India Development Review

India Development Review (IDR) is a knowledge platform for ideas and insights on philanthropy and social impact. It describes itself as Asia's largest. It was founded in 2017 and is registered as a Section 8 nonprofit company. It publishes articles written by and for people working on India's development problems. IDR says that much of the sector's expertise sits in silos or in people's heads, and its aim is to bring that knowledge to the people who can act on it. Its writing is fact-based and editorially independent of any funder, nonprofit or partner. It is free to read with no paywall, and articles can be shared or republished under Creative Commons.

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Major Areas of Work

• Editorial publishing: commissioning, editing and publishing at least one article every weekday on cross-sector solutions, research and real-world practice in development.

• Underserved topics and voices: covering little-discussed issues and grassroots perspectives alongside the views of large funders and institutions.

• Contributor support: travelling to contributors, translating and transcribing their work, and helping practitioners explain their work and lessons to a general audience.

• Multilingual and multimedia content: producing content in Hindi and other Indian languages, as well as multimedia formats, to reach readers beyond English-language audiences.

• Distribution and syndication: getting contributors' articles republished in mainstream and online media to extend their reach.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• IDR (English): the main platform, publishing articles, analysis and practice-based lessons on philanthropy, nonprofits and development in India.

• IDR Hindi and regional languages: editions and content in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada and Marathi for development practitioners across the country.

• IDR Answers: an interactive tool on the IDR site that lets readers ask questions and draw on IDR's library of content.

• Multimedia: a dedicated team producing visual and multimedia stories alongside written articles.

• Media republishing: a programme of placing IDR articles with mainstream and online media outlets so contributors' knowledge reaches a wider audience.

Impact

IDR states that it has published more than 3,000 articles, 26% of them on under-discussed topics, with coverage from 28 states. It says its readers come from 36 states and union territories, and that 53% of its readers and contributors are women. Its own site reports that two-thirds of IDR articles have been carried by mainstream media, and that 61 mainstream and online media channels have run its stories.

Partners

• Foundations and philanthropies: ATE Chandra Foundation, British Asian Trust, Chintu Gudiya Foundation, Dr Reddy's Foundation, EdelGive Foundation, Forbes Foundation, HT Parekh Foundation, Hindustan Unilever Foundation, Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation, Koita Foundation, Kshirsagar Apte Foundation, Mariwala Health Initiative, MK Hamied Foundation, Porticus, Rainmatter Foundation, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Tata Trusts, The Wellbeing Project

• Institutions and companies: Ashoka Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, Direct Web Access Ltd, GE Shipping

• Individual donors: Aarti and Abhay Havaldar, Ashish Dhawan, Fiona and Luis Miranda, Govind Iyer, Rati and Riah Forbes, Vidya Shah

Leadership

• Smarinita Shetty, Co-founder and CEO

• Rachita Vora, Co-founder and Director

• Devanshi Vaid, Co-founder and Director

• Rajika Seth, Director

IDR suits people who want to work where journalism, editing and the social sector meet. Staff work with a wide range of contributors, from grassroots workers and activists to researchers and large funders. This gives broad exposure to the issues, organisations and debates shaping development in India. The team spans editorial, multimedia, digital marketing, partnerships, data and technology, and finance. Roles there fit writers, editors, designers and communicators who care about clear, accurate and independent writing. The organisation lists courage, playfulness, integrity, excellence and kindness as its values, and says it values a culture of learning and openness to feedback.