The other day, I was talking with a non-resident Indian (NRI) in a middle-level city off the eastern coast of the United States. The tête-à -tête took place as we were returning from a religious ceremony at a well-established Hindu temple, where several hundred NRIs had participated, many of them actively.
During the visit to the temple, I had seen a model for a proposed, well-spread-out area for a new Hindu temple to replace or supplement the present one. I could see a replica of a sprawling temple surrounded by green spaces and accompanied by a huge parking area. I wondered where the money would come from, and the answer came straightaway:
“From donations worth millions of dollars... I don't know where the money comes from, but they give away even $50,000 without asking a question.”
This person did not stop there. When I suggested that perhaps it could be a tax-saving strategy, the response was: “It doesn't make sense to me.”
I then wondered whether it could be an indirect business investment — a way of building useful contacts by becoming a “reputed” person in the community.
“Maybe,” was the answer.
The conversation then turned to donations to the elementary school where this person's children study.
The person told me that he is quite deeply involved in raising donations, primarily from parents, and that “we find it difficult to collect even $50,000 a year for a school programme not supported by the state or federal budget.”
He added:
“Parents give anywhere between $25 and $100 according to their capacity. We often employ a private agency to campaign for school donations. It takes away one-third of the amount, yet it helps, because without such an agency, our donations wouldn't be more than $30,000.”
There are a few Indian NRI parents who have admitted their children to the school. I wondered how much they contribute.
“There is no such separate account. So I wouldn't be able to tell you,” was the answer, suggesting that there was no separate tracking of donations by nationality or community and that, in his experience, the contributions from Indian parents were not necessarily substantially different from those of other parents.
“There are poor parents too who don't give any money,” he added.
I became interested in the issue of donations and decided to look up the available sources. I found that the broad impressionistic figure mentioned during my interaction with the NRI appeared to be plausible. In the middle-level city where I met this person, annual donations to elementary and middle schools reportedly ranged from about $10,000 to $60,000, with much of the fundraising managed through parent-teacher associations.
Such fundraising takes place because state and federal budgets generally cover standard facilities, base teacher salaries, and mandated curricula, while donations are often used to fill perceived resource gaps. These can include basic classroom supplies such as rugs and science consumables, extracurricular equipment, school and playground beautification, and assistance for students facing financial hardship — including unpaid cafeteria lunch balances, clothing closets, or field-trip registration fees.
Public schools and their affiliated organizations also reportedly make use of outside agencies, consulting firms, and commercial fundraising platforms to drive donations. These agencies can provide full-service campaigns, often centered around activities such as a “fun run” or dance-a-thon. Depending on the service provided, some reportedly charge commissions that can reach 30% to 50% for full on-site management.
My interest then shifted to church donations, by way of comparison.
The comparison was both in terms of purchasing power and market share. A report I came across suggested that although church giving in the United States has been rising by about 1% to 2% year-over-year in nominal terms, it “consistently declines when adjusted for inflation.”
The report further stated:
“In real purchasing power, Churches have less money to cover operating expenses, utilities, insurance, and staff salaries than they did a decade ago.”
It also said that in the 1950s, religion accounted for roughly 70% of all charitable giving in the United States, while by the mid-2020s that share had fallen to approximately 23%. According to the report, donors are increasingly directing charitable gifts toward secular causes such as human services, health, education, and animal welfare.
Gallup data, meanwhile, indicates that fewer than half of American adults now report belonging to a church, synagogue, or mosque, compared with about 70% in 1999. The decline in religious affiliation would, by extension, reduce the pool of potential regular congregational donors.
Small churches are said to bear much of the burden. More than 70% of American churches reportedly have an average weekly attendance of fewer than 100 people. When attendance falls below 40 or 50 regular attendees, basic overhead — including commercial building insurance, heating and cooling older structures, and pastoral salaries — can become increasingly difficult to sustain.
As a result, some closed church buildings are reportedly being sold and redeveloped as affordable housing complexes, brewery taprooms, community arts centres, or private residences.
Ironically, while many traditional Christian churches are experiencing declining attendance and, in some cases, declining revenue, Hindu temples in the United States — particularly in high-growth technology and metropolitan hubs — appear to be experiencing a different trajectory, with growing donations and significant capital expansion.
Operating as religious nonprofits and relying primarily on private voluntary giving, Hindu temples in some middle-level American cities reportedly generate annual operating revenues ranging from approximately $1.5 million to $5 million or more.
As the Indian diaspora expands, many temples have undertaken multi-million-dollar capital campaigns, reportedly ranging from $3 million to $15 million or more, to fund new traditional stone shikharas (spires), community dining halls or annadanam halls, youth centres, and yagna shalas.
Nationally prominent institutions and organizations such as BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha routinely undertake temple-building projects costing tens or, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. Such projects are reportedly financed largely through community pledges, donations, and volunteer labour.
There is also a difference in the way the two traditions appear to deploy their fundraising networks. Churches have historically devoted significant resources to education, social services, and health-related activities, while Hindu temples often place considerable emphasis on major religious festivals such as Diwali, Navratri, Maha Shivaratri, and Janmashtami. These festivals also become important occasions for fundraising, particularly among high-earning professionals, many of whom are concentrated in engineering, technology, finance, and medicine.
A significant portion of the core capital donors are said to be first-generation immigrants who view temples not merely as places of worship, but also as important anchors for preserving language, traditional dance, music, culture, and heritage for their children.
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