Benefits of digitisation and fund-raising possibilities for small/medium NGOs

If the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved by India, then it is imperative that civil society supplements the efforts/spends of the government in the manifold spheres of social development.

For the social sector, the driving force is the ability to design and implement interventions that create high impact, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. Thereafter, the ability to scale up quickly, to have a large sphere of influence, and to make a difference in the lives of the communities, especially the underprivileged.

This objective clearly requires resources to reach out to a wider set of relevant stakeholders and adequate funding. Even though philanthropic (institutional and individual) and CSR funding has grown over the years in India, traditional themes like education and livelihoods have suffered in the last 2-3 years due to the diversion of funds for Covid-related causes. Rule changes in applicable regulations, like FCRA, have also put the brakes on some forms of funding that were available earlier.

The category of civil society that has been impacted the highest on this account is that of the small and medium-sized NGOs.

If this challenge is to be mitigated to an extent, then it is necessary for small and medium-sized NGOs to not only recognise the power that digitisation holds for their organisation but be enabled to implement digitisation, and to manage the initiative well, going forward. They would also gain significantly if their team were to build the capability of leveraging this digital presence to raise funds through crowd-funding, which has been gaining ground in recent times.

The first episode “Why NGOs should have a digital presence and how digitisation could help them in fund-raising”, of the webinar series “Social sector Samvaad” organised by SPJIMR Centre for Innovation in Social Development (CISD) intends to bridge this gap. The speaker, Chet Jainn, of Crowdera Foundation, is highly knowledgeable in the field, and participants in the webinar will obtain useful information to help them with digitisation.