Our Mission 
   
To promote efficient and effective giving that provides greater opportunities to the poor in India.

Our Vision 

A strong "giving" culture where Indians donate 2% of their income every year to give the poor a chance. A vibrant "philanthropy marketplace" to ensure that the most efficient and effective nonprofits get access to the most resources.

Our Beliefs and Approaches

Sacrifice - we believe that every individual must ''give till it hurts'', demonstrating the willingness to share one''s fortunes with those less privileged. 
Deserve our needs - We believe that we need to earn our keep, rather than assume it is as a right. We need to give first and then ask in return. 
Adding value - We believe that we add value only when we do something that no one else is currently doing, or when we do it in a better way. 
Passion - GiveIndia believes that working with a ''burning desire'' to make a difference, is the greatest motivator to do something meaningful. 
First Principles Approach - GiveIndia believes that we must do things because they make sense to do, and not simply because that is how everyone else does it. Blind faith is the enemy of all innovation. 
Focus on the poorest - All that GiveIndia does is directed towards improving the lives of our ''real customer''- the poorest of the poor.
Transparency and accountability - As ''trustees'' of tax payer resources, we believe in being proactively accountable and transparent in all that we do and to all our stakeholders. 
             
Social Change Theory

The need for a "giving culture"

Underlying everything Givendia does is the belief that equity or "equal opportunity" is the cornerstone to civilization. Every human being must have roughly the same opportunity to succeed in life, irrespective of where or how s/he is born.
Unfortunately, this tends to not be true. The last two decades have witnessed a widening of the gap between the rich and poor in India. While the poor in India don''t get a fair chance to succeed in life (lack of access to decent education, healthcare and livelihood opportunities), the well-off continue to enjoy benefits from a globalising economy- greater incomes, reducing taxes, 100% inheritance, etc. The net result is a ticking time-bomb of growing social unrest.
GiveIndia believes that a caring and sensitive well-to-do section can change this without waiting for the situation to explode. To quote Prof William Sundstrom, "?although the pursuit of distributive justice is often thought to require a political or collective response, we should not allow this to let us off the hook when it comes to personal morality. Each of us could probably afford to give much more to private, charitable efforts to alleviate poverty and suffering. Indeed, given the failure of our political leaders to provide anywhere near an adequate response, private action has become indispensable." 

Two aspects of a "giving culture" contribute to making a difference-

[a] Greater sensitivity and caring
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." - Edmund Burke 
Giving promotes heightened sensitivity among the givers. It forces us to be aware of the existence of the poor, acknowledge our own good fortune and creates a sense of duty towards those less fortunate. 

[b] Availability of resources
If Indians gave back to society in the same proportion as Americans do, we could be donating Rs 60,000crores a year to help those in need! As against this, all reasonable estimates of giving in India vary between Rs1,000-5,000crores p.a.
Rs60,000crores a year exceeds the government''s own allocation of resources to education and healthcare.
 
The role of a "philanthropy marketplace"

Several studies indicate that people give more if they are convinced that their contributions are making a difference. To create a sustainable giving culture, one would therefore need to ensure that the donations are channeled efficiently to the most effective organizations. GiveIndia hopes to catalyze the creation of a "philanthropy marketplace" in India that will ensure that in the long term, resources do reach the most effective organizations in an efficient manner. Our Operating Model explains how we see this happen.

Operating Model
 
The fundamental premise of GiveIndia''s operating model is that the donor is an "investor" looking for returns of some kind (most commonly the satisfaction of knowing that their money made a difference to someone else''s life). While it is possible that there are people who give without any expectations, our efforts are targeted at the rest.
 
GiveIndia has, in the last few years, attempted to meet the "unmet gaps" of institutions needed to constitute the nonprofit "philanthropy marketplace".