How To Scale Charitable Impact Through Online Learning
Since the outbreak started, many charities have had to think about how to increase the impact of their work and sustain their presence in the local community through online means.
The sector of charitable giving isn't one of the sectors that's well-known for being an early adopter of new technology though as per Thrive For Good's international Executive Director James Woller. "Charities are more traditional and conservative in their efforts to expand. Thrive's had to take an alternative approach in order to go forward. That meant taking a risk and providing training via virtual ," he explains.
Introducing online learning is what's allowed this charity to scale its impact. "Before , we were impacting close to 30,000 people. Today, we're impacting nearly 80.000. We went from 550 communities and close to 800. seven nations to 47 and now we're expanding into places we never could have dreamed of." Woller adds. Woller.
Another charity that's had to come up with new ideas in order to meet the challenges caused by covid-19 is Vayu Global Health Foundation. Before the outbreak, Burke was traveling every several weeks to instruct medical specialists in the field. Because traveling was not feasible and the Vayu team designed an online program to provide training, and to reach out to everyone around the globe.
"We use strictly for education purposes," says Vayu's executive director Thomas Burke. "Without , our efforts would have slowed to an end because of the pandemic ."
We had a chat with the 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 unstable time across the globe. We found out they could achieve this through two methods through online teaching and looking at the charitable space from an increasingly progressive perspective. Here's how they scaled their charitable impact:
1. Online Teaching
Thrive For Good
2 billion people aren't getting the nutrients they need. Thrive For Good provides individuals and communities around the world with tools to sustainably cultivate nutritious, organic food to sustain their lives by educating people who are able to cultivate foods for their own and their loved ones, as well as partner organizations who can implement the principles of Thrive into their programmes. The organization creates more than a million Canadian dollars per month of food in their community gardens which is based upon 50 cents per meal.
Partnering with partners across Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, Woller says they would not be able to scale their reach without the advent of online courses.
While online learning has helped the organization scale, it's also made it easier to navigate the challenges caused by covid-19. "Just this morning, I was on a call with a partner in Uganda which is a place where the border is locked and movement is completely prohibited... It would be incredibly difficult to find someone in person to train right now, which is the reason online education can ."
Woller claims that the company has saved a lot of money since moving online. "We're saving thousands of dollars by making use of . If we were to deliver a physical trained Thrive instructor to each partner organization's community over the course of a month and then it wouldn't be possible to grow in the same way we've done," he says.
Vayu Global Health
Thomas Burke, emergency doctor and professor of the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, manages both of the branches of the organization he founded : Vayu Global Health Foundation and Vayu Global Health Innovations.
The Vayu Global Health Foundations is an charitable trust that is focused on identifying and implementing innovative solutions with a high impact that can be transformative for newborn, maternal and the health of children. The Vayu Global Health Innovations arm of the organization is a publicly-owned company, meaning they're signed with the World Health Organization as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and fully dedicated to the global community and good.
At Vayu They've designed medical devices to ease CPAP and bronchial asthma, which Burke says is one of the leading killers among youngsters under the age of five. The device used for treating this disease has the ability to reduce mortality by 66 percent. Because most of these devices use electricity, they're costly for countries with low incomes. The Vayu team developed a device priced at $300, a fraction of the price for the standard CPAP device worth $12,000 -and it provides the same high-quality. The device doesn't need electricity or bioengineering support and is therefore easy to those who have limited resources to make use of. By using , they're equipped to instruct local medical professionals on how to operate the device.
Because the CPAP training was an enormous success and they're working on another program to train medical professionals how to use their latest device, which is an oxygen mixer. The typical price is $1200. they've made the same product that costs just $50 for children with pneumonia or difficulty breathing.
The virtual platform make it possible to expand the reach of people it also aids in standardizing the instruction for medical devices. "We have master trainers from each country however, it's not enough. The training allows us to ensure the standardization of the teaching methods as well as testing. is here to stay for our students," he says.
2. Using a progressive lense
Thrive For Good
Woller says that using traditional methods isn't always the best way to grow the charitable impact. "The very nature of the existence of a charitable organization is based upon donations and charitable contributions. The traditional relationship between donor or philanthropist and the charitable organization that is delivering the program poses some issues when scaling," the author states. "Donors do not necessarily wish to see their cash going toward improvements in technology... The majority of them would prefer spend their money on programs... However, by building up capacities through technology, it's possible to expand ."
The company's innovations have come from studying organizations already focused on organic farming as well as nutrition, and further expanding their work. "We weren't required to double the budget in order to make a double impact. We've shifted from a B2C to a B2B model. We would like to imagine our products as Java on your PC; we don't have to be Dell or Apple. We are able to white-label what we do. And that's innovative in the charitable space ."
They've managed to increase the scale of their activities since launching to the Internet, Woller explains. "We have been recently approached by an organization located in India with a number of training centers, 18,000 people employed and community members, and millions of people who benefit. They approached us about their concern about the food security situation in India, as well as the issue of covid-19 and asked us to move all of their training through the Thrive. That's scale."
Woller firmly believes in the value of charitable organizations exploring new ideas and taking risk. Their online education was a gamble which paid off with great results. "I think a couple of instances of creativity in the field of charitable work is needed. In order to make an impact, it's necessary to take risk. We're very happy we took the risk to explore online learning." the professor states.
Although Woller acknowledges that taking risks can be scary However, he thinks that the outcomes can be awe-inspiring and are a natural aspect of the entrepreneurial process. According to him "Ninety percent of all businesses are unsuccessful, however entrepreneurs continue to keep going ."
Vayu Global Health
The Vayu Global Health Innovations model is built on the development of a robust income base to grow and self-sufficiently expand the scope of their work without having to rely on donations. "This is the most unique approach in the charitable space," he says.
Through the use of the progressive lens, they've been able an online platform to offer training. This means that they're in a position to reach a broader population than if they were to solely use in-person instruction. "We have the ability 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 result is only as effective as the work you put into. "You need to be aware of the fact that it's not trivial to develop educational materials of high quality," he says. "Teaching requires some type of entertaining as you're trying to grab the attention of your students. The focus shouldn't only be on delivering information; You have to have fun and be imaginative. the time of your life. ."
Burke suggests that charitable organizations team up with locals in the areas they're working to develop their material. "It's an excellent idea that charities collaborate on projects with local individuals rather than have an Americanized instrument that is trying to carry into the sea. I doubt that it will succeed," he says.
For a brief overview, implementing an online course is a progressive stage in the world of charity and can greatly boost the capacity of an organization to grow. Being bold, taking risks and thinking out of the boundaries can assist the charity to increase its reach and impact.