PAN India : ''CONNECT" Capacity Building Workshop (Strengthening Not-for-Profit Organisations)

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IFCCI, in association with CAF India and with the support of the Embassy of France in India organized an NGO Capacity Building Workshop CONNECT on Thursday, 23rd July 2020.

Ms. Payal S Kawar, Director General, IFCCI while opening the Session, highlighted the importance of making our NGOs strong and independent for a better society.

Mr. Sumeet Anand, President, IFCCI welcomed the Chief Guest H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, speakers and participants. He applauded the efforts of the IFCCI CSR Committee and appreciated thecontribution of French companies in India through their CSR divisions. He also talked about the legal systems in place which ensure corporations allocate a certain percentage of their profits for CSR activities and the impact these activities have on the society at large.

Ms. Meenakshi Batra, CEO, Charities Aid Foundation India while setting the context for the Workshop, underscored the importance of NGOs and stated that this sector is the backbone of the delivery systems of CSR programmes of several corporates. She also emphasized on the need to recognize, appreciate and support NGOs working in varied sectors. She further emphasized upon the heightened role these organizations play during the challenging times of Covid-19.

H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and in his Keynote Address, highlighted the need to collaborate with NGOs and acknowledged CSR contributions by various French companies in India. He further mentioned that the governments of the both the countries India and France are working together to minimize the impact of the pandemic Covid-19.

Mr. Avijeet Kumar, COO, Charities Aid Foundation India, talked about the CSR Ecosystem in Indiaand the impact of Covid-19 on the functioning of the not-for profit sectorand the consequent paucity of funds. He suggested participant organizations to revise their budgets, rework the existing plans and develop new skills, competencies, capacities and digital infrastructure.

Ms. Prachi Mishra, Head of Learning & Development, Dassault Systèmes India, discussed in detail the importance of non-financial capital i.e. intellectual capital,human capital, relationship capital and organizational capital. She emphasized on enhancing skill development, increased engagement with employees, simplification of work, performance management and leadership development for every organization.

Mr. Rakesh Goswami, Director, Finance, Charities Aid Foundation India, gave a comprehensive presentation on the financial management for organizations in the not-for-profit sector. He emphasised on the regulations of FCRA & the Income Tax Act as well asmaintaining proper documentation and following laws in place. He further informed them about the recent changes in the legal structure and suggested the best practices to be followed.

Ms. Gunjan Bhutani, Sr. Manager – Communication and Marketing, Total India talked about the role of marketing in the overall development of NGOs andaccomplishment of their goals and objectives. She reiterated the fact that marketing can help in the amplification of the efforts of an organizationand help in garnering the necessary monetary and community support. She also mentioned that it is important to understand the targeted audience, meticulously craft key messages and identify and utilize the communication touch-points.

 Ms. Sarita Pradhan, Deputy Head, Charities Aid Foundation India, talked in detail about the Employee Payroll Giving Program run by their organisation. She further delved into the aspects of program management, communication management, different models of payroll giving and volunteering.

This was followed by an insightful Panel Discussion on “The Voice of NGOs facing COVID-19”, moderated by Ms. Gurvider Parmar, Technical Director, BSR & Associates LLP (KPMG India), who was in discussion with

• Ms. Ekta Jaju, Co-Founder, Environment Conservation Society (Switch On)
• Ms. Sumana Dasgupta, Director-Corporate Partnership, HelpAge India
• Ms. Shayama Chona, Founder, Tamana
• Mr. Arun Daniel Yellamaty, Founder, Youngistaan Foundation

Panelists highlighted their work and various challenges faced by them during Covid-19, one of them being financial constraints and lack of funding.. They reiterated that reallocation of funds by donors has severely affected their functioning and they are still trying to adapt to the new normal by adopting technology for their survival.

Mr. Anurag Pratap, Chairman, IFCCI CSR Committee, concluded the session by congratulating IFCCI, CAF and other stakeholders for this workshop. He talked in depth about the concerns of the NGOs and the completely changed environment in which the industry is functioning. He underscored the need for the corporate sector and the social sector to work together more closely and develop long term relations and encouraged the organizations to be experts in their respective fields and develop a niche for themselves.

Ms. Gurpreet Bhatia, Lead, Marketing and Communications, Charities Aid Foundation India, thanked all participants and encouraged them to come together and work as a team helping each other.

Ms. Aarushi Gautam, Assistant Manager, Events & Membership (North) thanked CAF India, Embassy of France in India for their support and Speakers for their insights and concluded the Session, which witnessed an attendance of nearly 110 participants.

Special thanks to Dassault Systemes Foundation for supporting the Session as a Workshop Partner.