India's private giving is growing faster than at any point in its history, and the choices it makes now will shape outcomes for decades. Raising Impact helps philanthropists decide where their money will do the most good. We estimate cost-effectiveness using the best available evidence, adjusted for how delivery works in India.
Almost none of it has independent advice on where it does the most good.
Giving is set to grow ~12% a year over the next five years, driven largely by high net worth givers. Many of them built their wealth on data, and they expect their giving to work the same way.
Source: Bain & Dasra, 2026
USD 16B in private giving, FY25
Independent, evidence-led advisors have shaped billions in giving abroad, but none are built for Indian donors or their cause areas. For donors giving USD 1M or more in India, this kind of advice is effectively absent.
Source: Public reporting by global evidence-led advisors
Billions directed through evidence-led advice globally
Without a clear view of the evidence, well-intentioned capital tends to keep flowing to familiar programmes rather than the most effective ones. Early childhood is a case in point: 60% of funding goes to interventions with an estimated 4–5x return, while those returning 15–80x remain underfunded.
Source: Raising Impact research
4–5x vs 15–80x estimated return in early childhood
Without guidance, much of this capital will be deployed well-meaningly but sub-optimally. Donors who are new to giving are the most open to changing that. Our first engagement took a first-generation donor to a confident USD 1M commitment, directed by evidence on where it would do the most good. Independent, evidence-based advice has directed billions of dollars abroad.
In India, it barely exists. That is the gap Raising Impact was set up to fill.
We take the cause you care about and turn it into a researchable question: where the need is greatest, where philanthropy has leverage alongside public spending, and which interventions work in the Indian context.
We then identify the organisations delivering evidence-backed interventions, and make high-conviction recommendations based on our cost-effectiveness estimates.
From the first brief to the grant and beyond, with a weekly working rhythm and the reasoning set out for you at every step.
Independent by design.
Raising Impact is funded entirely by its founding philanthropists, which allows our recommendations to remain independent of the organizations we assess.
We work with individuals and families committing USD 1M or more over three to five years, who want to know their capital is going as far as it can. We also work with foundations and CSR teams, where the reasoning behind an allocation has to stand up to a board.
Wealth managers, family-office advisors and philanthropy intermediaries whose clients want to give in India.
Nonprofits, researchers and practitioners are central to how we work: they surface the evidence, programmes and ground truth our research depends on.
If you’re a funder planning to make a significant philanthropic commitment, we would be glad to talk it through with you.
Write to info@raisingimpact.org