Giving Compass' Take:

• Do we really understand scale, and the trade-offs we make in the pursuit of it? That's the question India Development Review asks as it surveys the landscape of Indian philanthropy.

• Many of the lessons described here can also apply to funders in the U.S. It's healthy for the sector to take a step back and make sure if we have our priorities in order.

• On that note, here's a new path for achieving impact at scale.

It is a (if not the) buzzword in the world of Indian philanthropy; the holy grail that nonprofits must beat a path to if they are to qualify for support; the reason we must all woo the government as a partner. It’s almost impossible to find a powerpoint deck that isn’t peppered with the word.

To many funders, scale appears to automatically imply creating a mammoth organization that delivers services across the length and breadth of India. This approach limits interventions to those that are "scalable" — essentially, delivery of basic goods and services that are often low-cost, stripped-down versions of their market counterparts. It also assumes a degree of standardization that leaves little scope for communities or other client groups to contribute to the design of the services.

Funders also like this approach because of the lower transaction costs of few, large grants that allow for leaner donor teams. Many funders who draw from the Silicon Valley paradigm of innovation — whose business models seek monopolistic dominance — bring the same world-view to their philanthropy.

Read the full article about questioning scale as we know it in India by Ingrid Srinath at India Development Review.