The last few weeks has seen the world witness a catastrophic change with the COVID 19 pandemic. Economies and communities around the world have had to cope and the effects of COVID 19 have been felt by both organizations and individuals. The development sector is faced with a unique set of challenges with programs stalled at community level and increased donor dependency and pertinent questions around organization sustainability have surfaced over the last few weeks.

toolbox INDIA has worked in augmenting its model of support to its non- profit partners to lend the most pertinent and relevant solutions. These are in response to specific challenges due to the present context and those that organizations have expressed they require the most.

Our initiatives that we launched commencing March 16, 2020 include:

Fundraising Campaigns and Appeals for direct benefits transferred to vulnerable communities

toolbox INDIA has opened its social media platforms and running visibility campaigns with its network of volunteers and followers to promote the appeals of their NPO partners of campaigns to maximize outreach to potential donors. These campaigns are being promoted for the next 100 days and have so far successfully run campaigns for over 25 non-profit organizations on all our Social Media Platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The appeal letters and campaigns are positioned specifically for relief material that goes towards the support of communities that are directly impacted by the effects of COVID-19.

Rapid Response Task Force Deployment for creation of all Fundraising collaterals

toolbox INDIA launched the Rapid Response Task Force last week which is an initiative to assist NPOs in drafting the all the Fundraising collaterals that include Fundraising proposals / Grant application forms / Online giving forms/appeal letters for additional resource support to the Fund Raising function in organizations which is often resource crunched. The primary purpose is to gather the raw information given to us by NPOs and create engaging narratives that allow the NPOs to draft any fundraising proposal/grant application etc. that pertains to their programs. With a taskforce of 25+ volunteers presently we have over 25 NPOs who have availed the support in the first week of the launch of this initiative. With a healthy pipeline of volunteers, we believe that we will be able to create a community of support for our partners and non-partners alike. Our primary objective is to equip NPOs with the optimal communication strategy to best achieve their fundraising goals.

Digital Dialogues @ toolbox INDIA

To address the emerging concerns around the ongoing uncertainty toolbox INDIA launched the digital version of its in-person roundtables with NPOs – Digital Dialogues @ toolbox INDIA. The 6-part series with its third in progress is designed based on the discussions held with NPOs and with domain experts. The series aims to cover all questions and debate on matters relating to:

Fundraising and communication– Structuring communication and donor engagement /How to stay connected to stakeholders

Human Resources and People’s Function– Team communication, productivity, and motivation, concerns around appraisals and compensation.

Finance and Cash Flow Management: Restructuring budgets and building a pipeline of cash flow for seamless operations.

Legal: Concerns on upcoming amendments to the Finance Bill and reapplication of statutory licenses and preparedness

Data and Technology: Leveraging technology to move some program components /reporting and donor dashboards and identification of cost-optimal go to market solutions

Digital Dialogues @ toolbox INDIA saw an overwhelming response as more than 100+ NPOs joined us in our first series.

Our aim is to build structures within NPOs that are resilient to any so that they can continue to serve their communities to the best of their capabilities. We will continue to provide support to our nonprofit partners by providing them targeted, practical and actionable assistance that helps them in these trying times. We hope that through a collaborative effort we will be able to overcome the challenges presented to us and turn them into opportunities and lessons for the future.

toolbox INDIA Foundation acknowledges the support of its strategic funding partners, volunteers and network partners and associates whose continued support has allowed us to reach out to the Non-Profit Organizations through our programs across India.