Smile Foundation Essay

CASE ANALYSIS OF SMILE FOUNDATION BY TEAM PRAYAS FORE School of Management Anil Kumar (9999927670) G. Rohit Kumar (9891391467) anilkumar@foreian. com rohitkumar@foreian. com Strategies for Smile Foundation to involve civil society in development process Development is a process that leads to a transformation from an undesirable state of affairs to a desirable state. NGO’s help to make this transformation. They supplement the efforts made by government and are independent from any government.

Smile Foundation is one such organization and it has introduced a working model named Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP). We have tried to suggest strategies which can enable Smile Foundation to involve civil society in the development process. Smile Foundation can segregate the civil society into two parts – NGOs and Citizens. They can use two different strategies for both these groups. Strategy for involving the NGO’s in development process

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In addition to their established roles at the various stages of the project cycle, the Smile Foundation can engage with NGOs to undertake research in a wide area of economic, social, and other sectoral studies and analysis such as: poverty assessments, beneficiary assessments, participatory rural appraisal methods, and social and environmental assessments. By collaborating with carefully selected NGOs, the Smile Foundation may learn how to work better together to clarify and factor-in the interests of stakeholders in both policy and project activities.

We have suggested that the involvement of NGOs should be in a two-step process: The first step is the selection of NGOs. NGOs should be selected based on the following criteria: * Institutional Purpose: participants should share the Smile Foundation’s overall objective of promoting sustainable economic and social development. * Diversity: participants should fairly mirror the range of stakeholder interests. * Representativeness: depth and legitimacy of ties to a community or community of interests; accountability to stakeholder/ beneficiary group; gender balance.

The following factors should be considered while selecting the NGOs -1) 3C Model * Competence – relevant, demonstrated skills and skill mix; proven track record of civil groups. * Credibility – acceptability of the civil groups to relevant stakeholders. * Capacity – for making judgments based on working with different types of CSOs, government branches or aid institutions and by knowledge of advantages/disadvantages of alternative approaches in local settings. 2) Local knowledge – including formal and informal structures, local values and networks. 3) Responsiveness – to local people, accountability to beneficiaries, gender sensitivity. ) Internal governance – sound management, including accounting systems and transparency about them, a readiness to undergo audits, transparent leadership and decision-making processes. Empowering the NGOs Smile Foundation can speed up its role from being an initiator of change to that of complementing Civil Groups efforts in the following ways – * Training in internal organizational systems such as financial or information management and reporting. * Organizational development and sustainability advisory services and coaching. * Managing and sharing knowledge with other NGOs, the public and private sectors. Networking and interchange among NGOs, the public and private sectors, for policy analysis, skill improvement and information sharing. Strategy for involving citizens in development process Well-designed development projects (such as those that have been financed through social funds) can be a catalyst for community development. Participation at the community level allows the project choice to reflect the needs and preferences within the community, and the project design to reflect the local information, ensuring that local conditions, preferences, and circumstances are taken into account.

Equally important, local participation engenders commitment, which is necessary for project sustainability over the long run. And participation in the project itself becomes part of the transformation process. There is growing evidence concerning the relationship between participation and development effectiveness. Reasons for lack of participation in the development process by citizens In India, the people with the most wealth actually give the least to charity. The issue is that many of these individuals have newly acquired wealth and are hesitant to part with said wealth.

Socially, these people do not see the benefit of donating to untrustworthy NGOs operating within the country; money is all they need to acquire social status. Donors lack confidence in the NGOs working within the country. Many non-profit organizations in India are not trusted by potential donors due to lack financial transparency and professionalism. In addition, the government lacks the infrastructure and policies that would typically aid and support the work of non-profit organizations. Non-monetary donations (ex Material goods) have zero tax benefits and 100 percent tax deductions are only available for donations made to government causes.

Also, people don’t want to participate in social causes because they tend to focus on themselves only. Today’s youth has become very self-centered and they are reluctant to participate in social causes. They think that it is the government’s responsibility to look after the poor. This mindset of people needs to be changed and they must be made to realize that social development is everybody’s responsibility. We suggest four methods by which citizens can be involved in the development process – 1. Citizen Empowerment * Community Forums can be held to gather data and input on needs, assets, priorities, and evaluation.

These are typically held when engaging in broad-based community initiatives with citizens. * Participatory Evaluation engages the active involvement of the citizens whose lives are affected by the issue or program being addressed in every phase of the evaluation process, including problem formulation, defining what data are relevant, selecting methodologies, and interpreting data. It is an approach that engages community members in a joint process that mobilizes and enhances community strengths and problem-solving abilities. * Focus Groups are small gatherings of people called together to deal with certain topics or issues.

The group size usually ranges between five and ten people and is coordinated by a facilitator as well as a note taker who takes notes and observes the group interaction. Focus groups can be a source of community input that is enhanced by the dialogue among members when asked focused questions. 2. Institutional Participation * Schools: Social responsibility must be instilled at a young age in students. They should be taught about moral values and need to care for the society so that when they become adults they behave in a responsible manner towards the society and contribute for various causes.

Smile Foundation can tie up with schools and can organize events such as painting, essay competition etc based on themes related to social responsibility so that the students become aware about these issues. * Corporates: Smile Foundation can enter into alliance with business organizations whereby the employees of the organization can take a sabbatical and work with Smile Foundation. Smile Foundation would gain as they will get manpower. The benefit for the organization is that it will form a part of their CSR activity and generate goodwill.

The employee will also get personal satisfaction of working for a social cause. 3. Technology * E – Donation: Technology like mobiles and internet can be used to make it easier for people to donate. For e. g. – Smile Foundation can tie up with a bank to enable people donate through internet banking accounts. Another option that we suggest is that Smile Foundation can tie up with telecom service providers whereby their subscribers can send an SMS to a predetermined numbers specifying the amount they want to donate and that amount would be deducted from their balance and transferred to the account of Smile Foundation. Physical Evidence: Smile Foundation can use their website to share information with the general public to inform them how they carry out their development activities and how they use the donations that they get. This way they will be able to earn the trust of the people. The website can also act as a medium of communication between the various partner NGOs. 4. Promotion * Celebrity as social Ambassador: They should use celebrities to spread their message and create awareness about their activities.

Celebrities have a mass following so they will be able to influence the people to work towards the society. * Street Plays: Street plays can be a very effective way to create awareness about Smile Foundation particularly in the rural areas. This way people in the rural areas will come to know about the various activities being undertaken by Smile Foundation and they can also become a part of it. * Social media marketing: Smile Foundation can use social media like Facebook, Twitter etc to promote itself among the youngsters in the urban areas.

This way they can target the urban youth and make them aware about the importance of social responsibility. Conclusion To appeal for donations, NGOs must understand the motivation of their potential donors, just as marketing executives must understand the different tastes and preferences of their customers. Some donors may wish to support only one aspect of the NGO’s work. Corporations are often especially interested in the public relations benefits of supporting NGOs, while individuals may also want some form of recognition of their support.

Some donors may want the chance to interact with the end recipients of their donation or to otherwise participate in the NGO. s efforts. Others may require direct feedback on how their donations were used. Sometimes donors’ motives may actually be detrimental to the organization, e. g. , to obtain political support or to impose his or her will on the direction of the NGOs work. NGOs that recognize and respond to the motivations of potential donors will be more successful at competing for their support.

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