How to Scale Impact of Charitable Causes through online learning
Since the outbreak started, many charities have had to rethink how to scale the impact of their work and sustain their local presence through virtual ways.
The sector of charitable giving isn't an industry known for its early adoption of the latest technology however as per Thrive For Good's Executive Director for International, James Woller. "Charities tend to be more traditional and cautious in their attempts to grow. It was necessary for Thrive to employ an alternative approach in order to go ahead, which required taking risks and offering virtual training ," he explains.
Introducing online learning is what's enabled this organization to increase its reach. "Before it was a matter of impacting around 30,000 people. Now, we're impacting close to 80k. The number of communities we've reached grew from 550 to close to 800, seven nations to 47 and we're going into countries we never could have dreamed of," says Woller.
Another nonprofit that's needed be creative to stay ahead of the challenges caused by covid-19 is Vayu Global Health Foundation. Prior to the epidemic, Burke was traveling every few weeks to train medical specialists in the field. As travel has not been feasible so the Vayu team created a course to do virtual training, and to reach out to people all over the world.
"We make use of it solely as an education platform," says Vayu's executive director Thomas Burke. "Without all of our efforts, we would have slowed to an end due to the spread of the pandemic ."
We sat down with Thrive For Good's James Woller and Vayu Global Health Foundations' Thomas Burke to find out more about how they were able to enhance their impact in such an uncertain moment in the world. We found out that they were able achieve this through two methods by teaching on the internet and examining the world of charity from a more progressive lens. This is how they increased the impact of their charity work:
1. Online Teaching
Thrive For Good
Two billion people don't get the nutrition they require. Thrive For Good provides individuals and communities around the world with tools to sustainably produce natural, healthy foods that are suitable for the long haul by providing individuals who can learn to grow foods for their own and their family in conjunction with organisations that can incorporate Thrive's teachings into their programs. On average, the organization generates close to one million Canadian dollars per month of produce from their gardens in the community which is based upon 50 cents per meal.
Through partnerships in Europe, South America, Africa as well as Asia, Woller says they would not be able to scale their reach without the advent of online courses.
Online learning has not only helped the organization scale but it's also made it easier to navigate the challenges caused by covid-19. "Just this morning, I had a phone call with my partner from Uganda, where the border is locked and movements are completely prohibited... It'd be tremendously complicated to send an instructor in-person right now, which is why online learning can ."
Woller says that their organization is saving tons of resources by relocating to the internet. "We're cutting tens of thousands of dollars since the use of . If we were to deliver a physical trained Thrive instructor to each partner organization's community for one month, it would be impossible to scale in the way we've done," he says.
Vayu Global Health
Thomas Burke, emergency doctor and professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, is the director of both his organization on : Vayu Global Health Foundation and Vayu Global Health Innovations.
The Vayu Global Health Foundations is a trust for charitable purposes that concentrates on finding and supporting innovative solutions with a high impact that can be transformative for newborn, maternal and children's health. Its Vayu Global Health Innovations arm of the organization is a public benefit company, meaning they're signed with the World Health Organization as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and are fully committed to global good and community.
At Vayu They've designed medical equipment to help relieve CPAP, which Burke states is among the highest killers of young children younger than five. The device used to treat this condition is able to decrease the rate of death by 66%. As most respiratory devices require electricity, they're costly to be used in countries that are poor. The Vayu team has developed a device for $300 -- just a fraction of what it costs for the standard CPAP device that costs $12,000and it provides the same high-quality. It doesn't require electricity or bioengineering support and is therefore easy to those who have limited resources to use. By using , they're equipped to instruct local medical professionals on how to utilize the gadget.
Because the CPAP training has been extremely successful and they're developing another program to train medical professionals to use their newest device, that's an oxygen blender. The typical price is $1200. they've designed the exact device for only $50 to help children suffering from pneumonia or having difficulty breathing.
Not only does the virtual platform make it possible to expand the reach of people it also assists in establishing a standardization of the instruction for medical devices. "We do have master teachers from each country, but it's not sufficient. Training allows us to ensure the standardization of the training that is provided and also to test. is here to stay for our students," the trainer says.
2. Using a lense that is progressive
Thrive For Good
Woller says that using traditional methods isn't always the best way to grow the charitable impact. "The very nature of a foundation's existence is dependent on donations and charitable giving. The traditional relationship between donors or philanthropists and the charity delivering the program poses some issues when scaling," He describes. "Donors do not necessarily wish to see their cash going toward improvements in technology... The majority of them would rather spend their money on programmes... However through the development of capacity via technology, it's possible to scale ."
The company's innovations have come from taking a look at companies that are already focused on organic farming and nutrition, and increasing their efforts. "We didn't have to double our budget to double our impact. The company has shifted from a traditional B2C to a B2B model. We prefer to think of our products as Java in your computer; we don't have to be Dell or Apple. It's possible to label our work as white we do. That's a great idea in the charitable space ."
They've been able to scale their activities since launching to the Internet, Woller explains. "We were recently contacted by an organization located in India with a number of training centers, 18,000 staff and community workers as well as millions of beneficiaries. We were contacted by them with concern about the food security situation in India and the crisis of covid-19, and they have requested that we push all of their training through the Thrive. That's scale."
Woller is a firm believer in the importance of charities exploring new ideas and taking chances. For them, their online education was a gamble that produced great rewards. "I believe that a few doses of innovation in the field of charitable work is needed. Making an impact requires taking risks. I'm glad that we made the decision of trying online learning" He says.
Although Woller recognizes that taking risks may be scary but he is of the opinion that result can sometimes be unexpected and are a natural aspect of the entrepreneurial process. Woller says "Ninety percent of companies are unsuccessful, however entrepreneurs continue to keep running ."
Vayu Global Health
Vayu Global Health Innovations model Vayu Global Health Innovations model is based on the development of a robust income base to become self-sufficient and increase their efforts without relying on donations. "This is the most unique approach for charitable organizations," he says.
By using an advanced lens, they've now been able to deliver online training. This means that they're able to access a much broader population than when they solely use in-person instruction. "We are able to think bigger with across populations and health systems much more easily than the demonstration programs that ."
When it comes to online education, Burke believes that the outcomes are as great as the work you put into. "You must be aware that it's not easy to produce high-quality educational content," he says. "Teaching requires some type of entertaining as you're trying to capture your audience's attention. It can't just be about providing information. You must to be creative and have amusement with your ."
Burke suggests that charitable organizations team up with locals in the areas they're teaching when creating their material. "It's an excellent idea for organizations to collaborate with local individuals rather than having the same idea of an Americanized instrument which you're trying to throw across the ocean. I don't think that will succeed," he says.
To summarize, creating an online class is an exciting move in the realm of charitable giving and can greatly boost the capacity of an organization to grow. Making a risk, being creative and thinking out of the norm can help a charity increase their influence and impact.