Capacity Building Toolbox India Highly skilled

volunteering for SPOs in India

At the heart of venture philanthropy is an engaged approach with the funded organisation. Capacity
building of social purpose organisations is one of the main activities funders in this region engage in.
Ideally what is provided by the social investor or resource provider matches what is needed on the
side of the social purpose organisation. The social purpose organisations needs tend to come from
internal parameters in the social purpose organisation, e.g. the development stage of the
organisation, the management team, its social mission, business model and growth plans as well as
the external environment, which shapes the entrepreneurial eco-system, economic stage of the
country and the role of the government. Social investors then have different in-house capabilities to
support capacity building and hence need to draw on third-party providers either paid, low- or probono. This requires the venture philanthropy organisation to manage the third-party interactions.
The outcome of this relationship is then capacity building through a variety of tools such as strategic
support, professional services and physical infrastructure, which aims to create value in two ways:
firstly, real value for the social purpose organisation by helping them to achieve their social missions
and secondly, value for the social investor or resource provider by increasing their impact.
To understand what works best, previous AVPN 2015 conferences outlined practices on building
strong intermediaries to help SPOs and on leveraging skills-based volunteers. Beyond the conference,
we will unearth and document further effective practices delivered by foundations, venture
philanthropy funds, incubators/equity providers and intermediaries funding to build the capacity of
various social purpose enterprises.
Here, AVPN presents Toolbox India Foundations capacity building strategy as an example of how
professional volunteerism can be best leveraged to enable non-profit organisations in their social
ambitions.

Organisational Portrait
Toolbox India Foundation works as a catalyst to provide strategic assistance to non-profit, growthstage organisations through its portfolio of highly skilled, corporate volunteers. It was established in
2007 as an overseas extension of its Belgian counterpart, Toolbox Belgium. The original concept was
first conceived when its founders noted the severe lack of management support within the non-profit
community. They realised that this need could be provided for by drawing on corporate professionals
to volunteer their pro-bono consulting services. Toolbox was therefore founded to serve as an
intermediary platform that matches expert volunteers to its non-profit partners through a
comprehensive assessment of both parties expertise and needs.
After establishing its base in Belgium, Toolbox sought to expand its activities abroad to achieve greater
social impact in India. Sandeep Naik of General Atlantic Partners and Co-founder of Toolbox Belgium,
Charles-Antoine Janssen, headed the launch of Toolbox in India, where they believed that the Belgian
model could be adapted and applied. The branch has since gained significant traction in the region,
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collaborating with over 35 non-profit organisations and executing more than 50 projects in areas of
health, education and womens empowerment.
The high qualifications required from its volunteers and its cross-border approach are what
differentiate Toolbox from other organisations in its field. While Toolbox engages in select
professionals, Empactia similar intermediary based in Singaporerelies on a diverse set of
volunteers such as practitioners, students and corporations, to offer a wide range of skills and services.
Empact also offers greater flexibility to its volunteers in its hope to provide opportunities to as many
individuals as possible. Toolboxs services are similar to Pilotlightii --a capacity building charity
operating in the UK-- which functions in connecting professional volunteers to the social sector. Yet,
since Toolbox has branched out into India, Toolbox is unique in its global approach in tackling social
challenges.

From Belgium to India

Toolboxs founders had always held long-term ambitions for global expansion; they strove to extend
their initiatives beyond Belgium and implement more Toolboxes around the world. When Co-founder,
Charles-Antoine Janssen, noted the large number of non-profits and social development problems in
India, he decided that the country would be a good destination to commence in Asia.
Together with Sandeep Naik, Janssen proceeded to extend the Toolbox concept and methodology into
India. Toolbox sought to introduce a new area of focus for the non-profit sector where social
institutions were typically preoccupied with fundraising activities; it emphasised capacity building,
over grantmaking, as a vital instrument in strengthening an organisations operations and outreach in
the long-run. It was therefore necessary for Toolbox to explore whether non-profits in India were
indeed ready to take on projects that focused on organisational strategy and sustainability, rather
than principal functions such as fundraising.
The extension process thus began with an 18-month long incubation period, where the idea was
tested. Toolbox saw its concept quickly adopted by non-profits that recognised its potential to help
build organisational capacity and create strategic-collaborative platforms in the social sector.iii Once
this pilot programme was validated, Toolbox India was formally established with the requisite legal
registrations in February 2011.iv
Toolbox India maintains the same sectoral focus as its Belgian counterpart, with both organisations
working to alleviate social issues that fall under the extensive categories of Education, Health,
Livelihoods and Womens Empowerment. However, as Vijaya Balaji--Board Director of Toolbox India-explains, the two countries distinct developmental contexts naturally necessitate a different set of
approaches, with each branchs sectoral focus ultimately stemming from the pre-dominant problems
that exist within its respective geography.
The two Toolbox branches continue to work closely together, building stronger linkages and
exchanging best practices. In both regions, Toolboxs central purpose remains the same: to serve as
an intermediary platform that employs skills-based volunteering in building organisational capacity
and developing stronger social programmes on the ground. In venturing into India, Toolbox has made
a marked step in working beyond the urban arena and into semi-rural communities.

Capacity building through higher skills preliminary steps

In a field dominated by grantmaking, Toolbox believed it was necessary to highlight the need for
management consulting amongst social purpose organisations. During its initial stages, Toolbox
conducted strategy workshops for non-profits in various sectors, where it discussed how it could add
value to their organisations. These active dialogues sought to emphasise the importance of the less
tangible, but essential returns to capacity building.
Toolbox also worked to establish its position in Indias social sector by presenting its value proposition
at avenues such as the Ashoka Summit and EdelGive forums. It solicited partnerships with non-profits
that stood to gain from capacity building efforts and proceeded to receive referrals from past projects.
Within the past two years, Toolboxs efforts have prompted various non-profit organisations to reach
out to discuss prospective partnerships.
To enable the right organisations to gain through the right volunteers, Toolbox needs to first select
the organisations that could benefit and then also the right volunteers.

Selecting SPOs for Partnership

Due to the high opportunity costs involved, Toolbox India remains cautious about the non-profits it
engages for partnerships. It actively seeks organisations driven by a strong leadership team open to
changes and advice. Following its criteria, the needs of its prospective partners must also align with
the resources that Toolbox is able to provide through its corporate volunteers.
Toolbox prefers not to gauge an organisation by its years in operation as it notes that long-running
non-profits can often lack in areas such as process management, while new organisations may be
more adept at utilising technology and key metricsv. Instead, Toolbox seeks to serve non-profit
organisations in their growth-stage of development.
Vijaya Balaji defines the growth-stage as a period ripe for introspection and capacity building support.vi
By this stage, non-profits would have had the opportunity to pilot their concepts, seek grants, and
consolidate their internal structures. Evidence of social impacts would also have surfaced at this point,
thereby allowing impact assessments to be conducted. Toolbox is hence able to identify gaps in their
organisation and assist them in scaling up their operations through consistent documentation,
strategic planning and management.

Attracting Professional Volunteers

Given the level of professional services Toolbox offers to its non-profits, the volunteers it recruits are
required to have at least 5 years of experience in disciplines such as general management, strategy,
finances, human resources, communication & marketing, IT and legal advice. Toolbox also
necessitates firm commitment from its volunteers; members must be willing to dedicate 8-10 hours
per month and attend a minimum of 3 group meetings with Toolbox and its partners. To maintain the
quality of its advisory services, Toolbox requests volunteers who are unable to commit the necessary
time and effort to sign off and rejoin at a later period.

Toolbox volunteers are typically selected based on a referral system by existing volunteers, whereby
each member who joins the organisation, is requested to bring in another volunteer. Toolbox notes
that referred volunteers tend to be validated by his/her network, as they often stem from a similar
professional background and are more likely to understand Toolboxs operations and requirements.
Toolbox also invites volunteer applications through its website, but the process largely occurs under
closed networks, with Toolbox receiving only 10-15% of its volunteers from online channels.
Toolbox has also succeeded in securing a steady stream of volunteers through its collaborations with
corporate firms that hosts their own employee engagement programmes. Under these partnerships,
Toolbox is able to draw on its partners existing pool of professional volunteers, while its partners, in
turn, are able to utilise the experience that their employees have gained in volunteering on projects.
In line with this strategy, Toolbox India has since partnered with EdelGive Foundation--the
philanthropic arm of Edelweiss Financial Services--to magnify their collective impact in India. Toolbox
engages Edelweisss employees to offer pro-bono, skills-based services to both Toolboxs non-profit
partners and EdelGives portfolio of investees.vii This collaborative effort has greatly streamlined
Toolboxs process in sourcing for both its volunteers and non-profit partners.

How does Toolbox add value?

Toolbox services meet the needs of SPOs in a number of ways and moreover are measured by certain
outcomes.

Meeting the Needs of SPOs

Toolbox Indias underlying aim is to go beyond providing non-profits with grants and infrastructure,
and offer strategic advisory services to strengthen their systems and processes. It assesses the needs
of its non-profit partners through detailed discussions with its committee members, and thorough
analyses of their management and internal organisation structures.viii Following this process,
volunteer consultants will offer a range of professional advisory services that add strategic value to
the organisations overall development. These areas include:ix

Strategy: Integrating a set of actions intended to differentiate the organisation's value to

society

Business Plan: Constructing a one-year, detailed business plan based on targeted goals and
impact assessment metrics

HR Management: Attracting qualified staff and volunteers and evaluating their performance

Finance: Managing cash flow, fundraising and revenue generation

Communication & Marketing: Reaching key stakeholders with effective internal, external
communication

As with its selection process, Toolbox places much attention on matching advisors to non-profits. It
highlights that a bad match would result in a loss of valuable time and resources for its volunteers,
non-profit partners, and the overarching organisationx. Toolbox has therefore delegated a Central
Team primarily responsible for matching the expertise of consultants to the needs of the non-profit
organisations.
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Assessing Impact: Outcome of Capacity Building Efforts

While the results from strategic change management may not be immediately evident, Toolbox has
continuously sought to track its projects progress, honing in on key focus areas and refining its
evaluation techniques over the years. It has since adopted a proprietary, pre- and post-project
assessment method that relies on expertise and intuition in measuring outcomes. The following are
key elements that have featured prominently over past programmes:xi

Promotion of mission and vision of non-profits

Reduction in costs
Growth in program outreach
Incubation of new programs
Development of managerial and leadership skills and competencies
Development of improved reporting systems and measurement metrics
Improved governance and compliance protocols
Financial sustainability of programs

These evaluation measures are also valuable for non-profits that do decide to return to Toolbox
following their projects completion. These organisations are then able to develop further
programmes based on the tools that had been adopted and on information of where skills gaps still
exist.

Challenges and Progress in Managing Volunteers

While volunteers see working with Toolbox as an opportunity to leverage their skills to make
meaningful contributions to society, mismatched expectations and overloaded commitments may
cause interest to wane over time.
Vijaya Balaji explains that Toolbox India has and continues to face challenges in ensuring its volunteers
commitment to their respective projects and to the larger organisation. She notes that the
organisation experiences a relatively high attrition rate, and continues to refine its approach in
addressing these issues.
Volunteer-driven programmes, such as Toolbox, demand additional effort in managing volunteers,
and ensuring that project execution timelines are adhered to. Given the challenging circumstances, it
can be said that Toolbox has gained notable success in recruiting highly skilled professionals; till date,
it has received over 100 volunteers, with approximately 40 deployed on projects at any given point in
time.xii In the following section, we highlight Toolboxs approach in managing its volunteers.

1/ Scoping Projects, Introducing Volunteers and Reducing Volunteers Workload

Following past experiences, Toolbox notes that fluid timelines and scope have significant disincentive
effects on volunteers interest. To ensure volunteer commitment, Toolbox sets project timelines and
follow-up meetings each fortnight, through physical meetings at the Toolbox office on Saturdays or
over conference calls with the Toolbox team and the project lead. Toolbox staff also undertakes
responsibility in conducting thorough assessments, scoping the project, providing contextual
background information, data access to volunteers and setting up site visits and interactions with the
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NPO teams. Additionally Toolbox guides its volunteers on the project execution, inducting volunteers
to the Toolbox methodology and sensitising them to working in a non-profit environment.
Toolbox caps the total number of projects it engages in to about 20-25 a year to ensure that volunteers
are not overburdened and that ample attention is dedicated to supporting its non-profit partners. On
average each volunteer participates in 2 projects a year with a maximum length of 6 months. A
minimum of two volunteers is deployed to each project, allowing volunteers to share the workload
and draw on each others skills and expertise. Toolbox monitors its volunteers progress and ensures
that projects are completed within the fiscal year by setting practical deadlines and timeframes.

2/ Managing Volunteer Operations Across Locations

Toolboxs partners and activities span across both rural and non-rural regions in India; Volunteers are
often based in city centers such as Mumbai and Delhi, while non-profits are located throughout
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and rural Maharashtra. In addition to active communication, Toolbox also
insists that its volunteers conduct two field visits -- be it in rural or urban areas -- to immerse
themselves in grassroots operations and gain a keen understanding of the organisations local context.
Toolbox encourages its volunteers to approach their partners from the communitys perspective, as
working with a non-profit organisation cannot be done insulated from ground realities. Toolbox
therefore
manages
its
operations
across
multiple
locations
in
two
ways:
Firstly, where there is a strategic and cultural fit, Toolbox tries to match volunteers equipped with the
relevant skills to their non-profit organisation based on geographical proximity. This significantly
reduces the travel time involved for both parties, making field visits and meetings more feasible.
Secondly, for projects in which volunteers are not based in the same location as their partnering nonprofit, Toolbox aims to reduce its volunteers load by employing student efforts. Toolbox runs a strong
internship programme that attracts both Indian and international students throughout the year. These
students act as foot soldiers for the volunteers by collecting data and feedback that volunteers need,
from their non-profit partners. In this way, volunteers responsibilities become significantly more
manageable, thereby strengthening their commitment.

3/ From Corporate to the Non-profit Sector

While there is significant overlap between the social and corporate sectors, the non-profit sphere
often calls for a different set of approaches from the corporate world. To enable its corporate
volunteers to make the transition, Toolbox provides volunteers with an induction programme that
includes an overview of Indias non-profit sector, sector-specific resources, and advice on consulting
with the non-profit sector.xiii
Toolbox also manages its volunteers expectations by making sure that they understand the expected
level of engagement and reasons why particular projects are being adopted by Toolbox. Toolbox
ensures that from the very onset of the project, the expected deliverables are articulated such that
there is no mismatch of expectations. Volunteers must also understand that non-profits may not
necessarily be prepared to adopt new skills and technology. Project review meetings are frequently
conducted to track each programmes progress and quality of impact.

Toolbox maintains that each partnership between its volunteers and non-profits be a collaborative
process. Volunteers must not simply assume the role of a consultantdiving into non-profits,
immediately highlighting problems and directing solutions. Rather, both parties must exercise humility
in their discussions when identifying problems and proposing solutions. To facilitate more meaningful
discussions, Toolbox also advises its volunteers not to bombard non-profits with technical jargon and
terminology.
In its efforts to keep motivations high, Toolbox presents its volunteers with opportunities to interact
with other highly skilled professionals in contributing to a social cause in their community. The
challenge to adapt to a non-profit environment also evolves into an incentive for corporate volunteers
who seek opportunities for personal and professional development.
Conclusion
Over the years, Toolbox has established itself as a capacity-building intermediary in India. It has drawn
on its experiences in both Belgium and India; constantly refining its practices to address challenges,
and seeking to bridge the skills gap between the social and corporate sectors.
Through its partnerships with various non-profits, Toolbox has greatly honed its tactic in identifying
the needs of social organisations early on. It has also greatly improved in managing project timelines
and assessing its impacts. Most significantly, Toolbox has altered the non-profit landscape in India
allowing social purpose organisations to see the less tangible value of capacity building, to focus on
developing systems, tools and processes rather than solely on principal functions of fundraising.
Toolbox has also made great strides in managing its volunteers--effectively streamlining its operations
across India, regulating the demands on its volunteers and enabling their transition into the non-profit
environment. Toolboxs partnerships with corporate firms such as Edelweiss, have also been
significant in structuring its process in sourcing for volunteers and non-profit partners. While Toolbox
continues to face key challenges, its measures have gained evident ground in maintaining a
continuous, sustainable supply of skilled volunteers.

Sources
Conversation with Vijaya Balaji, Board Director, Toolbox India, July 8, 2015
Approach, Toolbox India Foundation, available at http://www.tbxi.org/about/approach accessed
July 14, 2015
The Case for Pro Bono and Skilled-Volunteering in India, Vijaya Balaji, Toolbox India Foundation
Governance, Toolbox India Foundation, available at http://www.tbxi.org/about/governance
accessed July 14, 2015

http://empact.sg/
http://www.pilotlight.org.uk/
iii Vijaya Balaji, Toolbox India Foundation The Case for Pro Bono and Skilled-Volunteering in India p. 5
iv Conversation with Vijaya Balaji on 8 July 2015
v Conversation with Vijaya Balaji on 8 July 2015
vi Conversation with Vijaya Balaji on 8 July 2015
vii Vijaya Balaji, ToolBox India Foundation The Case for Pro Bono and Skilled-Volunteering in India p. 4
viii Vijaya Balaji, ToolBox India Foundation The Case for Pro Bono and Skilled-Volunteering in India p. 6
ix http://www.tbxi.org/about/approach
x http://www.tbxi.org/about/governance
xi Conversation with Vijaya Balaji on 8 July 2015
xii Conversation with Vijaya Balaji on 8 July 2015
xiii Vijaya Balaji, ToolBox India Foundation The Case for Pro Bono and Skilled-Volunteering in India p. 8
ii

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