Anshu Gupta and Goonj

The Goonj model reflects Gupta’s ambitious vision to transform the culture of giving in India and globally. According to Gupta, the traditional charity paradigm unfairly grants superiority (and decision-making authority) to affluent donors, while robbing recipients of their dignity and agency — an unequal dynamic that does not promote sustained grassroots development. Goonj represents an alternative model of philanthropy by recognizing recipients as equal stakeholders in the giving transaction. While rural villages may lack financial and material wealth, they are asset-rich with the local knowledge, skills, creativity and physical capacity to take ownership of their own development challenges and solutions.

Raised in a middle-class family, Gupta was in his late teens when a near-fatal road accident left him unable to walk for a year. This temporary physical disability awakened his empathy for others in challenging circumstances, as well as his visceral resistance to being pitied or treated as a victim. While Gupta eventually regained his ability to walk, the experience transformed his worldview –  and shaped his future approach to philanthropy.

As a young man with a growing awareness of India’s social problems, Gupta became intensely interested in the human need for clothing — literally, as a protection from the elements, but also symbolically, as a reflection of personal well-being. In 1998 Gupta and his wife Meenakshi founded Goonj with an armload of garments collected from their own home. Reluctant to give the clothes as charity, the Guptas devised the “Cloth for Work” model, drawing on India’s long-standing tradition of shramdaan (voluntary labor) and barter economy.  

Since its inception, Goonj has evolved into a massive social enterprise with operations across India. In 2021 the organization collected 4.9 million kgs (5,400 US tons) of urban surplus, including clothing, household items, school supplies, medicine and occupational tools. These materials helped facilitate more than 17,000 rural, community-led projects across 23 states, with positive impacts for local food security, education, access to water and sanitation facilities, women’s health and income generation. Moreover, as it continues to engage urban and rural people as equal stakeholders in a circular economy, Goonj illustrates how ongoing, mindful giving can leverage collective resources to build a more sustainable and equitable world.

Contributors: Maha Tazi, Erin Brown