2013 has got off to an exciting start at the Indian Philanthropy Forum with the announcement of a new strategic media partnership with Bloomberg.  Dasra will be Bloomberg’s knowledge partner on social entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Already a show has been made, Down to Earth, profiling four social enterprises that Dasra works with, and the Impact Investing Forum (IIF), held in Bangalore on 16-17 January, has also been filmed. This marks an exciting milestone in terms of the Indian media’s interest in the field.  

The Impact Investing Forum, supported by Rockefeller Foundation, Omidyar Network and Dasra, saw 100 impact investors and social entrepreneurs gather for a two-day series of workshops and conference plenaries. As Rohini Nilekani said: ‘We need to build a public discourse first on whether markets should provide solutions for all social problems and then figure out how that can be best done. There are a lot of lessons we need to draw from microfinance about what works and what doesn’t in the long run.’ What became clear throughout the two days was that the sector needs vital patient capital and the fostering of intermediary organizations.

The conference also saw the launch of the India Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF). As Margot Brandenberg from Rockefeller said: ‘We hope to build an ecosystem that nurtures innovation, unlocks different forms of capital and fosters collaboration.’

On 4-6 March we will be holding our fourth Indian Philanthropy Forum in Mumbai. This year it has grown to almost a week of philanthropy-focused events including the graduation of India’s largest executive education programme for social entrepreneurs, Dasra Social-Impact; a Family and Corporate Foundation Day; the annual meeting of Dasra’s giving circle members, now numbering 50; and finally our day-long conference with 200 selected philanthropists and foundation leaders from India and across the world to discuss strategic approaches to solving India’s social problems.

For more information
http://www.dasra.org/ipf