At 11%, AP Among Tops States In 'Culture Of Giving'

Regions in India can be distinctly identified by the spoken language, cuisine and the general attire of people. Yet, there are other aspects like cricket and Bollywood that exist as universal phenomena across regions. One would presume donations towards social causes too would emerge from every nook and corner of the country in a uniform manner. However, that is not the case. 
    
A study by GiveIndia on donations according to demographics and geographies throws up some interesting trends. Although the concentration of the business community is largely in the west, the southern zone carried the maximum weightage of 43% of donor population. 
    
While west has the maximum share of the total donation amount (42%), south is not far behind on this count as well, at 39%. On the other hand, east gave the least, with only 3% of total donation amount and merely 5% of donor population. North contributed 16% of total donations by amount. 
    
The research is based on a study of giving trends according to online donations made on GiveIndia’s website over the last five years. The sample is a quantum of 1.8 lakh-plus transactions, with donations aggregating over Rs 38 crore. More than 150 NGOs are listed with GiveIndia, which is a not-for-profit organization that carries out due diligence on NGOs to help in a philanthropic exchange from donor to NGO. 
    
The research shows how states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu rake higher than others in quantum and frequency of online donations. “Nearly half of NGO activity in India is concentrated in southern India. The culture of giving, greater disposable incomes and a heightened sense of awareness coupled with the duty to give back among those in the IT sector has strengthened the need of organizations. That’s probably why the southern region has emerged as among the highest in terms of giving,” said Dhaval Udani, CEO, GiveIndia. 
    
On a state-wise basis, Maharashtra was the most giving state, with 37% of share of total donations, while Delhi contributed only 7%. Maharashtra also holds the highest percentage (31%) of total number of donors, followed by Karnataka (16%), Tamil Nadu (13%) and Andhra Pradesh (11%). 
    
“Recently, there was a report on philanthropy done by Bain & Co which found that more than 70% donors are novices, with less than three years of philanthropic experience. There are also a lot younger people who are giving. May be with more IT companies in the South, there are many more youngsters contributing to philanthropy. Also, with Azim Premji’s Foundation located in South India, may be there is more coming from there, but am not entirely sure,” said Meher Pudumjee, chairperson, Thermax India. 
    
Salaries in IT/ITeS sector are higher as compared to others and this could probably be one reason why the southern zone symbolizes the spirit of giving. ``In the South, people have been brought up to give a part of their earnings to temples or causes for the needy --it's a culture they have grown up with. We see that even in our volunteers who show up in large numbers when we organize a visit to a school or children's home,'' said Deepa Kapoor, CSR Leader, Genpact India. 
    
In the east, the leading giving state is West Bengal (59%), followed by Orissa (22%), while in the north, Delhi is the largest giving state (43%), followed by Haryana (27%) and Uttar Pradesh (18%). 
    
States like Gujarat and Kerala did not show up in the study, which means contributions from these states were low.