Community-based organisations serve as the backbone of every society’s development cycle, ensuring that government welfare initiatives and policies reach communities at the last mile. However, they frequently encounter bandwidth and resource constraints which limit their potential and influence.
Historically, the Indian development sector relied on large corporations, multinationals, and international grant-making bodies for funding, making it difficult for local social projects to access. The country’s progressive policies, expanding middle class, and CSR mandates have created new opportunities for organizations that serve the community.
Smile Foundation’s Empowering Grassroots programme complements the Government of India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative. This programme intends to assist grassroots social entrepreneurs in becoming locally sustainable, independent of foreign resources, by assisting them in increasing the efficiency of their welfare operations and tapping into locally accessible resources.
Empowering Grassroots is an integrated initiative, with the twin goal of catalyzing successful and meaningful social development projects, by enabling genuine community based organisations.
Providing critical investment to support the sustainability of social initiatives and encouraging them to raise part funds from locally accessible resources
Increasing the capacity of CBO for better organizational planning and local fundraising through effective communication, monitoring and reporting systems
Face-to-face and virtual training sessions were held round the year on governance, leadership, communication, fundraising and resource mobilization, along with regular follow-ups
Critical support for quality enhancement of grassroots social initiatives was extended to help the CBOs become more efficient, expand their reach and multiply the impact on ground
The trained organization and partner organizations of Smile Foundation successfully conducted local action events to raise funds and mobilize support from local stakeholders
With an aim to keep the Empowering Grassroots trainers abreast of the changing environment, new trends and practices, refreshers and TOT sessions were held from time to time
Good Governance
Leadership
Project Management
Communication
Local Action & Fundraising
Resource Mobilization
Empowering Grassroots goes beyond traditional grant making by building partner capacity throughout the project, rather than focusing solely on project goals. Standalone training sessions are one-time activities that provide no immediate benefits, and most training outcomes are difficult to quantify. Empowering Grassroots provides partners with the time and assistance they need to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice, as well as implement and sustain it. In addition to this, matching grants provide a higher social return on investment by doubling donors’ contributions and enhancing ownership of the partner and community they serve.
local action fundraising events held
community based organizations empowered
social initiatives became locally sustainable
“I had to walk 16 km every day from my village to reach high school. I wanted a school in my village for the next generation.”
Three decades back when Kalappa Lakshmaiah and his friends established the BMV Education Trust in Bhakthrahalli, they had just one objective – to ensure that the village children did not have to go far away to get an education. They worked tirelessly with the limited resources they had and set up a primary school. In 2008, when the school was on the verge of closure, Smile Foundation intervened, providing essential facilities like transportation, computer labs, libraries, nutritious meals, sports, and co-curricular activities for the students. A full-fledged formal school now, BMV has continued to thrive, leaving no student or their dreams behind.
“God has blessed us with so many children that we never missed having a biological child.”
Sandeep Bhatnagar was always clear that real contentment in life comes not from money, but from doing something meaningful for others. In 1998, he started with his mission of educating children. What started with just two students in an 8x6’ room evolved into something extraordinary as more children kept joining the movement. Sunita, Sandeep’s wife, got inspired by his sense of duty and joined him to lay the foundation for Jupiter Academy. Though they had the will, they lacked the means. Smile Foundation stepped in to support their dream project. Today, the seeds planted by Sandeep and Sunita have blossomed into 8 branches of Jupiter Academy in Lucknow.
