The 25% Philanthropy
A formula to understand the potential of mass donations!

India is a developing economy with its poverty rate under decline. The country managed to bring 271 million people out of poverty during 2005/06—2015/16. Today, according to the World Poverty Clock, 44 Indians are escaping extreme poverty every minute.

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The numbers suggest the government and other organizations are aiming to eliminate poverty. But are they enough?

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Elimination of poverty or overcoming the financial struggle of NPOs and NGOs involves enormous amounts of money. The organizations working to support the needy are refraining from full-fledged services due to the lack of donations. This particular situation of uncertainty among the organizations highlights the importance of philanthropy.

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On a large scale, Philanthropy in India is considered as a festival that comes once a year but not as a service to mankind. The country’s people often donate to various charities on specific occasions, such as a portion of first salary, birthdays, anniversaries, and more, but don’t take it up as a lifelong commitment.

 

So how does The 25% Philanthropy help to question the current perception of the nation’s citizens?

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The 25% Philanthropy is a formula that presents facts about the offerings in Hindu temples and how the points can be used to understand the dynamics and potency of philanthropy.

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The Indian Hindu temples are well known for their enormous wealth. It is certain that the majority of this wealth is due to the offerings made by the pilgrims. Hence, here are the facts related to the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple in Andhra Pradesh to demonstrate how big the numbers are:

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1. The annual revenue of the shrine is $340m, mostly from its donations.

2. The temple earns 3.18 crore per day.

3. The average per second donations made is rupees 368.38.

4. The offerings include gold, jewellery, silver, and cash.

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The donations are made by all kinds of pilgrims—from a person with minimal annual income to the person who can afford anything.

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These are only the numbers of one of the many significant temples in India. There are two million temples in India as per the 2001 census. Imagine the combined figure of donations!

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People donate for different reasons. Some give a part of their earnings, some donate as a gesture of gratitude, some offer wealth to help maintain the temple and provide food to the pilgrims.

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But what happens to the offerings?

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The donations made in most of the temples go to the state governments. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII in 1959 says the revenue generated by the Hindu temples, including the donations, goes to the state governments, and the government decides how much money passes to temples for their maintenance. However, the government uses the retained funds for the development of Hajj, Madrassas, and Missionaries.

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The above information and facts bring awareness of how a high population’s regular donations can generate humongous revenue. This generated income can be used to address several issues of the country and society, which can get solved by money.

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What are they?

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1. The main reason people opt out of nursing homes is the lack of financial support for self-maintenance. Several nursing homes reported that the donations are inadequate for maintaining staff, meal facilities, and recreational facilities.

2. 70% of India’s cancer patients who cannot afford medication die due to late detection. The cure of cancer depends on early detection, and sometimes, even after early diagnosis, there isn’t enough money to persist with the treatment. 15% of these patients are children.

3. 0.15% of India’s population is homeless. The number sums up to 1.77 million. These people live on the streets, pavements, roadsides, open spaces, and railway platforms.

4. The children in the orphanages do not have adequate resources for educational purposes.

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...and the list goes on!

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The country’s list of issues and problems that can be solved by money will keep increasing if we decide to sit and count but will decrease only if we stand and start addressing them.

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The 25% Philanthropy is not about compelling people to donate to various organizations that need financial support. It is not about provoking pilgrims not to contribute to temples and use the money for charity instead. How a person spends one’s money is entirely a personal choice.

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The purpose of the 25% philanthropy is to make citizens of the country realize what they are capable of—to make them realize the potential of mass donations.

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If the countrymen can join together to generate such vast revenue for temples, they can also join together to donate at least 25% of what they offer to God. If a person can offer 116 rupees to temples, they can certainly donate 29 rupees to a philanthropic cause. The question is,

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‘Is the person willing to?’

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This is nothing new. This is something that high percentages of Indians talk about on a daily basis. The people give opinions on how one can bring changes. People speak about how an idea can change everything. One thing people won’t say is, ‘How can we change this?’

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We Indians have waited long enough for someone to come and make a change—the leaders, governments, and every possible asset. We spoke of the same issues in the ’80s, and the same in the ’90s, and the same in the 21st century, but we have a choice of ending the recurrence of these issues and events ten to twenty years down the line.

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The change we are talking about is not as easy as it sounds. We are fortunate enough not to be among the people who sleep on the roads, try to get free food, and have no money for medication or education. If we are blessed with enough resources to fulfill our needs, it is our responsibility to take a stand for all those who are in desperate need of necessities.

It takes courage, commitment, and perseverance, but it’s time!

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It’s time to do our part for society.

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It’s time to act and take responsibility for the well-being of fellow humans.

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It’s time to donate at least 25% of what we donate to religious causes or any other reasons.

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It’s time for The 25% Philanthropy!