Posted by Bangalore: 1NGO, an Indian not-for-profit, social impact startup focused on digital empowerment said that it is on track to digitalise 5,000 NGOs spread in rural or semi-urban regions across India by 2025.
As a social impact startup, 1NGO focuses on 3 million NGOs (non-government organisations) spread across rural and semi-urban regions of India and helps them digitalise.
1NGO said that digitalisation will help these NGOs to have a website and social media presence of their own and will aid in spreading awareness about their work among their key stakeholders. This ambitious goal is fully aligned with the Indian government’s ‘Digital India‘ program as well as SDG 17 (UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 17).
Founded by the IIM Calcutta alumni Gururaj Potnis and Priya Karnik, 1NGO aims to solve the challenge of discoverability for rural and semi-urban NGOs in the post-pandemic world. Owing to their invisibility across virtual channels, only 3% of CSR funds reach the aspirational districts, while less than 9% of the donations reach the rural NGOs.
“Our vision at 1NGO is to prepare the three million NGOs in India for a digital-centric world, helping them use digital tools effectively to communicate the impact of their work as well as raise funds. We consider it as our moral responsibility to give back to the community we grow and thrive in,” said Priya Karnik, Co-founder and President of 1NGO.
“After three years of working with the social sector, we can affirm that digitalised NGOs are significantly better equipped to stay connected with their stakeholders, and impact lives on a larger scale,” said Gururaj Potnis, Co-founder and Secretary of 1NGO.
“Our goal is to go beyond just helping NGOs create a digital presence but also educate them through digital literacy workshops so that they can maintain the digital assets all by themselves,” added Potnis.
Since its inception in January 2020, 1NGO aims to bridge the digital divide in the social sector and has digitalised over 1,000 NGOs across 22 states and union territories of India. It has so far built websites and digital presences for 1,105 NGOs spread across the country, empowering them to spread more awareness about their on-ground campaigns, projects, and impact.
The organisation has further enabled over 720 NGOs to collect online donations. Additionally, 1NGO has helped over 500 NGOs establish a social media communications presence. It is currently engaged in turnkey management of social media communications for 54 NGOs. 1NGO has also conducted 224 workshops and webinars to create and increase digital awareness among NGOs.
1NGO’s digitalisation strategy for 2023 involves launching several new initiatives like donor implementation programmes, digital awards for NGOs, and special digital literacy sessions with corporates and students.