Together with Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, ChangeRepublic.Org had carried out a market research to find out the - ‘Top 5 problems that NGOs face’. Our team surveyed 18 NGOs from varied sectors ranging from education, animal welfare to spiritual awareness. We conducted face to face interviews, telephonic interviews and held a discussion panel where in representatives of NGOs and CSRs interacted with each other. They discussed ways in which CSRs and NGOs can work together to solve problems that our society faces.
The market research report can be found attached in the email. The report also contains a brief about the projects that ChangeRepublic.Org will take up to solve the problems found during this market research.
Your views are important to us. Let us know your feedback by mailing us on yash@changerepublic.org. Finally, please feel free to share the report with as many people as you can.
The report can also be downloaded from the link below:
http://www.changerepublic.org/directory/initiatives/initiativedetails.php?id=569
The Ultimate Guide to Choosing WordPress Pros and Cons
ChangeRepublic.Org Marketing Research Report
1. ChangeRepublic.Org
Let Us Make A Better World Together
Top Problems that NGOs face
Market Research Project
By
Amit Mewar
Keyur Munot
Surabhi Vashisht
Varun Tejwani
SIBM, Pune
2. Acknowledgement
We, the team of Research and Scholastic development team of SIBM, Pune would like to thank
Change Republic for giving us a chance to carry out this project. We would also like to thank
Miss. Annie James (MBA Marketing) for providing us with her invaluable guidance and
comments. Last but not the least, we would like to thank Mithi Software Private Limited for
giving us access to their infrastructure for conducting the Focused Group Discussion.
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Summary - Marketing Research
Objective: To find out the ‘Top 5 problems NGOs face’.
Findings: Sample size for this research was 18 NGOs, working in the Pune, Maharashtra
region. NGOs were from varied sectors such as women welfare, rural development, child
welfare and others. Since our primary objective was to find top problems that NGOs
face, research tools such as questionnaires and focused group discussion were centered
on that. The market research yielded following list of top problems:
Funds: Both availability of funds for operations and continuity of these funds
had a direct impact on sustainability of NGOs.
Employee Shortage: Lack of availability of permanent and qualified employees.
Visibility: NGOs, considering the nature of their work, are facing problems in
creating awareness about their initiatives among masses.
Volunteer Participation: NGOs rely immensely on volunteer engagement. Lack
commitment and availability of volunteers are areas where NGOs face problems
Lack of Information: NGOs and their stakeholders are unaware about
legislatures, and governance policies that directly impact these NGOs
The Solution: ChangeRepublic.Org intends provide NGOs with a feature rich platform
that would aim at solving the above mentioned problems that NGOs face. To accomplish
this we will take up the following four projects:
Online network of Volunteers, NGOs and CSRs: By creating a network of
volunteers, NGOs and CSRs ChangeRepublic.Org aims to provide ample
opportunity to NGOs to succeed in carrying out any initiatives, whether this
means gathering resources, support, volunteers or collaborating with other
NGOs and CSRs.
Online Donations and Rating System: By providing online donations, the
world becomes the funding source of initiatives. People from any part of the
country or the world can contribute to initiatives monetarily in any amount
possible. We also believe that the NGOs must be held accountable for the money
that the get as donations. We will develop a rating system that will rate NGOs and
also other users based on the impact that they create through their initiatives.
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Online Promotion Tools for NGOs: Online promotion tools target visibility by
promoting initiatives across multiple social media websites and thereby
gathering momentum for initiatives.
E-commerce Platform for NGOs: ChangeRepublic.Org will develop an e-
commerce platform that will allow NGOs to sell their products worldwide. This
platform will help NGOs to generate revenues and thus giving a way to become
self-reliant.
Conclusion: Through ChangeRepublic.Org, all stakeholders be it volunteers, corporate
and individual philanthropists and NGOs themselves, can come together on a common
platform not just to solve problems NGOs face but also to bring about a social change
that our country needs.
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Contents
Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................................................................i
Summary - Marketing Research ................................................................................................................................. ii
Contents .............................................................................................................................................................................. iv
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................................................v
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Management Question.................................................................................................................................................... 2
Research Objective........................................................................................................................................................... 2
Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Data collection and Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Statistical Analysis of Data Collected ................................................................................................................... 7
Correlation Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 13
Conclusions and Findings ...........................................................................................................................................21
How will ChangeRepublic.Org help?.......................................................................................................................23
1.1. Online network of Volunteers, NGOs and CSRs ............................................................................. 23
1.2. Online Donations and Rating System ................................................................................................. 24
1.3. Online Promotion and Task Management Tools for NGOs ....................................................... 24
1.4. E-commerce for NGOs .............................................................................................................................. 25
Appendix A : The Questionnaire Used for Survey .............................................................................................27
INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................................................27
VOLUNTEERS ...................................................................................................................................................................27
FUNDS .................................................................................................................................................................................28
PROCESSES: ......................................................................................................................................................................28
MEDIA AND ENVIRONMENT BARRIERS ..............................................................................................................29
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List of Tables
Table 1 : Relation between Visibility and Availability of Funds................................................................. 14
Table 2 : Problems Faced By NGOs ........................................................................................................................ 15
Table 3 : Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Funds .......................................................... 16
Table 4 : Organizations benefitted by Change Republic ................................................................................ 16
Table 5 : Relation between visibility of NGOs and Volunteer Participation ......................................... 17
Table 6 : Volunteer Participation ............................................................................................................................ 18
Table 7 : Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Volunteers ................................................ 19
Table 8 : Organizations Benefitted by Change Republic ............................................................................... 20
7. Introduction
A study commissioned by government put the number of NGOs in India at 33 Lakhs in
2009. According to this study larger chunk of the NGOs are registered in Maharashtra
(Around 4.8 lakh). NGOs are working in the areas of child welfare, women
empowerment, education and literacy, shelter for poor, welfare of sex workers,
renewable energy, environment and forest, animal welfare etc. While government has
been the biggest donor followed by foreign contributors, individual donors are
emerging as a prominent source of funds. In spite of this, there are many NGOs which
close down because of the lack of funds and/or are barely able to survive. Apart from
lack of funds there are many other problems that NGOs face, due to both extrinsic and
intrinsic factors.
India is a country of two extremes. It is the world's eleventh largest economy, boasts a
Rs. 10,000 crore space programme and is itself an aid donor to other countries.
However, India is also host to a third of the world's poor. Indians gave Rs. 33,750 Crores
to charities, about 0.6% of India's GDP. Although the number of millionaires has
doubled in India, the philanthropic level has not showed much of an increment. India
has a fast-growing list of new billionaires and yet the country faces a growing divide
between the rich and the poor, more strikingly between urban and rural areas. To
bridge this gap, we need to look for avenues that would make directing funds in the
most needed places easier.
The other question that comes to mind is of the credibility of these institutions. How
does one know whether aid reaches the needy or does it get stuck with intermediaries?
Such are the doubts in the mind of donors. This paper tries to find out the major
problems that NGOs in India face such that these problems can be targeted and the gap
between the donors and NGOs can be effectively bridged.
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Management Question
How should Change Republic move ahead to take cognizance of the top problems faced
by NGOs and other non-profit organizations and find solutions for these problems?
From left to right.
Yash Lohiya, Head
Sales and Marketing
Gaurishankar
Todkari. Software
Developer
Malavika Oak,
Graphics Designer
Yash Sharma. Team
Lead
The Change Republic Team
Research Objective
The research objectives were:
Primary Objectives:
To find out the ‘Top 5 problems NGOs’ face.
Statistical understanding of different factors like age of NGOs, qualification of
volunteers, visibility of NGOs and factor their impact on the effectiveness of
NGOs
Correlation between demographic details of Target Group and the collected data.
For example, the availability of funds and visibility of the NGOs or ease of getting
volunteers and market reach of the NGOs
Secondary Objective:
Determining the efficacy of Change Republic in solving the major problems of
the NGOs
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Research Methodology
The research method followed in this project is a combination of Causal Research
methodology and Exploratory Research Methodology.
Causal research is used to obtain evidence of the cause-and-effect relationships. The
main method of this type of research is experimentation. In causal research, the
emphasis is on specific hypotheses about the effects of changes of one variable on
another variable. It involves experiment where an independent variable is changed or
manipulated to see how it affects a dependent variable by controlling the effects of
extraneous variables.
Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying
concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas and
forming hypothesis. It often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available
literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with
consumers, employees, management or competitors, and more formal approaches
through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot
studies, as in the case of this research.
Sampling
The sample size used in this survey is 18. The population set is stratified based on the
sectors in which the NGOs function and the sample contains NGOs from the most
populous NGO sectors in Pune city. The sampling technique used is Stratified Random
sampling, a method of sampling that involves the division of a population into smaller
groups known as strata. In stratified random sampling, the strata are formed based
on members' shared attributes or characteristics. A random sample from each stratum
is taken in a number proportional to the stratum's size when compared to the
population. These subsets of the strata are then pooled to form a random sample, which
is how it is done in the case of this research because the various NGOs work in different
spheres of causes (women empowerment, underprivileged children, aids workers, etc)
and it is essential to cover most of these spheres to able to get a better understanding of
the aspects that come into play with the work of these NGOs.
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Data Collection Methodology
The data is collected by using a combination of three approaches, namely:
1. Focussed Group Discussion (FGD)
An FGD is a qualitative market research technique wherein people from similar
backgrounds or experiences are brought together to discuss a specific topic to be
able to give more insight through their experiences. The purpose of an FGD is
To explore the range of opinions/views on a topic of interest
To explore meanings of survey findings that cannot be explained
statistically
2. Face to Face Interview
3. Surveys using questionnaire
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Data collection and Analysis
First, on the basis of secondary research, a questionnaire was prepared. The
questionnaire contained a total of 32 questions divided into 4 parts: Volunteers, Funds,
Market Reach and Miscellaneous. The questionnaire had subjective questions and
objective questions and questions which were a mix of both subjective and objective
questions. This questionnaire was then presented to various NGOs.
The other approach followed in this research was the FGD approach. In this, a small
group of people representing NGOs across sectors were brought together and guided by
a moderator through an unstructured, spontaneous discussion for the purpose of
gaining information relevant to the research problem. The information generated from
this discussion was used to design the questionnaire in a more pointed direction
keeping the subjectivity in measurable limits.
Niwant, is an NGO
that helps visually
challenged students
in pursuing higher
education after the
age of 18. While the
NGO can pay its
employees almost at
par with corporate
organizations.
Niwant is not able to
find the qualified
people it needs to
administer the NGO.
World Cup Celebrations at Niwant Andha Mukta Vikasalaya
The FGD we conducted for the research was attended by 6 representatives from NGOs
and CSR communities of a well known Indian IT company. The primary objective of the
research was to be able to explore various hurdles experienced by an NGO during its
operations and also to find the causes of these hurdles, The FGD provided insight into
the problems and depth into the understanding of the problems with inputs from each
of the participants who contributed and even complemented each others’ opinions.
With minimal interference from the moderator, who allowed the FGD to take its own
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flow at the same time not deviating from our objective, the FGD was useful for gaining
insight into various aspects that assisted the research.
Finally, to reduce the sampling error, Face to Face interviews were conducted to
correctly understand the problems NGOs face. The advantage of conducting these
interviews is that the interviewee correctly understands the question and gives answers
in a detailed fashion.
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Statistical Analysis of Data Collected
Our Sample Details
1. Pie Chart Depicting Age Of NGOs (in Years)
11%
0 to 5
22%
50% 5 to 10
10 to 15
17%
15 and above
Inference: Our sample has maximum NGOs in the age group 0-5 Years.
2. Pie Chart Depicting Sectors Of NGOs
Child welfare
Rural welfare
6% Women welfare
11% 22%
HIV +ve
Health
17% 5%
Physically handicapped
Mentally handicapped
11%
6% Diverse causes
6% 5% Aid to poor
11%
Spiritual education
Inference: Our sample has maximum NGOs operating in the area of Child Welfare
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Questionnaire Analysis
1. Pie Chart Depicting Audit of NGOs
11%
Audits done
Audits not done
89%
Inference: Almost all NGOs had their financial statements audited in house or by a third
part except 2 which were in their nascent stage of operations.
2. Pie Chart Depicting Qualification of Volunteers
22% 28%
School going
11%
Graduate
Working professional
39% Others
Inference: Most of the NGOs take graduates as their volunteers.
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3. Pie Chart Depicting Number of Volunteers
22% 28%
0-10
10-30
11%
30-60
17% 60-100
>100
22%
Inference: The organizations which are in their nascent stages function with less
volunteers. Since most of the organizations in our sample are between 0 to 5 yrs of age,
our analysis shows maximum NGOs functioning with fewer volunteers.
4. Pie Chart Depicting Operating Annual Funds
Annual funds
5% 6% 5%
17%
Less than 50K
50K – 1 lakh
1-5 lakh
5 -10 lakh
10 lakh and above
67%
Inference: Most of the organizations operate with annual funds of Rs 1-5 Lakhs.
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5. Pie Chart Depicting Biggest Source of funds for NGOs
0%
28%
CSR (Organizations)
Welfare Trusts
72% Individual donors
Inference: For most of the organizations surveyed, the biggest source of funds is the CSR
initiatives of companies. 72% of NGOs have this as their funding source.
6. Bar Graph Depicting Visibility Across Various Media
8
7
7
6
Number of NGOs
5
4
4
3
3
2
1
1
0
Website TV ad Newspaper ad Radio ad
Inference: Only one NGO in our sample has the funds to advertise using the medium of
television. 7 out of 17 NGOs have an online presence. The Web is the primary source of
communication and visibility for most of the NGOs surveyed.
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Problems Faced by NGOs
The response of 18 NGOs about problems they faced has been illustrated in the bar
chart below:
16 15
14 13
12
10 10
10 9 9
8 7
6
4
2
2
0
Inferences
13 out of 18 NGOS felt that availability of funds is a problem.
7 out of 18 NGOs felt that getting volunteers is a problem for them.
Most of the NGOs had multiple problems. Therefore, we asked them to rank their
problems based on their analysis of severity of the problem.
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Pie Chart Depicting Biggest Problems NGOs Face
This way, we could understand the biggest problem for each and every NGO. The same
has been illustrated in the pie chart below:
0%
6%
11%
Funds
22%
61% Volunteers
Trainers
Information
Inference: Availability of funds is the biggest problem for maximum number of NGOs.
The point to be noted here is that no NGO thought that low visibility is the biggest
problem for them. In our following analysis, we would prove that visibility as a problem
leads to other problems in the NGO space.
Interesting Bits: Why the name ChangeRepublic?
Change Republic’s name finds its inspiration from two sources - people and
change. Republic - a system in which the supreme power lies with citizens –
CHANGE serves as the guiding philosophy of Change Republic. Change - in our attitude
REPUBLIC towards the social causes – is what Change Republic strives for. We must stand
up and work together to make our society a better place to live.
Interesting Bits Box 1
19. ChangeRepublic.Org 13
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Correlation Analysis
After doing the data analysis, our objective was to find out the correlation between the
problems of the NGOs to get a better understanding of their problems and understand
how some problems of NGOs are not actual problems but symptoms of some other
problems. Whilst conducting the Qualitative research during the FGD and face to face
interviews, we found the following factors to be correlated and hence wanted to
quantify the responses to support the finding, as follows:
Relation between Visibility and Availability of Funds
The NGO intends to
construct a
meditation centre in
the village Achler.
The center will also
provide much needed
employment
opportunities to
locals. However, as
the NGO lacks
visibility, it has not
been able to raise the
required funds
through donations
AIDS awareness campaign by Amitabh Bhuddist Society in the village Achler
Availability of funds as discussed in the data analysis above is a major problem faced by
13 out of 18 NGOs. Our intention here is to find out the relation between 2 problems
that we feel are closely related. One is visibility and the other is availability of funds.
Surveyed NGOs Availability of Funds Visibility Relation
Bhoomi Y N 0
Nivant Y Y 1
CSSY Y N 0
Doorsteps Y N 0
IDEA Y Y 1
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Surveyed NGOs Availability of Funds Visibility Relation
FoC Y N 0
BlueCross N N 1
Ishwarpuram N N 1
Aasha Samajik Prathisthan Y Y 1
Prayaas Y Y 1
Sahyog Trust N Y 0
Sambhavna Society Y Y 1
Navkshitij Y N 0
Shelter Associates N N 1
Rural Foundation Y Y 1
Amitabh Buddhist Society Y Y 1
Chaitnya India N N 1
Nayee Udaan Y Y 1
Table 1 : Relation between Visibility and Availability of Funds
Pie Chart Depicting Relation between Visibility and Availability of Funds
No relation
29%
Close
relation
71%
Inferences
12 out of 17 organizations in our sample express a close relation of visibility with
availability of funds. As the visibility of NGOs increases, it becomes easier for them to
attract funds from different locations.
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We see that in 71% of the cases, an NGO having visibility as a problem also has
availability of funds as a problem. Hence there is a relation to the extent of 71%
between them.
There might be some other factors which also have an impact on availability of
funds. We found out that internal problems like accountability and management of
funds also resulted in problems of availability of funds. The reason for the same is
that companies do not want to invest in NGOs which do not have a clear plan of
utilisation of funds (management) and accountability (regular audits) of funds.
The point to be noted here is that availability of funds and continuity of funds both
are functions of 3 things:
Problems Faced By NGOs Type of Problem
Accountability of funds Internal problem
Management of funds (a proper plan) Internal problem
Visibility External problem
Table 2 : Problems Faced By NGOs
Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Funds
Change Republic cannot directly solve internal problems of NGOs like accountability
and management of funds. It can help an NGO get better visibility and thereby ensure
flow of funds into the NGO. Therefore, we next analysed the responses of NGOs again
with respect to visibility and accountability and management of funds.
1. Organizations which have internal issues of accountability and management of
funds will not gain access to funds only by gaining visibility. They need to resolve
their internal issues. These organizations will be benefitted only to a limited
extent by Change Republic.
2. Organizations which do not have internal issues but have visibility as an external
problem stand to gain a lot by gaining visibility. These organizations will be
benefitted to a large extent by Change Republic.
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Accountability and
Surveyed NGOs Visibility Relation
Management of Funds
Bhoomi N N Not considered
Nivant N Y 1
CSSY N N Not considered
Doorsteps Y N Not considered
IDEA Y Y 0
FoC Y N Not considered
BlueCross N N Not considered
Ishwarpuram N N Not considered
Aasha Samajik Prathisthan N Y 1
Prayaas N Y 1
Sahyog Trust N Y 1
Sambhavna Society N Y 1
Navkshitij N N Not considered
Shelter Associates N N Not considered
Rural Foundation Y Y 0
Amitabh Buddhist Society Y Y 0
Chaitnya India N N Not considered
Nayee Udaan N Y 1
Table 3 : Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Funds
The NGOs which don't have visibility as a problem have therefore not been
considered because they don't directly fall under our target group.
Now, 6 NGOs which have only visibility as a problem and not accountability of funds as
a problem will be benefitted totally by Change Republic to the extent of 100% but 3
NGOs which have both visibility and accountability as a problem will be benefitted only
to the extent of 71% by Change Republic.
Particulars Number Weightage
Organizations benefitted to a large extent 6 1
Organizations benefitted to a limited extent 3 0.71
Table 4 : Organizations benefitted by Change Republic
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Finally using expected value concept, the number of NGOs benefitted in case of funds =
6*1+3*.71= 8.13.
8.13 out of 18 NGOs surveyed comes out to be 47%. Change Republic will create a
significant impact by giving visibility to and thereby ensuring availability of funds to
47% of NGOs in the sample.
Relation between visibility of NGOs and Volunteer Participation
Similarly, we tried to determine the relation between 2 problems that we think, again
are interrelated. One is visibility and the other is volunteer participation.
Surveyed NGOs Getting Volunteers Visibility Relation
Bhoomi Y N 0
Nivant N Y 0
CSSY N N 1
Doorsteps Y N 0
IDEA Y Y 1
FoC N N 1
BlueCross N N 1
Ishwarpuram N N 1
Aasha Samajik Prathisthan N Y 0
Prayaas N Y 0
Sahyog Trust N Y 0
Sambhavna Society Y Y 1
Navkshitij Y N 0
Shelter Associates N N 1
Rural Foundation Y Y 1
Amitabh Buddhist Society N Y 0
Chaitnya India N N 1
Nayee Udaan Y Y 1
Table 5 : Relation between visibility of NGOs and Volunteer Participation
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Pie Chart Depicting Relation between Visibility and Volunteer Participation
No relation
41% Close
Relation
59%
Inferences:
10 out of 17 organizations in our sample express a close relation of visibility with
getting volunteers. If the NGOs are given a better platform to express what their
organization does, then it is easier to attract passionate volunteers.
We can see, there is relation to the extent of 59% between visibility and volunteer
participation.
Hence there might be some other factors also which have an impact on volunteer
participation. In the exploratory research, we found out that volunteer participation
is a function of two things.
Problem Faced by NGOs Type of Problem
Engaging volunteers continuously Internal problem
Visibility External problem
Table 6 : Volunteer Participation
Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Volunteers
1. Organizations that have internal issues of not being able to engage volunteers
continuously will not be benefitted by visibility alone. Only resolving their internal
issues, can they acquire good volunteer participation and not just by gaining
visibility. These organizations will be benefitted only to a certain extent by Change
Republic.
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2. Organizations which do not have internal issues but have visibility as an external
problem stand to gain a lot by gaining visibility. These organizations will be
benefitted to a large extent by Change Republic.
Surveyed NGOs Engaging Volunteers Continuously Visibility Relation
Bhoomi Y N Not considered
Nivant N Y 1
CSSY N N Not considered
Doorsteps N N Not considered
IDEA N Y 1
FoC Y N Not considered
BlueCross Y N Not considered
Ishwarpuram N N Not considered
Aasha Samajik Prathisthan N Y 1
Prayaas N Y 1
Sahyog Trust N Y 1
Sambhavna Society N Y 1
Navkshitij Y N Not considered
Shelter Associates N N Not considered
Rural Foundation Y Y 0
Amitabh Buddhist Society Y Y 0
Chaitnya India Y N Not considered
Nayee Udaan Y Y 0
Table 7 : Estimating efficacy of Change Republic in Getting Volunteers
The NGOs which do not have visibility as a problem have therefore not been considered
because they do not directly fall under our target group.
Now, 6 NGOs which have only visibility as a problem and not engaging volunteers
continuously as a problem will be benefitted totally by Change Republic to the extent of
100% but 3 NGOs which have both visibility and engaging volunteers continuously will
be benefitted only to the extent of 59% by Change Republic.
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Particulars Number Weightage
Organizations benefitted to a large extent 6 1
Organizations benefitted to a limited extent 3 0.59
Table 8 : Organizations Benefitted by Change Republic
Total NGOs that can benefit (pertaining to funds) = 6*1+3*0.71= 7.77
7.77 out of 18 NGOs comes out to be 43%
Change Republic will create a significant impact by giving visibility to them and thereby
ensuring better volunteer participation to 43% of NGOs in the sample.
Interesting Bits: What does Change Republic’s logo stand for?
Change Republic’s logo represents the values it stands for. The blue circle
denotes the Earth – a global community. The star stands for our social goal - an
ideal society. The people represent us – the citizens. All of us, around the
world, stand together to act on our common goal of creating a great society.
Interesting Bits Box 2
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Conclusions and Findings
1. The biggest problems that NGOs face:
a. Funds (Availability/Continuity)
b. Well trained staff/permanent employees
c. Visibility
d. Volunteer participation
e. Lack of information ( about other NGOs working in the same field,
government and civic laws, and general information as such that will benefit
their functioning)
2. Around 50% of the NGOs are 0-5 year old and 17% are 5-10 years old. These new
NGOs do not have proper systems in place and have visibility as a major concern.
Due to low visibility levels, they do not have the funds or the necessary volunteer
strength to carry out their initiatives.
3. 39% of NGOs want their volunteers to be graduates meaning that the quality of
volunteers required in the industry is high. The problem is to keep these volunteers
motivated to keep the model sustainable. A lot of NGOs have problems in keeping
their volunteers engaged continuously because of which they have problems of
attrition. Until the NGOs do not rectify this problem, getting visibility alone will not
make a significant difference in the volunteer space.
4. The biggest source of funds for NGOs is CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) – 72%.
Individuals donate but only in small amounts. Companies have money to donate but
they need to know how their money is getting utilised. NGOs which have a proper
plan in place get funds from CSR while others which do not have a proper plan fail to
get funds from CSR. NGOs need to show proper accountability and management of
funds to tap the funds from CSR.
5. Only one NGO has the funds to give a TV ad since it costs approximately 3 to 10
Lakhs. A TV commercial cannot give enough information about the NGO in 30
seconds hence the Return on Investment (ROI) would, in our opinion, be less for this
medium.
6. 7 out of 17 NGOs have an online presence. Websites give a lot of information in one
go and can also be enabled with a donate option which makes it easy for the donor
to donate if he/she wants to be associated with the cause. Hence online presence is
the way ahead for achieving higher levels of visibility.
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7. There is relation to the extent of 71% between visibility and availability of funds.
The percentage of NGOs that can be benefitted in the funds domain by achieving
significant level of visibility is 47%.
8. There is relation to the extent of 59% between visibility and volunteer participation.
The percentage of NGOs that can be benefitted in the volunteer domain by gaining
visibility is 43%.
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How will ChangeRepublic.Org help?
ChangeRepublic.Org is proposing the following activities in the coming year:
Online network of Volunteers, NGOs and CSRs
Online Donations and Rating System
Online Promotion and Task Management Tools for NGOs
E-commerce for NGOs
1.1. Online network of Volunteers, NGOs and CSRs
The setting up of online networks of volunteers, NGOs and CSRs will aim to target the
issues pertaining to Funding, Visibility, Volunteer participation & Quality of volunteers.
By creating a network of volunteers, NGOs and CSRs ChangeRepublic.Org aims to
provide ample opportunity to NGOs to succeed in carrying out any initiatives, whether
this means gathering resources, support, volunteers or collaborating with other NGOs.
While ChangeRepublic.Org has a directory of Volunteer and NGOs and that users can
view the organizational profile of any NGO in its directory, we will be enhancing the
features of the directory and also those of the user profiles. Following are the features
that we will provide:
A directory of corporate CSRs (Corporate Social Responsibly) across India. This
would enable NGOs to network with CSRs and would also enable CSRs to
network with each other.
For the profiles of NGOs, Volunteers, Profiles we would be adding features such
as uploading of photographs, videos and other rich media. The users will also
have the ability to showcase their financial and operational documents.
To increase interaction and collaboration between users we will develop blogs
and discussion forums on ChangeRepublic.Org.
Users will be able to upload and showcase photographs, videos and other rich
media in the initiatives that they start. This feature would enable NGOs and other
users to show the initiatives that they are currently working on and thus allow
other users to collaborate with the NGOs to take the initiatives forward.
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1.2. Online Donations and Rating System
This system looks to target funding and quality of volunteers and initiatives. By
providing online donations, the world becomes the funding source of initiatives. People
from any part of the country or the world can contribute to initiatives monetarily in any
amount possible. The rating system will allow for genuine initiatives, volunteers and
CSRs to be part of ChangeRepublic.Org, where in feedback can be provided openly and
thereby allowing the entire ecosystem of social change to gain maturity over time.
ChangeRepublic.Org will develop an online tool that allows users to donate funds to
NGOs. As expressed in the marketing research report presented by ChangeRepublic.Org,
access to funds is the top problem that NGOs face today. By providing an online
donation platform, coupled with a large user base, ChangeRepublic.Org will provide
opportunity for funds to NGOs. ChangeRepublic.Org believes that there are 2 ways to
reach out for funds, the first is to reach out to philanthropists and corporate
organizations that can provide sizeable amount of funds, and the second way is to ask
reach out to a large number of common people to donate a very small portion of their
money thereby creating a large pool of money.
As part of this project ChangeRepublic.Org will develop an online tool that provides a
payment gateway for direct donation, a financial dashboard that shows a snapshot of
funds procured for initiatives and promote initiatives that required funding. Users will
be able to donate money to these NGOs using credit cards and internet banking.
We also believe that the NGOs must be held accountable for the money that the get as
donations. Keeping in line with this view, ChangeRepublic.Org will develop a rating
system that will rate NGOs and also other users based on the impact that they create
through their initiatives. Both volunteers and donors will rate the NGOs depending
work done by the NGOs.
1.3. Online Promotion and Task Management Tools for NGOs
Online promotion tools target visibility by promoting initiatives across multiple social
media websites and thereby gathering momentum for initiatives. People can view, join
and follow the initiatives of any NGO and CSR and this will create an open, reputable
environment for promotion of social initiatives. Task management will help organizing
people, resources and time and thereby improving the quality of work overall.
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ChangeRepublic.Org will develop tools that would allow NGOs to automate promotion
of their initiatives on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The
promotion tools will post details of initiatives on social media networks at regular
intervals throughout the day. The NGOs will be able to control the frequency and the
time at which the initiatives are posted on social media networks. This will help NGOs
get visibility on such social media networks without investing in social media
marketing.
Further, NGOs will also have tools to make their newsletters on ChangeRepublic.Org and
send them across their network. This tool will allow NGOs to enhance their visibility and
also the visibility of their initiatives.
We will also develop a Task Management tool for NGOs and other users that will attract
more volunteers/employees who can work from home on managing initiatives. This will
help in towards solving shortage of qualified employees or volunteers.
1.4. E-commerce for NGOs
ChangeRepublic.Org will develop an e-commerce platform that will allow NGOs to sell
their products worldwide. This platform will help NGOs to generate revenues and thus
giving a way to become self-reliant. Following will be the features that will be developed
as a part of the e-commerce platform:
Online web stores that will allow NGOs to post their products online.
Inventory management tools.
Reporting tools that will allow NGOs to track their revenues.
Secure online payment options.
Customer Feedback
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Limitations/Constraints
These are the factors that need to be kept in mind before considering the data facts and
conclusions.
The research design used for this report is "Exploratory Research". This consists of an
unstructured research that is undertaken to gain background information about the
general nature of the research problem. When little is known about the problem or
when the problem is not clearly formulated, this type of research is followed. The
results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by
themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation.
Focus groups are a powerful means to evaluate services or test new ideas. Basically,
focus groups are interviews, but of 6-10 people at the same time in the same group. One
can get a great deal of information during a focus group session. But they have the
limitations subject to focus groups; most important of which is that the discussion is
subject to the judgement of the moderator. The data which results from a focus group
requires skill and experience to analyse and can prove difficult.
Although, face to face interviews were conducted to reduce the sampling error, but that
error can never be reduced to zero.
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Appendix A : The Questionnaire Used for Survey
QUESTIONNAIRE – TO UNDERSTAND PROBLEMS NGOS IN PUNE FACE?
INFORMATION:
1. Name of NGO:
2. Name of NGO representative:
3. Position of NGO Representative
4. Location of the NGO:
5. Sector in which you(NGO) function:
6. Name of Founder(of NGO):
1. Please rank your most important problem – 1 being most important, 5 being least
important
Fluctuating Funds
Lack of monetary funds
Lack of funds In Kind
Lack of volunteers
Lack of processes
Lack of permanent human resource
Feasibility of environment (Government laws, permissions, grants, etc)
Lack of Infrastructure
2. Have you considered “Shutting down” due to any problem? Yes/no. If yes, please
specify the problem.
3. What were the problems you faced when you started with your NGO?
4. Do you have accurate financial statements of the past 3 years?
VOLUNTEERS:
1. How many volunteers do you currently have?
2. What is the education level of the volunteers that you currently have?
3. Do you have awards and recognition / stipend / certificates given to your
volunteers?
4. Are the volunteers that work for you reliable and come regularly?
5. What is your volunteer recruitment model? Do you have one?
6. What would be the profile of a typical volunteer?
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a. school going
b. graduate
c. working professional
d. others, please specify
7. How many full time employees do you currently have and what is a typical profile
of a full time employee?
8. Do you need any full time employees?
9. What would be the qualification that you would be looking for in a full time
employee?
FUNDS:
1. Who is the biggest donator to your organization?
2. How is he/she related to your organization?
3. What has the biggest donation to your org been so far?
4. What is the frequency of funds that you receive?
a. Once a month
b. Every quarter
c. Bi Annually
d. Yearly
e. Lump Sum
f. Others. Please specify
5. What are the average funds that you have received in the past 2 years?
a. Less than 50K
b. 50K – 1 lakh
c. 1-5 lakh
d. 5 -10 lakh
e. 10 lakh and above
f. Others. Please specify
6. Rate the following in the order of importance of “IN KIND DONATIONS”
a. Food/Clothes/Medicines
b. Infrastructure (Shelter)
c. Technological Equipment (Computers, Phones, etc)
d. Office Equipment(Tables, Chairs)
e. Media Coverage
7. Have you ever got any CSR help in form of donations/funds/etc.?
8. If yes, from whom and how much?
9. Also, how did you approach the company for CSR help?
PROCESSES:
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1. Do you have documented policies which are being followed in your organization?
2. If yes, please specify which ones.
3. Do you have a hierarchical structure or do you follow a flat organization structure?
4. Who in your organization is responsible for communication with the government, or
who deals with the law related issues?
5. Do you have an allocation structure which is followed when you receive funds?
6. Do you have a follow up process which you use to follow up with your corporate
ties/banks/donators/etc
7. Do you have 3rd party audits that happen in your organization? If yes, please specify
who does it and what process do you follow.
MEDIA AND ENVIRONMENT BARRIERS
1. Do you face any problems from the government barriers/laws/ permissions etc? If
yes, please specify
2. Have you ever received any help from the government? If yes, please specify.
3. Do you have a website?
4. Do you market on a newspaper /TV/Radio?