How to Scale Impact of Charitable Causes by online learning
Since the outbreak began, many charities have had to consider ways they can increase the effectiveness of their efforts and maintain their presence within the local area via online channels.
The charity sector is not one of the sectors that's known as an early adopter of new technology, although it does so according to Thrive for good's Executive Director James Woller. "Charities tend to be more traditional and cautious when it comes to their efforts to grow. This was the reason it was essential for Thrive to adopt a completely different approach to get ahead and that meant making a gamble and providing the possibility of virtual education ," he explains.
Online learning has allowed this company to expand its reach. "Before the introduction of internet-based learning, we'd impacted around 30,000 people. Now, we're affecting nearly 80,000. The amount of people that we've reached has grown from 550 to close to 800, seven countries, to 47 and now we're expanding into places which we've never dreamed of," says Woller.
Another organization that has had to come up with innovative ideas to cope with the burdens caused by covid-19, is in Vayu Global Health Foundation. Prior to the pandemic, Burke was traveling every couple of weeks to teach medical professionals face-to-face. Because traveling isn't feasible, since the pandemic, and the Vayu team has created an online course which allows for education and training as well as to communicate with individuals around the globe.
"We only use it for educational to educate our students," says Vayu's executive director Thomas Burke. "Without , our efforts would have slowed to a halt because of the spread of the epidemic ."
We spoke with the team at Thrive ForGood's James Woller and Vayu Global Health Foundations' Thomas Burke to get a better understanding of how they were able to boost their effectiveness in such an uncertain time across the globe. We found out they managed to accomplish this in two ways through online teaching and also by taking a look at charitable work from a more progressive lens. That's how they increased their impact on charity:
1. Online Teaching
Thrive For Good
Two billion people don't get the nutrition they require. Thrive For Good supplies individuals and communities around the globe with tools and resources to sustainably cultivate natural, healthy foods that are fit for the modern world by providing training to anyone who wants to learn how to grow food for themselves and for their families along with other others who can integrate the principles of Thrive into their own initiatives. On average, the company produces over one million Canadian dollars per month of vegetables in their communal gardens dependent on 50 cents per meal.
Collaboration with partners across Europe, South America, Africa as well as Asia, Woller says they would not be able to get their message to all corners of the world without the introduction of online learning courses.
Learning online hasn't just made it easier for the business, but it's also made it easier to deal with the issues posed by covid-19. "Just this morning I had a phone call with an acquaintance from Uganda in a country where the borders are locked down and mobility is severely constrained... It's incredibly hard to locate a trainer in person in the present, and that's where online education can help ."
Woller says that their organization has saved lots of money by relocating to the internet. "We're cutting down on tens of thousands of dollars by making use of . If we were to have to send an experienced Thrive teacher for each of our partner organizations' communities for a single month, but it's impossible to scale up as we have done," he says.
Vayu Global Health
Thomas Burke, emergency doctor and faculty member at The Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, is the director of both companies he manages : Vayu Global Health Foundation and Vayu Global Health Innovations.
The Vayu Global Health Foundations is a charitable trust that focuses on finding and supporting innovative solutions that can have a transformative effect to improve the maternal, newborn and child's health. The Vayu Global Health Innovations arm of the trust is a publicly-owned company that means they're recognized by the World Health Organization as well as with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and fully dedicated to the global community and good.
At Vayu they've developed medical devices to help relieve CPAP that Burke claims is one of the most deadly diseases among children less than 5 years old. The equipment used to treat this condition has the capacity to cut down the risk of death by 66 percent. Since most respiratory machines require power to operate, they are expensive for use in countries that are poor. The Vayu team came up with a solution that costs $300- a fraction of the cost of the standard CPAP device that is worth $12,000- that offers the same quality. The device does not require power or bioengineering assistance making it easy to those who have only a few resources to take advantage of. Through this device, people are able to instruct the local medical professionals about how to use the device.
Since the CPAP training has been extremely successful and they're working on another course to teach medical professionals how to use their new apparatus, which is an oxygen mixer. It's normally priced at $1,200 however, they've made the device at just $50, to help kids suffering from pneumonia or having trouble breathing.
In addition, the virtual platform allow to reach more people, it also assists in standardizing the instruction for medical devices. "We have master instructors from each country, but they're not enough. Training allows us to improve the standard of training that is provided as well as to evaluate. It's here for everyone else." He says.
2. Using a progressive lense
Thrive For Good
Woller says that using conventional methods may not be the most effective way to increase the charitable impact. "The basis of a foundation's existence is based on donations and charitable giving. The traditional relationship between a donor's individual or philanthropist as well as the foundation that is delivering the program presents some challenges when scaling," he describes. "Donors aren't always keen on having their cash to go towards technological improvements... They would rather spend their cash on programs... However, by building up capacities through technology can be a way to increase ."
The company's innovations have come from studying companies that are currently focusing their efforts on organic farming and nutrition. They are also growing their efforts. "We didn't have to double the amount we have to spend to boost our effectiveness. The company has shifted away from a B2C model to one that is B2B. It would be nice to think of our self as Java within your personal laptop. There is no need for us to become Dell or Apple. We're able to use white-labeling to describe what we provide. This is a breakthrough in the charitable space ."
The company has been able to increase their activities since moving on the internet, Woller explains. "We are being approached by an organization from India with a number of training centres, 8,000 employees and community workers as well as thousands of beneficiaries. They contacted us with their concern about food security in India and the covid-19 crises as well as their request to move every aspect of their training to the"Thrive" programme. That's scale."
Woller has a strong belief of the importance of charities trying out different things, and taking risks. The training they provided online proved to be a risk which resulted in dividends. "I believe some doses of creativity for the charity sector is highly sought-after. In order to make an impact, one must take risk. I'm really glad we made the decision to look into the possibilities of online learning." he declares.
However, Woller admits that risk taking could be a bit scary he believes that the result can sometimes be unanticipated and is a natural element of the entrepreneurial process. Woller says "Ninety percent of businesses are unsuccessful, but entrepreneurs stay striving to improve ."
Vayu Global Health
It is the Vayu Global Health Innovations approach that is built on the establishment of a solid revenue base in order to self-sufficiently increase their activities without having to rely on donations. "This is a innovative approach in the field of charitable giving" the founder says.
With the help of an advanced lens, they've used the internet to provide online education. They're now in a position to reach a greater audience than have if they had to exclusively rely on in-person training. "We are able to think more broadly with regards to populations and systems of care more readily than demonstration programs ."
If you're considering online education, Burke believes that the results are just as good as the effort you're putting into. "You should be aware of the fact that it's hard to produce high-quality educational materials," he says. "Teaching requires some sort of enjoyment as you seek to attract interest of students. It's not just about focusing focused on delivering information. It is essential to think outside the box and enjoy your work ."
Burke suggests that charitable organisations cooperate with locals in the regions they're teaching in developing their material. "It's a great idea to have organizations collaborate with locals, rather than using an Americanized instrument that is trying to carry across oceans. I don't think that is going to work," he says.
To summarize that, creating an online class is an exciting step in the realm of giving to charity that could dramatically increase the potential of an organisation to expand. Making a risk, being imaginative and exploring the norm can allow the charity to increase its effectiveness and reach.
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