On the first-ever India Giving Day, the highest-earning ethnic group in the US gets a chance to step up and help their homeland

The alliance aims to see Indian American giving triple to $3 billion, with some of that total funding development and humanitarian projects in India. India’s government has also been vocal about wanting Indian Americans to contribute more toward India’s development.

India Giving Day is an example of diaspora philanthropy – giving back to one’s homeland, often by pooling resources with others who share the same heritage. This giving can be in the form of money, or time spent volunteering for a cause. It has also been called homeland philanthropy, migrant philanthropy and refugee philanthropy.

A common way that immigrants and people whose parents or grandparents immigrated to the U.S. send money back to their homelands is through remittances – dispatching money across international lines to family and friends to help them get by. Total remittances globally grew 5% in 2022 to $626 billion. The flows to India increased much more sharply, shooting up 12% to $100 billion.

Diaspora philanthropy can be characterized as collective remittances for development and humanitarian projects. Diaspora communities are motivated to collectively give because of their shared identity and sense of responsibility to their countries of origin.

There is currently no way to estimate diaspora philanthropy’s scale. One reason for that is that funding is channeled through countless intermediaries, from diaspora-led organizations and hometown associations to universities.

While India is of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, it also has daunting needs when it comes to addressing poverty in its lowest-income regions.

For that reason, I believe any drive to encourage the flow of charitable dollars to India is to be welcomed. The cash raised through the India Giving Day campaign will help fund an array of projects, such as nutritional programs for children and expectant mothers, educational centers for child laborers and efforts to supply sewing machines for women’s cooperatives.

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Susan Appe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.