India is at a pivotal moment in its development journey. The country’s goal of Viksit Bharat, to become a developed India by 2047, is rooted in both economic progress and social development. While significant progress has been made towards these goals, there is still a long way to go.

Alongside this, private giving in India – philanthropic funds from international and domestic foundations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandates, family foundations, and individuals – is growing steadily and is expected to reach roughly Rs 230,000 crore by 2030. As the sector matures, the philanthropic ecosystem – that is, funders, their nonprofit partners, and intermediaries – is recognising the value of partnering with government over the long term to make a lasting difference in the lives of communities.

This creates a timely opportunity for philanthropy and government to work together as strategic collaborators, thought partners, and systems thinkers. While there is interest, our conversations with funders highlighted a need for more practical guidance on how to begin, and sustain, government collaborations. Our research – informed by interviews with 50-plus government and philanthropic leaders, secondary research, and The Bridgespan Group’s experience working with funders, nonprofits, and communities – is aimed at bridging this gap and seeks to answer four critical and frequently asked questions about working with government.

1. Why do philanthropy and government collaborate?

We found that while the government is the primary force behind social impact in India, it recognises the distinct and complementary capabilities the philanthropic ecosystem brings to the table. Specifically, it values philanthropy’s specialised expertise in issue areas; its ability to innovate and test new ideas; its deep understanding of community and local context, developed through lived experience or years of working in a particular geography; and its ability to convene and collaborate with other social-sector actors. 

2. What are typical pathways for philanthropy to collaborate with government?

For philanthropy, these capabilities are deployed through five common collaboration pathways, or ways of working with the government. These include: 

• Research and policy advisory: Generating evidence and providing policy inputs and best practices to inform policy.
• Programme, solution, and platform design: Advising the government on designing issue-specific roadmaps, piloting solutions, and developing new products or platforms.
• Programme management: Helping the government manage large-scale programmes through implementation planning and stakeholder coordination, developing systems and processes, and supporting measurement. 
• Human capacity building: Supporting the training of government personnel and developing resources or platforms for learning.
• Community engagement: Bringing community insights and feedback into programme design and delivery, and helping with the adoption of public programmes.

3. How can philanthropy effectively navigate government collaborations?

Across the board, there are some overarching considerations for all government-philanthropy collaborations. Practitioners highlight that these collaborations typically take time to mature, require coordination across government departments and other social-sector partners, and progress is often non-linear. Collaborations are most effective when philanthropy approaches them with patience, humility, adaptability, and trust.

We distilled insights from practitioners who have led effective collaborations into eight partnership practices across the four stages of a typical government-philanthropy collaboration. 

Prepare: Lay the groundwork to begin engaging with government.

1. Develop a compelling value proposition

2. Identify the right collaboration “fit”

Shape: Arrive at a shared understanding of the contours of the collaboration and develop initiatives under that scope.

3. Design with government for adoption by public systems

Deliver: Implement initiatives to meet collaboration outcomes.

4. Show early wins and nurture champions

5. Seize windows of opportunity

6. Manage scope towards results

7. Review progress jointly and adapt accordingly

Institutionalise and evolve: Embed the work in public systems and evolve the partnership to meet new needs.

8. Plan for a gradual transition 

4. Where can changes help increase and improve government-philanthropy collaborations?

Our research also identified several ecosystem-level investments that can encourage more strategic and long-term government-philanthropy collaborations across the country. These include:

• Set up a “single-window” system for design and delivery, for example, through philanthropy partnership cells or hubs in government departments or planning bodies, to curate collaboration opportunities and support them as they evolve. 
• Institutionalise knowledge about government-philanthropy collaborations by creating playbooks, case studies, templates, standard operating procedures, etc., and curating a database of philanthropies, CSR organisations, and nonprofits that covers their areas of expertise, focus geographies, and past experience of working on government projects.
• Create more opportunities for dialogue and networking, to provide forums for funders, nonprofits, and government to learn from one another and identify opportunities to work together.
• Build skills for more effective collaborations among both government and philanthropy leaders. 

The bottom line is that today there is a real opportunity for philanthropy and government to work together to create sustainable population-level change. But it requires more than just intent; it needs trust, shared commitment, and a willingness to learn from and with each other. The benefits far outweigh the risks, because when effective collaborations do emerge, they can help rise to the scale of India’s development ambitions and address some of the country’s most pressing challenges.

Acknowledgement

This work would not have been possible without the support and guidance of our anchor partners: A.T.E. Chandra Foundation, Gates Foundation, Motilal Oswal Foundation, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and Piramal Foundation. The author team is indebted to B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, former CEO, NITI Aayog for his guidance.