A Business School Grad & a Non-profit

What are we going to talk about today?  What is Lend-A-Hand India?  Balancing between traditional MBA job and a non-profit  Value we add to our non-profit partners based in India  Managing resources  Lessons learnt

Lend-A-Hand India  Mission – Making a difference in the lives of the poor through self help  Area of focus – Vocational Training for employment generation or entrepreneurship development  Approach – Partner with non-profits to replicate/scale up successful experiments in employment generation or entrepreneurship development  Impact – Over 750 young boys and girls have benefited from the programs in last two years

Balancing between traditional MBA job & a non-profit  Combine business & pleasure  Event management  Networking & fundraising  Grant writing  Running marathons to raise funds  Involve the “near and dear ones!”  Decide focus area, set tangible goals and set aside fixed time  Get employer on-board

Balancing between traditional MBA job & a non-profit  Get your manager / employer on board  Probe commitment to volunteerism during interview  Working with a big corporation helps  Involve your manager  Commitment by Citigroup  Extremely supportive of volunteering efforts – community events  Quarterly “Community Service” Award  Volunteer Grants  Facilitates awards by the President of United States  Matching funds

Value we add to our non-profit partners in India  Selection of non-profit partners  We don’t want to be just another funding agency  Partner with organizations that have a proven track record  Partner should be open to change / experiment  Value we add  Measurement & tracking  Instilling marketing approach  Expanding the vision and taking them out of their comfort zone  Funding for un-conventional projects (alumni survey, study of job market, preparing training kits, build alumni network)

Managing resources  Financial Resources  Outsourcing  DIY  Just ask ! (pro-bono legal, graphic designer, government, web site)  Free resources (skype, reward cards)  People  Involve volunteers in decision making  Build a community amongst volunteers  What volunteers wants to get out of the volunteering is as important as what non-profit wants to get out of the volunteer

Lessons learnt  Maintain systems and records from Day 1  Fund raising without losing friends  Packaging is as important as work on the ground