A new era of partnerships: Fostering inter-sectoral and collaborative philanthropy

Helen Keller’s statement, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much,” holds truer than ever when it comes to the development sector in India. Very often, multiple corporations and non-profit organisations are working on interventions in a particular area, where one organisation might be working towards ensuring infrastructural access for persons with disabilities, while another one might be working towards ensuring their education and livelihoods.

This context poses an opportunity for both organisations to serve the same beneficiary, and therefore, coordinate and solve the issue that is interconnected. In the absence of this approach, their work becomes siloed, leading to a gap in the overall development of such communities across the country.

The siloed approach is usually funded by individual organisations. For instance, if in a community, a team working towards children’s education receives more funding than the one ensuring water supply; children might still continue to fall sick from consumption of the contaminated water and fail to attend school. This will hinder the holistic progress of the community, and the impact of one team’s work might reduce. In recent times, there is a serious need to shift perspectives on philanthropy and focus on the interconnectedness of social issues, enabling NGOs to plan long-term solutions. Collective action, where the efforts of various organisations are streamlined, is essential for holistically addressing challenges faced by underserved communities. This is why collaborative philanthropy is the call of the hour.

Even though collaborative philanthropy has commonly existed as a mode of partnership, it has not been utilised to its maximum in recent times. Philanthropy is known to bring investors, non-profit organisations, and corporates under one umbrella for a common cause, and collaborations are a great way for different organisations to work in tandem, investing their resources, and leveraging collective strengths to drive large-scale impact. A collaborative model brings different philanthropic organisations together, and through a collective financial model, has the potential to build a conducive ecosystem for the strengthening of grassroots organisations.

Recently, the Bridgespan Group surveyed collaborative philanthropic efforts during the pandemic. The survey displayed that 70 per cent of the participants gave positive responses about the impact they could make collectively. For example, Covid Action Collaborative (CAC) brought in a collaboration of 150 organisations that offered a complete package of services from ensuring timely testing to providing clean water and sanitation.

Around two million people from 15 states could get access to their services because of the collaborative efforts. Similarly, Swasth Alliance joined forces with public, non-profit, and private organisations to channelise digital health technologies during different waves of the pandemic. Along with OxygenForIndia (OFI), they ensured timely delivery of oxygen to not just COVID patients, but also those in trauma care or recovering from emergency surgeries. Insights and data from Swasth Alliance’s existing work helped the other organisation to mobilise services in times of critical need, thereby creating an ecosystem conducive to cross-learning where organisations can leverage each other’s knowledge and experience to craft better interventions. Such collaborative efforts are instrumental in addressing varied aspects of an issue and making a much larger impact.

Not only can collaborative philanthropy help in mobilising greater amounts of funding, but it also brings a host of benefits. In many cases, the sharing of knowledge and insights have helped in better preparedness in terms of the future needs of a community. In India, various collaboratives have been instrumental in addressing distinct social issues. For example, the Collaborators for Transforming Education supported access to quality education in Maharashtra, National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Alliance has addressed issues related to sanitation value chain in India, India Climate Collaborative has mobilised support to accelerate climate action in India, and the GROW Fund has supported grassroots organisations to build resilience and ease COVID-related distress faced by them.

Since multiple players are involved, the collective voice often tends to influence public policy, decisions and investments that might not have been possible in case of individual symbiotic organisational efforts. The equation between corporates and non-profit organisations ensures that both go through a co-learning journey; the non-profit organisations can be more organised and structured in allocating funds towards their mission and the corporates can develop a sensibility of societal issues and its potential efforts towards solving them. Corporations and non-profits collaborating with government, can lead to a multi-directional approach to problem-solving. Through representation of various voices, well-rounded policy interventions can be co-created through such collaborations. Overall, there is greater potential for the multiple players to cross-learn, network for future needs, and mobilise resources on time. For large-scale impact, collaboratives have a higher chance of success than individual efforts.

However, it is essential to have a clear roadmap in place. When various stakeholders are involved, being organised about a collective objective can be tough to navigate. In India, bringing different players with their respective values under one umbrella can be a bit challenging initially. A considerable effort has to be put in aligning different organisations to a common goal and strategy to ensure there is no conflict in decision-making at an advanced stage of the process. Ensuring consistent long-term funding along with the collaborative’s objective and actions is another crucial step that needs to be factored in to tip the scales in collaborative philanthropy’s overall impact.

In India, collaborative philanthropy is at a very nascent stage, but given how closely-knitted communities are in different cultures, the social conditions are ripe for collaborative efforts. The pandemic has shown the way and many public, private and non-profit organisations from across varied sectors highlighted the benefits of providing fast relief in times of crisis, through successful collaborations. If given consideration more commonly and channelised the right way, complex and interconnected issues of the social sector can be solved collaboratively, thus paving the way for enhanced impact and a better tomorrow.

The author is CEO of EdelGive Foundation. Views are personal.

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