How to Scale Impact of Charitable Causes through online learning

Since the outbreak started, many charities have had to think about how to increase the impact of their work and sustain their presence in the local community through online ways.

The charity sector is not one of the sectors that's well-known as an early adopter of new technology though it is, in the words of Thrive for Good's International Executive Director, James Woller. "Charities are more conventional and cautious in their attempts to grow. It was necessary for Thrive to employ an entirely different approach to get ahead, which meant taking a risk and offering virtual training ," he explains.

Introducing online learning is what's enabled this organization to increase its reach. "Before  the introduction of online learning, we had impacted around 30,000 people. Today, we're impacting nearly 80,000. The number of communities we've reached grew from 550 to close to 800, seven countries, to 47 and now we're expanding into places which we've never dreamed of," says Woller.

Another charity that's had to come up with new ideas to keep up with the burdens posed by covid-19 can be found in Vayu Global Health Foundation. Prior to the pandemic, Burke was traveling every couple of weeks to teach medical experts in person. Since traveling hasn't been possible and the Vayu team designed an online course that allows for training, and to reach out to people all over the world.

"We use strictly for education purposes," says Vayu's executive director Thomas Burke. "Without , our efforts would have slowed to a halt due to the spread of the pandemic ."

We had a chat with the Thrive For Good's James Woller and Vayu Global Health Foundations' Thomas Burke to find out more about the ways they managed to enhance their impact in such an uncertain time across the globe. We found out that they were able to accomplish this in two ways through online teaching as well as looking at the charitable space from a more progressive lens. This is how they increased their impact on charity:

1. Online teaching

Thrive For Good

Two billion people don't get the nutrition they require. Thrive For Good equips individuals and communities around the world with tools to sustainably cultivate natural, healthy foods that are suitable for life by training both those who want to learn how to grow food for themselves as well as their family in conjunction with partners who are able to incorporate the Thrive's principles into their own initiatives. On average, the organization creates more than a million Canadian dollars per month of foods in their community gardens which is based upon 50 cents per meal.

Partnering with partners across Europe, South America, Africa as well as Asia, Woller says they could not have gotten their message across the globe without the introduction of online learning courses.

Online learning has not only increased the size of the company, it's also made it easier to navigate the challenges caused by covid-19. "Just this morning I had a phone call with a colleague in Uganda which is a place where the borders are locked down and mobility is severely limited... It would be incredibly difficult to find an in-person trainer at the moment, and that's where online learning helps ."

Woller says that their organization has saved a lot of money by relocating to the internet. "We're saving tens of thousands of dollars through the use of . If we had to send an trained Thrive instructor to each partner organization's community for one month but it's impossible to expand in the manner we do," he says.

Vayu Global Health

Thomas Burke, emergency doctor and faculty member in the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, manages both of the branches of his company : Vayu Global Health Foundation and Vayu Global Health Innovations.

The Vayu Global Health Foundations is a charitable trust that focuses on finding and supporting breakthrough solutions that have a transformative effect to improve newborn, maternal and the health of children. Its Vayu Global Health Innovations arm of the organization is a public benefit company that means they're registered with the World Health Organization as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and are fully committed to global good and community.

At Vayu They've designed medical equipment to help relieve CPAP, which Burke says is one of the leading killers among youngsters under the age of five. The device used for treating this disease has the ability to reduce the rate of death by 66%. As most respiratory devices require electricity, they're costly to be used in countries that are poor. The Vayu team came up with a solution that costs $300- a fraction of the price for the gold standard CPAP device, which is worth $12,000- that offers the same quality. The device doesn't need electricity or bioengineering support, which makes it simple for those with limited resources to make use of. With the help of this device, people are capable of instructing local doctors on how to operate the device.

Since the CPAP training has been extremely successful and they're working on another course to teach medical professionals how to use their new device which is an oxygen blender. It's normally priced at $1,200 but they've created the same device at just $50, which can help children suffering from pneumonia or having difficulty breathing.

Not only does the virtual platform make it possible to reach more people, it also helps to standardize the training for medical devices. "We do have master teachers from each country, but it's not sufficient. Training allows us to improve the quality of our training that is provided and also to test. is here to stay for the rest of us." he says.

2. Using a progressive lense

Thrive For Good

Woller says that using traditional methods isn't always the best way to scale charitable impact. "The essence of a foundation's existence is based on donations and charitable giving. The traditional relationship between an individual donor or philanthropist as well as the charity delivering the program presents some challenges when scaling," he describes. "Donors don't necessarily want their money going towards technology upgrades... The majority of them would prefer spend their money on programs... However, by building up capacities through technology, it's possible to grow ."

The company's innovations have come from studying organizations currently focusing their efforts on organic agriculture and nutrition, and expanding their work. "We weren't required to double the amount of money we have to spend in order to increase our impact. We've shifted from a B2C model to a B2B one. We would like to imagine ourselves like Java within your personal computer. We don't need to be Dell and Apple. We are able to white-label what we offer. And that's innovative in the charitable space ."

The company has been able to expand their efforts since moving on the internet, Woller explains. "We have been recently approached by an organization from India that has dozens of training centres, 8,000 employees and community workers, as well as millions of beneficiaries. They contacted us with their worries about food security in India and the covid-19 crisis, and they have requested that we push all of their training through the Thrive program. That's scale."

Woller is a firm believer in the value of charitable organizations trying new things and taking risk. Their online training was a risk that paid dividends. "I believe that a few doses of innovation in the charitable space is greatly demanded. Making an impact requires taking risks. I'm really glad we made the decision to explore online learning." he declares.

While Woller admits that risk taking can be scary However, he thinks that the result can sometimes be unexpected and are a natural element of the entrepreneurial experience. Woller says "Ninety percent of businesses fail, but entrepreneurs keep moving forward ."

Vayu Global Health

It is the Vayu Global Health Innovations approach is based on the development of a robust revenue base in order to grow and self-sufficiently expand their activities without the need for donations. "This is the most unique approach within the realm of charitable giving," he says.

Through the use of an advanced lens, they've used the internet to provide online education. This means that they're able to access a much larger audience than they could if they were to solely rely on in-person training. "We have the ability to think more broadly with regards to populations and systems of care more readily than demonstration programs ."

If you're interested in online education, Burke believes that the outcomes are as great as the effort you're putting into. "You must be aware that it's not easy to create quality educational material," he says. "Teaching involves some kind of fun as you attempt to attract the attention of your viewers. The focus shouldn't only be on providing information. You must to be creative and have amusement with your ."

Burke suggests that charitable organizations work with locals within the areas they're educating when building out their materials. "It's an excellent idea that charities collaborate on projects with locals instead of having an Americanized instrument which is trying to carry across the ocean. I don't think that will succeed," he says.

To summarize, creating an online course is a progressive move in the realm of charitable giving that can significantly boost the ability of an organization to expand. Making a risk, being creative and thinking out of the boundaries can assist the charity to increase its reach and impact.