Social development is often complex. It involves a wide number of stakeholders, a deep understanding of community conditions and a high level of expertise. With a growth in philanthropy and CSR, significant investments are being made in communities across the country. If these investments are channelised in the right way, we can amplify reach and maximize impact of these funds.
In addition to our self-implemented projects, we work with a network of 500+ NGO partners. We enable support for this network of partners driving change on ground through corporate grants. United Way Mumbai assists corporate partners in managing grants for a number of NGOs and projects. Our grant portfolio is led by a team of development sector experts who have oversight of best practices in the sector, as well as on-ground experience in implementation. We work with our NGO partners to create detailed implementation plans, develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks, build capacities of staff and adapt project strategies when required. And we collaborate with corporate partners to ensure thorough due diligence of NGOs, undertake regular monitoring, facilitate timely disbursements, undertake financial reviews and provide regular reporting.
We design CSR strategy and advise our corporate partners on the most impactful ways to channelise their philanthropic investments. This is based on thorough develoment sector research and draws from our learnings from best practices around the world through the United Way global network. It is also based on over two decades of experience in implementing projects across the country and oversight of new models and successful experiments of 500+ NGOs in India. The strategy is aligned to CSR focus areas of the company and developed to address the most pressing needs of our communities.
United Way Mumbai has a multi-level process of due diligence for NGO partners. This is facilitated via our online portal to ensure ease and transparency in the process. This includes a study of statutory compliances, organisational strengths and structures as well project design and execution.
Projects that align most closely with the defined strategy and that have strong potential for impact are selected for support. We work closely with the NGO partner throughout the project design and selection to ensure a robust plan is developed. This includes proposal development, vetting of project budget and strategy, and strengthening M&E systems.
As CSR Implementing Agency for our corporate partners, we ensure grant management is done in compliance with CSR regulations and with strong oversight on day to day execution of the project. We build capacities of our NGO partners to deepen impact and drive sustainability of projects.
Our inhouse experts monitor the projects through robust M&E frameworks. The findings of the ongoing monitoring visits allow course corrections as required and ensure project outcomes are met.
Throughout the project, we leverage the skills and time of our donors and their employees to increase project reach and impact.
Ongoing reports ensure the project's impact and learnings are well documented. This includes narrative reports, financial utilisation reports, case studies and testimonials.
