We made a facebook page for the NGO and have actively promoted it since last one month. The facebook page has 130+ likes and many shares. We regularly update it with news from orphanage, thought for the day and news about donation process. We have also shared the videos that we had shot at the orphanage. https://www.facebook.com/sadasivabalasadanam 2. Promotional Videos for the NGO When we visited the NGO, we had shot two small promotional videos that can be used to pitch to the donors. We have shared these videos on facebook. The videos also include messages from the members of the NGO trust. 3. Donation boxes We have already placed an order for donation boxes. We will place them at different locations in Kunnamangalam within this week. The progress made within this week will be included in the final presentation. 4. Cards for guests in marriage functions The Thank you note card for wedding/birthday of donors has also been designed. We have submitted it to the NGO. 5. Signing up of new donors We have also floated the form for signing up of donors who would wish to give small donations on their birthdays. As of now 40 people have signed up for the cause. 6. Existing donors database When we visited the orphanage, we had looked at the excel database maintained by the NGO and had suggested ways to improve it there and then. We had also recommended them to contact their regular donors and stay in touch with them via email and phone messages.
Key Learnings It is hard to persuade people to donate money Since there so many orphanages and NGOs , it is very difficult to establish credibility of our cause Any NGO has to function according to government rules, their space available, no. Of mentors, etc. Specifications. And even if the NGO has followed everything, government does not generally grant money easily. Bureaucracy exists here also Planning is easy; however implementation is difficult because it needs coordination between various stakeholders. As initially we had suggested 10 measures for fund- raising, but due to time and resource constraint, our mentor cut it short to 4 ideas with measurable deliverables Areas that could have been Improved The Donation boxes should have been placed earlier which would have enabled us to see how much amount would be collected through this measure Due to language issues, we couldnt easily communicate with the kids at NGO and understand their requirements. The same problem didnt allow us to approach local businesses to sign up for donation As the SDP project was spread over 2 terms with 2 months gap in between, it caused the project to hold and the members also lost the track of work in the break. We believe it should have stretched over only term to ensure more participation from all students