakeholders from within the philanthropic ecosystem revealing key findings, motivations, unmet needs, forces driving actions, common methods, and obstacles within the development sector.
  • Paper / Report

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

  • Source : ISDM
  • December 2023
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.
  • Paper / Report

Benchmarking of Employee Benefits in the Indian Social Sector

  • Source : ISDM & CSIP
  • September 2022
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.
  • Paper / Report

Bridging perspectives: Innovative Finance Insights from India

  • Source : ISDM
  • February 2024
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.
  • Case Study

Villgro: Crafting an Incubator

  • Source : ISDM
  • February 2024
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.
  • Paper / Report

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

  • Source : ISDM
  • May 2024
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.
  • Paper / Report

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

  • Source : ISDM
  • June 2024
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
  • Case Study

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

  • Source : ISDM & CSIP
  • June 2024
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.
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