WE CARE

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT INTERNSHIP

REDEVELOPMENT OF WEBSITE / DONATIONS PLATFORM AND INCREASING SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Submitted By: Ankur Khosla (D 033) Gaurav Singh (D 058)

Submitted To: Ms. Chandrani Ganguli (Faculty Mentor)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Our stint at Prayas Social Welfare Society would not have been possible without the assistance and guidance of Mr G.D. Aul, CEO Prayas SWS. We are grateful to Mr. M.L. Gupta, Chairman of Prayas SWS for giving us an opportunity to work with the social welfare organization. We are thankful to Mr. Naveen Kumar, Manager Prayas SWS for the valuable inputs received.

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Meena Galliara, Director, Centre for Sustainability Management & Social Entrepreneurship for making We Care possible. We are also grateful to Dr. Chandrani Ganguli, Community Development Officer, Centre for Sustainability Management & Social Entrepreneurship for her consistent help and advice throughout the internship duration. Moreover,. Through this wonderful program initiated by NMIMS University we got the opportunity to do our bit for the society and hence were able to make some difference in lives of a few people, in some way or the other.

Our time with them helped us grow as individuals and holds immense value for each one of us interning in this program. Last but not the least; we would like to thank our fellow project mates and other Prayas SWS colleagues. Without their help, this project would not have been possible.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project report has been prepared in regards to the three weeks internship done at Prayas Social Welfare Society at Faridabad from 2nd January 2012 to 21st January 2012.

PRAYAS Social Welfare Society (PRAYAS SWS) is purely a NON Govt. Social Service Regd. Organization (NGO) having a non-political, non-religious and non-commercial character and is mainly engaged in imparting completely free education, health care and vocational training to the children and women from the families belonging to Economically Weaker Section and backward class of the society. It was established in September 1999 and registered on 30/12/1999 with the Govt. of Haryana.

Our three weeks association with Prayas SWS revolved around analyzing the loopholes in the online media presence of the society currently and suggesting/ implementing ways to improve it. The main objectives of the project were to know about the NGO - How, when, where and why it started, what kind of social work they do and how they work in India and devising strategies for its expansion and awareness creation among the general public especially the youth. The project included redesigning the website of the society, removing the dependence on a web developer to post updates to the web, and devising the online social media channels and integrating them.

Our study of the various activities of Prayas and its functioning led us to conclude that the level of Awareness about the Prayas Social Welfare Society when it comes to cyber world is low and thus we suggested and initiated the implementation of the ways to improve upon it. Linkage and Partnerships with NGO and other organization have been built to reach larger population of target groups as well as privileged sections of society for funds, collaboration and volunteering. The internship at the NGO was a learning experience for us and we have been acquainted with the working of an NGO, planning and implementing the programs meant for the needy and closely monitoring them to guarantee success, how to make use of optimum resources, how to bring these needy people to these kinds of NGOs and help them, the social responsibility of an individual and the organizations towards the underprivileged sector of the society.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. About The Organization 1.1 Introduction to NGO 1.2 Target Groups 1.3 Vision and Mission 1.4 Objectives of NGO 1.5 Future Vision 2. Activities of NGO 3. About the Project 4. Recommendations 5. References

1. ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

PRAYAS Social Welfare Society (PRAYAS SWS) is a Non-Government Social Service Regd. Organization (NGO) having a non political, non religious and non commercial character and is mainly engaged in imparting completely free education to the children from families belonging to Economically Weaker Section and backward class of the society. Parents of these children are mostly labourers who live in slums, Jhuggis (mud or polythene hutments) and are not able to get their children admitted in public schools or even in Govt. run schools due to poverty and illiteracy. Illiteracy is a curse and PRAYAS SWS is poised to eliminate it to the best of its capacity and ability.

1.1 Introduction to the NGO

Founder Chairman Sh. M.L. Guptas philosophy: We are born to serve the suffering humanity, help the poor and the needy and support the noble causes of the society such as education, health etc. particularly for the children from weaker sections and downtrodden segment of the society He thinks that various social evils can be cured through education to one and all. According to him, the darkness of illiteracy can be dispelled only by illuminating light of knowledge through widespread education. Moreover, according to him, health is also the most precious wealth and he wishes that proper healthcare arrangements must continue for the students of Prayas as well as their family members and also the people from poor and downtrodden section of the society. So, he started Prayas in 1999 with the aim of spreading literacy and providing healthcare facilities to the underprivileged sections of the society. Since 1999, Prayas schools have grown to over 58 in number located in Faridabad, Palwal, Mewat, Gurgaon, Delhi, U.P, Punjab and Bihar. Also, Prayas is providing free healthcare facilities to needy and poor people through 7 dispensaries including 1 mobile dispensary van which goes from place to place in the areas devoid of medical facilities. Moreover, it is providing vocational training to women so that they become self-sufficient and be able to earn their living and live with dignity.

1.2 Target Groups

Children (Under Privileged) more emphasis given to the girl child. Women (Destitute Ladies). People belonging to poor and economically weaker section of Society.

1.3 Mission & Vision

MISSION To see that every child (male & female) of school going age particularly hailing from poor and down trodden family gets free education. To see that Employment oriented programmes are launched to eradicate unemployment & poverty. To see Health Care Facilities are easily available to one and all specially to the poor and backward population of the society. To ensure pollution free Environment all- around. To expand our PROGRAMMES throughout the country

VISION To ensure 100% Literacy in the society particularly amongst poverty stricken segment of population. To spread message of Health is the only precious Wealth. Plantation is essential for elimination of pollution. To arrange Vocational training programs for the poor / street children & youths. To lay enough thrust to produce educated mothers

1.4 Objectives
To arrange for free education for the children belonging to economically weaker section, factory and agricultural laborers and slum dwellers To arrange for free Literacy Programme for illiterate women To establish charitable clinics and medical care centres (Dispensaries) for the needy and poor To establish, maintain, manage and provide assistance to schools, colleges, training centers etc. for promoting education and general awareness, knowledge to all irrespective of class, creed, community and religion To develop and foster mutual love, brotherhood and unity among the people of all religions/ castes/ creed To imbibe spirit of selfless service to mankind To develop loyalty for the nation and promote building national character and ethical values To issue appeal for gifts, donations and subscription in cash and/or kind and/or in shape of any immovable property

1.5 Future Vision

Opening of new centers within National Capital Region and in other parts of the country to educate the equally deserving children who are illiterate because of poverty Up gradation of our classes from primary level to High School Level Provision of employment oriented vocational training courses for the students completing 10th class Construction of building to run vocational training classes. Opening of many more vocational training centers for poor and destitute adult ladies

2. Activities of the NGO

FREE EDUCATION FOR POOR/EWS CHILDREN Programme of completely free education for children belonging to poor and economically weaker sector (EWS) families including street children. PRAYAS SWS besides, imparting free education, provide books, copies, other stationery, school bags, uniforms, shoes, socks, woolen sweaters and medical care free of cost. Prayas has also started computer education as a part of the syllabus for students of class 5th onwards. Every Saturday is observed as an activity day which is utilized for moral education, yoga, sports etc.

FREE VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR POOR/EWS AND DESTITUTE WOMEN Prayas SWS is also running training centers for tailoring, embroidery and knitting for the ladies and adult girls from the under-privileged sections of the society. These centers provide free of cost training to enable them to supplement their family income. The society also donates one machine to every candidate after she leaves on successful completion of the training so that they are capable of earning their livelihood from the new source immediately.

FREE HEALTH CARE PRAYAS SWS is also running Charitable Allopathic Dispensaries, where registration, consultation and medicines are given free of cost. A mobile charitable allopathic dispensary has been started to serve the poor in the areas deprived of medical facilities. Medical Health checkup camps, Eye checkup and ENT and blood donation camps are also held periodically. Parents meet is also being held every month wherein our teachers and doctor in charge of Dispensaries hold educative discussions on topics like maintenance of cleanliness, sanitation, general health, family planning, evil effects of drinking and smoking along with overall importance of education.

FREE EDUCATION FOR ADULT WOMEN/GIRLS FROM POOR/EWS FAMILIES PRAYAS SWS has also started adult Education classes for Ladies/Adult Girls from poor and Economically Weeker Sector families completely free of any charges since 1.10.2004.

3. Introduction to the Project

The Project involved reinventing Prayas SWS in the online world in a new and a dynamic avatar. It was found that in order to spread the noble idea and to increase the span of activities; it is needed that the web presence of Prayas SWS is improved. This would help in presenting the Welfare Organization to the outside unaware world in a better way and would provide a new channel to connect to the young dynamic minds that are the future. The critical analysis of the existing website of Prayas SWS was undertake and the concerns and issues found were discussed with the supervisor. At the current point the updation of website was being done by a Web Developer and needed to upload static html pages. This created a lot of dependency and organization was not able to update events as frequently as it intended to do. Further analysis of the website and the framework needed for the same indicated the need to shift from a static website to a dynamic portal. It also included making a Facebook page, a Twitter handle as well as a space in Youtube (to upload videos). This will enhance the visibility of Prayas SWS and will give it a greater dimension to cater to. It will also enhance the funding window of Prayas SWS as more visibility implies better chances of contributions coming its way. Thus a new website for Prayas SWS was developed , with a new look and feel, and data was migrated from old website to the new one, information was updated and the redundant data was removed. Also during the discussions with the Prayas SWS team it was felt that there is a need to capitalize on the social media frenzy, and the society needs to have a substantial presence on the two biggest platforms namely Facebook and Twitter. Thus the handles for both the media was created and default landing page for Facebook was designed. The aim was to let the youth of the nation know what the society caters to and how can they help. With regards to the donations platform a need was felt that in future Prayas SWS would need to have a online donations platform, and the basic necessities for the same were identified. The new website platform would help the society integrate online donations easily as and when the need arises.

Existing Website

Issues noticed in current website

3 links in menu bar not visible on home page (upper left corner) Could be due to Website Coding error Activities mentioned inside the Activities Tab should be on a single page currently it is on two pages with the first page mentioning majorly the schools where PRAYAS is active now o Name of schools should be available as a downloadable document preferably as a .doc or .pdf Mission / Vision missing in About Us Page They need to be incorporated so as to show what PRAYAS is all about Year not updated in the footer (copyright 2007-08. All Rights Reserved) (still showing 2007-2008) This shows that website has not been updated since long Small icons (top right) should be descriptive. (Home, email and sitemap) They are also not active on Home page. Status page describes same thing as activities so can be removed. In the updated Activities page the overview of activities would be presented in a concise way. Enquiry form should incorporate the reason for enquiry eg. Donations, generic query etc. This would further help us gauge the reason why audience wants to contact us. Performa for sponsorship should also be available as a downloadable file (doc, pdf)

Incorporation of a new website

Stage 1
Why we need a Dynamic Website? It gives more flexibility in terms of adding new pages and content. No need to depend on vendor for changes to be done. Simple and interactive interface. Daily/ weekly events can be updated on regular basis. Helps in more visibility online and lets the online visitors know what is currently happening at Prayas SWS. Dynamic Website would contain the existing content as well as the new events as and when they happen.

Stage 2
Once the contents/ events are published regularly on the new website, the integration of the same can be done with social media namely facebook and twitter. This would further enhance the visibility of Prayas amongst the youth and socially aware audience. The default landing page on facebook can be customized so as to depict the various platforms on which Prayas is active. This would help us gauge the response on who the major online audience of Prayas is and necessary changes needed to be done.

Stage 3
Online Donations Platform: This happens only if queries regarding the donations on the website and on Social Media is high. Basically it will be done after studying the market response regarding the online donations as its going to cost the organization to incorporate a payment gateway. As the Online Donations cost high invenstment and a high TDR of around 3%-7% this stage would be implemented later depending upon the above mentioned criterions.

New Website of Prayas SWS:

The Front page of the Website The Front Page consists of Last 5 Events, The vision of Prayas SWS and a Photo Gallery showing 5 images. The Sidebar has the Social Media links and the means to contribute to the society. Also available on the front page is the Video Appeal by the Organization. A Photo Gallery was also incorporated for the society where images for recent events can be published.

The Photo Gallery Page (without Image zoom)

(The gallery Page with Image Zoom )

The Events Page

Website Backend(Showing all posts/events)

Research Details on the Project

Platform Chosen : Wordpress (ahead of other platforms like Joomla and Drupal due to the robustness and simplicity of the platform) Web Hosting : To be provided by Gaurav / Existing web developer

Pricing Details :
Website

Domain names

Website Platform

.com - Rs 648/year .org - Rs 810/year Source: godaddy.com

.com - Rs 499/year .org - Rs499/year Source: Bigrock.in

Webspace / Hosting

Wordpress Theme

Rs 4200 / year Source : Bigrock.in

USD 7-9 / year Source : Bluehost.com

Custom Wordpress Theme Development Rs 30000 +

Online Donations : The pricing details of the two popular and reliable payment gateways in India as researched for Prayas SWS is given as under.

CC Avenue
Plan : Economy Setup Fees : Rs 7500 AMC : Rs 1200 TDR : Credit/Debit Cards - 7% TDR: Netbanking - 4%

E-Billing Solutions
Plan : Starter Setup Fees : Rs 6000 AMC: Rs 2400 TDR: Credit/Debit Cards - 6% TDR: Netbanking - 6%

Donations platform has not been implemented now so, the above figures are a reference for any future up gradation that is needed to be done.

Demo Website : http://www.noobard.com/prayas/ Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prayas-Social-WelfareSociety/209588509134117 Twitter Handle : https://twitter.com/PrayasSWS Youtube Page : http://www.youtube.com/user/PrayasSWS

Facebook Page of Prayas SWS

The Default landing page of the Facebook page is shown below. This is the page that will show up as default when the Facebook Page opens. It Creates more awareness about the Society, gives good first impression about the society and helps us increase the number of likes.

The Documentation on the updation of website and a demo on the usage of Twitter and Facebook handles was also given to the Society

4. RECOMMENDATIONS
For a Society like Prayas SWS which is at a takeoff stage to become a nationwide active NGO, there is a necessity to constantly let know the outside world the activities that are been undertaken by the organization. The more the common society knows about the work done , the more collaborations and donations it would get, helping them to maintain the welfare of the needy children. Thus it is strongly recommended that they should migrate from the old website to the newly developed one, as that would help them increase their online presence.

The Organization should keep in mind the number of queries they receive regarding the donations, and based on the response consider implementing the online donations platform on their website. Although the initial cost is high, but in the long run it should be beneficial to the society.

For donations the organization should start initiating tie-ups with industries in and around Faridabad, with respect to a fixed amount being deducted from the payroll of the employees who wish to donate monthly to the organization. The amount could be as low as Rs 100 per month

Tie-ups with websites like giveindia.org which would help in increasing the visibility as well as increase the flow of donations to the organization.

Learning
The organization has been doing tremendously well in educating the poor and the needy children. This 3 weeks orientation helped us to gain an insight into the functioning of the organization. Their ways of keeping the education cost of a child to as low as Rs 150 / month, vocational training to Rs 250 / month and medicinal costs to as low as Rs 500 per person. The children even though from diverse backgrounds , still have the enthusiasm to study in the evening after doing odd jobs in the daytime. Thus its the lack of opportunity that keeps them deprived of their very right to education, and each one of us should contribute to help them in every possible way.

5. References
Website : http://www.prayassws.com Demo Website : http://www.noobard.com/prayas/ Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prayas-Social-WelfareSociety/209588509134117 Twitter Handle : https://twitter.com/PrayasSWS Youtube Page : http://www.youtube.com/user/PrayasSWS