Giving Compass' Take:

• From scaling impact to addressing root causes of social problems, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors explores ways in which the nonprofit community can help India achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

• Philanthropy in India has changed a great deal over the years and now would be a good time for investors to look into programs such as Internet Saathi and Educate Girls, listed in this piece.

• Read this to find out more about Indian Diaspora giving and the power of 1 percent.

How can philanthropy leverage its specialized resources to effectively contribute to India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation? This was the question posed to a group of Indian philanthropists and international funders during a recent deep-dive session in Bangalore on the occasion of the second annual meeting of the UN India Business Forum and the 13th National Convention of UN Global Compact Network in India. The SDG Philanthropy Platform — of which Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a founding member in collaboration with UNDP — is part of a continuing effort to engage the philanthropic sector in SDG implementation through forging multi-sector partnerships around the world. India is one of the Platform’s primary focus countries.

According to the UN, philanthropy in India increased from US $894 million to $5.3 billion between 2011 and 2016. Even with this dramatic growth, the financial resources of the government and business sectors far surpass philanthropy in India (as it does elsewhere). This makes it that much more important for philanthropy to think carefully and creatively about its role and value added in SDG implementation.

Read the full article about India achieving the SDGs through philanthropy by Heather Grady at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (via PEAK Insight Journal).