Aid groups target new Indian rich amid global slump

26 Feb 2009 12:40:00 GMT/ Written by: Nita Bhalla

As aid agencies around the world grapple with funding cuts amid the
global economic meltdown, charities in India are targeting what was
up until now an untapped resource - the middle classes.

India's rapid economic boom in recent years has given rise to a large
middle-class population who has the income to holiday abroad, buy
branded products and dine in expensive restaurants.

Estimates vary on the size of this growing community, but it is
believed to number 200 million out of a population of 1.2 billion.

Aid agencies, which have traditionally relied on bilateral donors to
sponsor development and emergency relief projects, say they are now
waking up to this new source of money.

"There is a large Indian middle class and they have probably not been
giving much because we have not been engaging them directly," said
Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children India.

Chandy said his organisation was fundraising in India's bustling
business hub Mumbai and the charity is raising about one million
rupees ($20,000) every month from speaking to people on the street.

"It's not a very sophisticated fundraising mechanism - just people
coming up to us in the street and us telling them about what we do
and the children that we are trying to help," he adds.

In Delhi's vibrant business district of Connaught Place, outside the
stores selling Levis and Nike, a man carrying a clipboard with the
U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) logo, joins the street-food vendors,
shoe cleaners and street children who are all vying for the attention
of shoppers and office workers.

People appear puzzled as he goes through his pitch, but they seem
more than happy to stop and listen.

RESOURCES AND INTEREST

As in many developing countries, the huge disparity between rich and
poor can give the impression that wealthier Indians in their air-
conditioned 4x4 cars are either immune to the beggars knocking on
their window or too preoccupied to care.

But fundraising managers say this is simply not the case.

"It's not like it was ten years ago," said Clement Chauvet, private
fundraising and partnership manager for UNICEF India. "India's middle
classes want to help in the development of their own country and have
the resources and interest to do this now."

UNICEF India raised $1.6 million last year and Chauvet projects this
will rise to $3.2 million in 2009.

The charities use face-to-face contact, telemarketing and direct
mailing to target a certain profile.

"The thriving middle class, who are young, a little beyond 30-years-
old, urban professionals and who have a sustainable source of income,
are the segment which we are looking at," said Kunal Verma, Oxfam
India's marketing and communications director.

"These people understand development work much more than they did ten
years ago and they also now want to be part of the solution."

Verma said Oxfam India now has around 50,000 donors in the country
and he estimates face-to-face engagement will raise about $900,000 in
2009 compared to $460,000 last year.

Agencies say about one to 5 percent of those approached in India end
up giving regular contributions - similar to the international
benchmark.

The public reaction to last September's devastating floods in the
eastern state of Bihar, which left hundreds dead, has also reinforced
charities' views that Indians are keen to help.

Aid workers say they were inundated with calls, emails and letters
from people offering help.

Although public fundraising is a relatively new phenomenon in India
and the amounts raised are still modest, charities say the practice
can bring more than monetary rewards.

"The idea is to try and create an understanding amongst the general
population that they can help make a difference in their own
country," said Sarah Crowe, UNICEF's head of communications for South
Asia region.

"The needs are so huge in a country like India that it can't just be
one single source of funds. It has to be a joint effort."

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