In today's day and age, charity is no longer just the immediate kindness we extend to one another. As the scope and scale of the problems in the world have grown, so too has the organized response to tackling them. The word philanthropy has come to denote an entire machinery, a whole infrastructure, comprised of donors, NGOs, corporate houses and more. 

The challenge is for the philanthropy to be effective. In India, this aspect has not always been successful. As with any other part of the world, there are many different players. There are the non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. In India, there are anywhere between and estimated 2 and 3 million NGOs operating. Most of these organizations function at the most local of levels, tackling very specific issues. At times, these organizations work as part of a network of other NGOs working on similar issues in other parts of the city, state of country. However, this is the exception rather than the rule. Then there are international organizations, such as CRY, Red Cross etc. that have a presence in India. The third vital player in philanthropy in India is the donor. Donors can be wealthy individuals, religious trusts or organizations such as corporate houses. In the past few years, this third group has risen in prominence, due in no small part to the rising wealth in the country. 

Increasingly, many donors prefer not to contribute their funds to NGOs, unless they have been vetted carefully. There is an enormous concern on the part of donors that NGOs in India function with very little transparency, and are often simply mishandling funds. This has led to many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) branches of large companies to hand out grants or limited funds to NGOs that are able to pass muster in this regard. It is possible that this trend could grow, with more donors requiring proof of how their money is being spent. 

According to Bain & Company, the total amount of giving in India amounts to roughly 0.6% of the GDP. Compare that to Brazil, with 0.3% and China with just 0.1% of the GDP. When compared to other developing nations with large populations, India seems to be faring well with regards to being philanthropic. However, when compared to developed nations, the country is still lagging. Bain & Company also reports that Canada gives 1.2% of its GDP, the UK gives 1.3% and the US gives nearly 2.2% of its total GDP. However, it is also important to note that the wealthiest in India give only 1.6% of their income, while the upper middle class gives 2.1% and the middle class gives 1.9%. One of the reasons behind this could also be that the wealthiest in India often operate family businesses, and believe that donations from their company are the same as donations from them. Wealthy individuals only contribute around 10% of the total philanthropy in India, with the government and foreign organizations making up the other 90%. 

There are very few examples like that of Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, who recently endowed the Azim Premji Trust with USD 2 billion worth of Wipro shares. The Azim Premji Trust has also dedicated itself to tackling issues in education as a primary goal. The recent trip by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to India in March 2011 to encourage more wealthy Indians to donate a larger percentage of their income to charitable causes was not entirely successful, with the exception of a few examples. 

Most wealthy individuals remain reluctant to donate from their personal wealth. One reason for this is financial environment in India that has not yet made it conducive to receive tax benefits and deductions for giving to charitable causes, such as those available in developed countries. As mentioned earlier, another reason is the low level of trust in grassroots organizations in India. Yet another reason could be that the high accumulation of wealth in India is a recent phenomenon, with Bain & Company placing the number of years that accumulation will take to translate into greater charity at 50-100 years. 

Even if the government was to make the financial environment much more conducive to donors, and NGOs were to be made to function with greater transparency and with more efficiency, would donors in India suddenly be willing to contribute much more? It seems unlikely. The culture in India at present is geared towards hoarding wealth, rather than giving it away. Unless that changes, it remains likely that the burden of giving will rest more with foreign organizations and the government.