Philanthropic impact: Celerity of CSR
Philanthropic Impact (Pi) of giving back holds the promise of unimaginable possibilities to shape the future of sustainable civil societies. Often clubbed under the umbrella of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) incentivized by tax breaks and shelters, this karmic consciousness is on the rise in India.
For the last decade spending 2 per cent of net profits on CSR has become mandatory for certain Indian corporations under Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013. This applies to companies that have a net worth of Rs500 crore or more and those generating over Rs1,000 crore in annual revenues. With current CSR annual spending levels hovering in the Rs30,000 crore range jumping 300 per cent from 2014 levels, education related work accounts for nearly a third of the share attributed to 14 sectors, followed by healthcare, environmental sustainability and vocational skill development. With the troika of HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries heaving the heft, the momentum is on the rise in the right direction.
Sharing wealth with the less fortunate has been part of Indian tradition from ancient times. Innumerable scriptural and anecdotal references extol the virtues of selfless service and unconditional compassion towards those in need. “…with surplus wealth thou shalt relieve the wants of the indigent…” propounded Bhishma in Mahabharata (CCLIX. Circa 3 CE.). Faith-based charities including places of worship and shrines have typically attracted massive donations for centuries, which in turn has spawned schools, hospitals, drinking water pumps, homeless shelters, community kitchens and skill-development initiatives. This amounts to an estimated 70 per cent of all charitable philanthropy, driving meaningful grassroots change across the nation, out of which temple donations alone are estimated at a whopping Rs3.2 lakh crore or about $40 billion. To put that in perspective, in the fiscal year 2022-23 government revenues of Rs19,34,706 crore were juxtaposed by just six temples collecting an estimated Rs30,000 crore in cash and kind. One can only imagine the full force of over 1.5 million temples, mosques, gurdwaras, shrines, churches and other faith-based movements spurred by charitable causes and the immense potential of philanthropic impact, if these institutions were to coordinate and collaborate their efforts with strategic foresight for maximum societal well-being.
While governments are entrusted with improving the quality of life responsible for clean environment, affordability of livelihood, access to education and sustainable healthcare, in over-populous, complex layered societies, such as India, the outreach is bound to fall short despite the best intent. Corporate and private philanthropies are nimbler and more focused on micro-targeting the demographics and niche missions aligned with their sensibilities and immediate priorities. Concerts, celebrity endorsements, fashion shows, subscription to recyclable products, tournaments, food drives, health and blood drives, supporting the displaced in war-torn regions, re-building post-natural disasters, environmental conservation, green causes, sustainable ocean and re-forestation to augment carbon sinks, are but a mere smattering of the spectrum of growing conscious contributions, that are beginning to make a difference.
Although India has over 1,90,000 registered charities engaging in excess of 19 million employees, allied workers and volunteers, more than Rs55,000 crore were received by 13,520 FCRA (Foreign Contributions Regulation Act) registered NGOs in contributions from abroad between 2019-2021. This compounded flow of inadequate generosity, though scrutinized and regulated, is still valuable for a developing nation, with all its intrinsic converse challenges, oscillating precariously between abundance and starvation. It is important to realize that over 21,000 licences have been revoked since its inception for various violations that did not meet the scrutiny of transparency and compliances. The gaping gaps seem to only have strengthened the resolve of a growing third generation of purpose-driven entrepreneurs who deeply believe in metrics of success not attributed solely to monetary machinations of profitability.
Artificial intelligence is proving to be an asset in data curation, scenario building, simulation, stress-model generation, risk analysis, resource optimization, image-recognition enabled camera monitoring, carbon foot-print calculations, machine learning, supply chain, complex problem solving, harvesting allied data for collation and volumetric efficiencies, to name a few. While much of philanthropy follows the beaten track of high priority sectors, there are those that tread the unbeaten path and experiment with innovation and unorthodox ways of building capacity on the extremities of the bell-curve. For those in the vanguard, it is a state of inspired inquiry. The proverbial Pi (Philanthropic Impact) offers an infinium fractal of possibilities that can build capacity, collective consciousness and lift up the connective tissue that needs healing in developing civil societies.