Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos tweeted a request for ideas on philanthropic strategy. He noted that much of his work—through Amazon and The Washington Post, for example—was designed for impact in the long term. But for his philanthropic activities, he was interested in working at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact. His tweet has since received thousands of responses, many from social enterprises looking for funding, but also from economists and development professionals advising Bezos on how best to channel his resources. This is an important conversation—one Indian philanthropist would do well to follow.

Indian philanthropy, especially individual philanthropy, is at a critical point. According to Bain’s “India Philanthropy Report 2017”, India’s philanthropy market has “matured” considerably, particularly when it comes to contributions from individual philanthropists. Indeed, the report finds that the amount of funds coming from individual philanthropists has grown sixfold in the past five years, from Rs6,000 crore in 2011 to Rs36,000 crore in 2016. Contributions from individual philanthropists have also grown faster than those coming from any other source, such as foreign aid, or from corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Read the full article about India philanthropy from IAS Aspirations