India – Social Echoes

I for India Concert

Last weekend, Facebook and GiveIndia (India’s largest giving platform) came together along with the Bollywood industry for a Fundraiser concert – a four-hour long live concert to raise funds for the India Covid Response Fund. I must say, the entire concert was a treat to watch! It had the perfect line-up of the ‘who’s who’ in Bollywood, great cameo from Hollywood stars, gratitude speeches from the organizers and donors and to top it all, recognition for some of the most engaged frontliners in the fight against COVID19 in the nation. This would probably be the first time that the Indian entertainment industry has come together through home-to-home performance, at this scale, to entertain and more importantly, to raise donations for the response fund.

The strategy for raising these funds was simple and straightforward. No glamour, no drama. The way I see it, the concert used some key fundraising strategies –

Engage – Every performer engaged with the audience with some form or the other. Everyone opted to perform a bit of their piece in a positive manner that uplifted the current spirit of the viewers instead of making us feel worse off.

Identity – Frontliners were recognized for their dedication and commitment – nurses, doctors, government entities.

Storyline – They were determined and had a common message. And they aimed to win the hearts of people.

Contribution – It was easy – and through click of a ‘Donate’ button right on the facebook screens of the viewers. Total of Rs. 52 crore (about US $7 million) funds were raised for several burdened causes due to COVID19, mainly the daily wage works and those directly affected by the crisis.

What next? An advantage with the video medium of storytelling is the ability to be showcased over and over again. Some of the performances are still echoing in my mind; so many floating around on social media feeds. Repeating footages of several of the performances certainly maintains the continuity of the message until relevant (in this case hopefully not for too long).

Overall, I would say the concert was an excellent approach to collective giving.

People watched; they were moved; they donated.

What are some other strategies you have seen as success stories?

Links to the information –
More about I for India Campaign – Click here

Highlights of the concert – Click here

The Giving Mindset

Last week, the Finance Minister of India announced the Budget 2020-21 for the country. As an Economics student, reviewing the budget was a given annual assignment during my five-years in Higher Ed. It is a habit I have continued all these years except for two changes – the depth in reading that the lack of context personally for me now. The sections that I would be most interested to read through are those that relate to education, support for any innovative schemes and overall charitable giving clauses. Naturally so, I glanced through the key highlight of the budget this time around and I consider it a good timing as I launch Social Echoes.

One of the clauses in the bill talks about a new scheme of tax rates for individuals which offers an option to pay taxes at reduced rates. A caveat to this option is that if individuals opt for the reduced rates, they have to give up on certain exemptions and deductions – one of them being donations to charitable organizations. You can read key highlights of the budget here and summary of the tax changes here.

While there are several nuances to the taxation element and something to be left for chartered accountants to elaborate on, this clause made me ponder on what motivates people to donate. The background that I come from, people and companies give as a means to carry forward their commitment for donation, to see (as well as create) the impact of their donations. They typically donate to causes that are close to their hearts, be it girl-child education, religion, special needs, art heritage, environment and so on. Yes, the element of tax exemption does come through and I am presuming this is almost as an after-thought, as one of the ‘benefits’ of charitable contribution and not necessarily an ‘incentive’ to donate.

With this new reduced tax rates in place, only time will tell whether it would change the giving mindset of people (and companies). In my opinion, those committed to give will probably continue with their contributions. Those only recently in the giving market, may have a judgement call to make regarding their potential donations. My biased opinions aside, I am keen to explore –

What are some of the real motivations of giving?

Do the nonprofits face any real threat from the proposed tax changes?

What would you, as a potential donor, do – forgo the reduction or the giving?

More on these to follow, in the meantime feel free to share your thoughts on the above.