A POSITIVE FEEDBACK LIKE THIS MATTERS TO US MOST

"Dear all,
Let me share something that I have learned out of this training. One year back our organization was in bud stage but now it is blooming. We at last learned to be very professional.Though Grant/ funding is very important for an organisation but its sustainability depends on regular flow of income as funds are seasonal. We have now our own products that is providing us good revenue.I am thankful to BNHS and Shubha Madam for giving us space to open our mind horizon. One more thing i want to share I had sent a project concept CEE, Guwahati for SGP, UNDP. They have very much liked our concept and asked me to come and discuss with them and prepare a project. I don't know whether this project will be accepted or not but i am happy atleast now I am one step ahead.
Thank you,
Regards,
Jinu pathak (Participant from Eastern Zone (Guwahati)"

Capacity Development of Environmental NGOs of India: Assignment Submission Competition: Vision v/s Real...

Capacity Development of Environmental NGOs of India: Assignment Submission Competition: Vision v/s Real...: When I won the AEIF in 2012, I thought it was a greatest achievement for me, however it took me 9 months of project implementation to real...

Assignment Submission Competition: Vision v/s Reality

When I won the AEIF in 2012, I thought it was a greatest achievement for me, however it took me 9 months

of project implementation to realize that my big moment is yet to come. I never thought getting assignments submitted by the participants post workshop will be such a daunting task. I expected some discipline among the participants and hoped that with a single reminder every month, the assignments will start flowing in.....well that was an ideal situation and vision about this project.

The real situation is that less than 25% of 153 participants are actually submitting their assignments. Of which some of them started with great vigor but lost their enthusiasm as months went by. It was very easy for participants to sideline the project activities and give precedence to their own organizational tasks. I witnessed this happening in my own organization. In order to assist participants with their submission, I divided my ambitious assignment plan for 32 assignments into 15 compulsory assignments and 17 optional assignments. I thought this will do the magic but in vain. I even modified the criteria for participation in the Follow Up workshop in Mumbai in August 2013. I remember 'threatening' the participants during the workshops that only those who complete the compulsory assignments will be able to make it to the Follow Up workshop. I thought the Follow Up workshop would be great incentive but my myth got shattered when I saw not many were completing their assignments. I thus reduced the assignment count to 5 which were must for attending the Follow Up workshop. Again this arm-twisting technique didn't work when I hardly got response for the Follow-up Workshop circular sent a month ago. 

Now as a desperate project co-ordinator, I am willing to accommodate all those who wish to participate in the workshop because my worst fear is that, we may not get participants for the Follow-Up workshop. But getting assignments from the participants is still crucial to our project and that's when I decided to drop all non-popular motivation techniques and decided to launch Assignment Submission Competition. I am of an opinion people love to achieve individual goals, so I may get more takers of this idea. My only hope now is that our participants understand how important it is for us to have their assignments as the success of our project depends on their assignment submission and participation in  Follow-up workshop. Is this behaivour something to do with nonprofit sector? or it is sheer qualities of  adult learners who resist learning after their study years????? I am waiting for my big moment to come in.....

Dr.V.Shubhalaxmi

AEIF Project Co-ordinator