How To Scale Charitable Impact through online learning
Since the outbreak began numerous charities have been forced to reconsider how they can increase their impact and maintain their presence in the local community through online methods.
The charity sector is not an industry that is well-known for its early adoption of new technology though as per Thrive For Good's International Executive Director, James Woller. "Charities are more conventional and conservative in their efforts to scale. The Thrive team had to adopt an alternative approach in order to go forward, and that required taking risks and providing training via virtual ," he explains.
The introduction of online learning has helped this nonprofit increase its reach. "Before it was a matter of impacting more than 30,000 individuals. In the present, we're affecting nearly 80k. We went from 550 communities and close to 800. seven countries to 47, as well as expanding to countries we never could have dreamed of." Woller says. Woller.
Another organization that has had to come up with new ideas in order to meet the challenges caused to them by COV-19. One of these is Vayu Global Health Foundation. Prior to the epidemic, Burke was traveling every couple of weeks to teach medical specialists in person. As travel has not been feasible, the Vayu team developed a course to do virtual training for everyone around the globe.
"We use strictly as an education platform," says Vayu's executive director Thomas Burke. "Without the platform, our work could have been brought in a stop 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 the ways they managed to enhance their impact in such an uncertain time in the world. We learned that they were able do so in two ways by teaching on the internet and looking at the charity sector through a more progressive lens. Here's how they scaled their impact on charity:
1. Online Teaching
Thrive For Good
The world's population is dwindling to two billion and they don't receive the nutrients they need. Thrive For Good provides communities worldwide with skills to sustainably produce nutritious, organic food for the long haul by providing those who want to learn how to cultivate food for themselves as well as their loved ones and partners who are able to incorporate the Thrive's principles into their own programmes. The organization generates close to one million Canadian dollars every month in foods in their community gardens based on 50 cents per meal.
Through partnerships in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, Woller says they couldn't have scaled their impact without the development of online learning courses.
While online learning has increased the size of the company, it's also made it easier to deal with the issues posed by covid-19. "Just this morning, I am on the phone with my partner from Uganda which is a place where the boundaries are closed and mobility is severely restricted... It would be incredibly difficult to find an instructor in-person at the moment, and that's the reason online education can ."
Woller claims that the company is able to save a significant amount of funds by relocating to the internet. "We're saving tens of thousands of dollars through using . If we had to send an Thrive trainer to every partner organization's community for a month, it would be impossible to expand in the manner that we have," he says.
Vayu Global Health
Thomas Burke, emergency doctor and professor in the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, manages both of the branches of his company : Vayu Global Health Foundation and Vayu Global Health Innovations.
The Vayu Global Health Foundations is a trust for charitable purposes that concentrates in identifying and providing breakthrough solutions that have a transformative effect to improve newborn, maternal and the health of children. The Vayu Global Health Innovations arm of the company is a public benefit company, meaning they're signed with the World Health Organization as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and have a strong commitment to global health and the community.
At Vayu They've designed medical devices to ease CPAP and bronchial asthma, which Burke says is one of the most deadly killers for youngsters under the age of five. The device used to treat this condition is able to decrease mortality by 66%. Since most devices require power, they're expensive for countries with low incomes. The Vayu team developed a device that costs $300- a fraction of the price for the gold standard CPAP device worth $12,000 -and it provides the same high-quality. It doesn't require electricity or bioengineering assistance, which makes it simple for those with limited resources to use. Through the use of it, users are capable of instructing local doctors on how to utilize the gadget.
Because the CPAP course has proved to be extremely successful and they're working on an additional course that will teach medical professionals how to use their new device that's an oxygen blender. The typical price is $1200. they've made the same product for only $50 to help children with pneumonia or difficulty breathing.
In addition, the virtual platform make it possible to expand the reach of people it also helps to standardize the medical device training. "We are able to have master instructors from each country, but it's not sufficient. This training helps us standardize the quality of teaching methods as well as testing. It is on the way to the rest of us." the trainer says.
2. Utilizing a progressive lense
Thrive For Good
Woller claims that traditional methods isn't always the best way to scale charitable impact. "The very nature of a foundation's existence is dependent by donations and charitable giving. Traditional relationships between a donor or philanthropist and the charitable organization that is delivering the program presents some challenges when scaling," He explains. "Donors don't necessarily want their cash going toward technology upgrades... It's their preference to prefer to see their money go towards initiatives... However through the development of capacity via technology, things are able to grow ."
Thrive's innovation has come from looking at organizations that are already focusing on organic farming and nutrition and then enhancing their efforts. "We didn't have to double the budget in order to make a double impact. We've shifted from a B2C to a B2B model. We prefer to think of ourselves as Java within your personal computer. we don't have to be Dell and Apple. We are able to white-label what we offer. This is a new approach in the charitable space ."
The company has been able to expand their activities since launching online, Woller explains. "We were recently contacted by an organization from India that has dozens of training centres, 8,000 staff and community workers and millions of beneficiaries. We were contacted by them with worries about food security in India, as well as the issue of covid-19 and have asked to push all their training to Thrive. That's scale."
Woller is a firm believer in the importance of charities trying new things and taking chances. The online learning was an experiment that paid dividends. "I think a couple of moments of ingenuity within the charitable space is greatly needed. Making an impact requires taking risks. I'm really glad we made the decision to explore online learning." He says.
Although Woller admits that risk taking may be scary, he believes that the results can often be surprising and is an inherent element of the entrepreneurial experience. Woller says "Ninety percent of all businesses fail, yet entrepreneurs maintain their moving forward ."
Vayu Global Health
It is the Vayu Global Health Innovations approach is based on establishing a solid revenue base in order to be self-sufficient and expand their activities without the need for donations. "This is the most unique approach in the charitable space," he says.
With an advanced lens, they've used to deliver online training. It means they're able to access a much broader population than if they were to solely use in-person instruction. "We are able to think bigger with across populations and systems of care more readily than demonstration programs ."
When it comes to online learning, Burke believes that the results are only as good as the work you put in. "You must be aware that it's not trivial to create quality educational material," he says. "Teaching includes some form of entertaining as you're trying to attract the attention of your viewers. It can't just be about giving information. You need to be creative and have fun with it ."
Burke also advises that charities collaborate with locals of the communities they're teaching when creating their materials. "It's an excellent idea for charities to co-create with local people instead of having the same idea of an Americanized instrument that they're trying to throw over the Atlantic. I'm not sure that this can be successful," he says.
To summarize, creating an online course can be a significant stage in the world of charity and can greatly boost the ability of an organization to expand. Making a risk, being creative, and thinking outside of the boundaries can assist an organization increase its influence and influence.