Impact Stories
Abhivykati Foundation
Himadri Banerjee, Project Coordinator
Abhivyakti Foundation's mission is to improve the well-being of the vulnerable and at-risk communities. They do this by providing these individuals education, healthcare, and a form of livelihood development. With a mission statement, "To spread awareness and mobilize self initiatives based on locally available resources for sustainable development and right balance over generations," Abhivyakti Foundation has a presence in 7 states across India and has been relentlessly working to uphold its mission.
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N Raghavendra Rao
Asst Manager MDs Office - The Tinplate Company of India
Raghavendra has been with Tata Tinplate for the past 30 years and came across the Proengage program last year through his company's CSR department. He had a desire to give back to society and knew instantly that ProEngage was a great platform that would allow him to do so. As an ISO Auditor, Raghavendra's job requires him to ensure certain standards and processes are upheld, and maintaining documentation on his findings from a data standpoint is part of his job. With the knowledge his regular job has given him and his passion for social work, this "impact report writing" project seemed an ideal project to take up as a first-time Proengager.
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Shalini Sahay
Family member
Shalini is a part of the CSR division at her company and has an experience of 18 years of working in the social sector. She enjoys giving back to society and is also an MSW graduate. She is always on the lookout for opportunities through which she can give back to society. Through her friends and colleagues, she got to know about Proengage and decided to use this opportunity to help those in need. Having been with the NGO sector for so long, she has the experience to draft a good impact report, considering the requirements of the donors, and the perspective of the beneficiaries and nonprofits alike. Thus, this project was the right choice for her.
The Story
The Project
Abhivyakti Foundation launched a "green skill development" project in 2016 that ran till 2019 and they restarted this project again in 2020 that will continue till 2023. The project aims to help youth from rural backgrounds enhance their income and gain food and nutritional security by training them in agricultural and allied skills. The nonprofit saw potential in the green skill development sector and was doing its best to bring a change in the lives of rural communities, especially the youth.
Even though they had all the information and data needed to narrate the stories of the impact they were making, they needed someone to concise this data into a report to create one document as a single point of reference. This way they could spread awareness about their cause and communicate to potential donors to continue their program. Thus, they posted this impact report project
The Journey
Once the volunteers received the communication that they will be working on this project, they were greeted with a very systematic orientation process and a guide to help their project progress. During their interactions, Himadri made sure to convey exactly what the nonprofit needed from the volunteers and the project as a whole. Shalini’s experience combined with Raghavendra’s knowledge made it very easy for them to grasp what they needed to do.
The volunteers divided the work among themselves based on their schedules but made sure to be mindful of some key procedures such as keeping everyone in the loop on their progress, and discussing with each other the best way forward. The volunteers made it a point to be on the same page and resolve any discord they might have. This was one of the main reasons why their project progressed smoothly.
A proposition from the volunteers was that they wanted to include case studies in the impact report. Being a remote form of volunteering, they requested Himadri to connect them with the beneficiaries virtually and he obliged. The volunteers took time out of their schedules to accommodate calls with the beneficiaries. Shalini also wanted to document the stories from the perspective of women. And she emphasized this point quite strongly in her communication and later in the impact report.
“As a team, it is our responsibility to take care of one another”, remarked Raghavendra. Shalini’s mother fell ill during the course of the project which was a tough time for Shalini. The bond that the team had formed helped them withstand this unforeseen circumstance and power through till the end. Shalini commented saying, “these two men were a great support. They were constantly checking in with me to see how I was doing and how my mother was doing. This meant so much to me and I didn’t want to leave my commitment. I would work from the hospital too, but I really wanted to see this project through to the end.”
The Challenges Faced
There was mutual respect between all the members of the group and they valued each other’s time. Himadri made it a point to communicate to the volunteers his availability and they also made the necessary adjustments so they didn’t have any major roadblocks. However, the volunteers mentioned that they would have appreciated it if they could have a better way of authenticating the data they received from the nonprofit.
From Himadri’s side, he had absolutely no challenges throughout the project and really appreciated the volunteer for being patient and understanding.
The Result
This project gave Abhivyakti Foundation a very detailed report documenting their journey, and the impact generated all backed with real-time data and success stories. The nonprofit organization is planning on conducting a workshop in the month of September and they look forward to using this report at the event post which they will distribute this impact report to the concerned stakeholders. This report will be a valuable record to have for future reference and learning when developing new programs.
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