This would involve a team of 2 taking on the overview of one of United Way Mumbai’s partner NGOs. They would develop and maintain a web page for their particular NGO, track all United Way investments that are made in the NGO, build a business plan for the partnership work between the NGO and United Way as well as do a capacity needs assessment of the NGO.
All of this is necessary in order to develop a definitive understanding of the NGOs needs so that we can better serve them and they the community at large.
It is United Way Mumbai’s vision that any needy community development organization that requires a computer should receive one. Currently we work with excellent NGO in rural Maharashtra, who are sending us reams of reports on paper, because they lack the finances or skill sets to operate computers. This gap in computer skills and availability adversely affects our ability to work efficiently and professionally.
This initiative would involve volunteers coordinating the donation of computers from corporations to United Way who in turn would identify the relevant NGOs to donate the computers to. Time would be spent researching which NGOs required computers and subsequently arranging for the collection and distribution of these computers to the individual. Also the volunteers would work with the computer technical team to make sure the computer is in working condition when donated to the NGO.
With the advent of information technology, the ability to work efficiently has increased tremendously. In order to better serve the people, it is necessary for NGOs to embrace technology which this initiative goes a long way to achieving.
| Mumbai Resource Centre Plan |
After the floods of July 2005, it was felt that Mumbai city has a genuine lack of information and communication from ward to ward. There is a need for a central information artery that provides for a city-wide network of citizen groups, NGOs and Government departments to help and understand the management of a crisis.
The Mumbai Resource Center would work to provide for this need and volunteers would work with United Way staff to gather the information on community resources and services, build an online complaint management system and develop and emergency help line service that can administer relief in times of crisis.
United Way Mumbai participates in and also hosts a number of events throughout the year, from the Mumbai Marathon to Days of caring. Volunteers will be needed to help with the planning and execution of these events. This could involve going to the offices of multi-national corporations in order to create publicity about our events or being involved in the administration of an event. All these activities will need enthusiastic people who have the drive to get commitments from people towards our causes.
You would be guided at every step of the way by the United Way team, so do not get over-whelmed at the task list. United Way makes sure that you will be able to learn yourself about the task which you have opted for and ultimately also make sure that both the NGO and the community gains immensely from your volunteering efforts.
