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Efficiency Enhancement Program through adopting management information system and resource mobilization
Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), amid a significant expansion phase in the past three years, foresees addressing two crucial capacity-building needs over the next three years: 1) Enhancing digital capabilities through IT and MIS systems, and 2) Strengthening organizational capacities for resource mobilization.
The organization’s rapid scaling is anticipated to accelerate further in the coming years, particularly with flagship programs gaining recognition and heightened donor interest. This growth implies an increase in geographies, beneficiaries, community resource persons, infrastructure, and services. Therefore, alongside the core function of program execution, effective support functions, including human resource management, finance, IT & MIS, and resource mobilization, become paramount to ensure seamless overall operations.
Despite having well-established HR and finance systems, SSP identifies gaps in IT & MIS and resource mobilization functions that require immediate attention:
IT & MIS:
Absence of Comprehensive Data Management Software: SSP lacks organization-wide software supporting program and beneficiary data management. Data is scattered across excel sheets, Google Drive, and physical copies, leading to inefficiencies in data quality, accessibility, and entry time. This hinders access to quality, reliable data for both project and organizational levels.
Lack of Monitoring & Evaluation and Impact Assessment Tools: The absence of MIS tools for project monitoring and evaluation, coupled with the lack of centralized software, results in manually prepared reports through a cumbersome process. This limits the tracking of metrics and indicators, impacting project monitoring, decision-making, and impact assessment.
No Mobile Application for Remote Engagement: The absence of a mobile application for engaging with women community leaders or “Sakhis” at the village level hampers two-way communication. Such an application could enhance capacity-building for Sakhis and digitize their reporting, but currently, no such application exists.
Shortage of Qualified IT Personnel: Due to various reasons, including insufficient focus on non-core support functions and inadequate funding, qualified IT project managers have not been positioned within the organization. The absence of key IT personnel has hindered SSP’s IT & MIS department from meeting the growing IT-related needs effectively.
Fund Mobilization:
Absence of Dedicated Personnel for Fund Mobilization: The current organizational structure lacks a dedicated manager for fund mobilization and partnerships. While the Director (Programs) currently handles these responsibilities, having separate personnel for resource mobilization and program execution is crucial due to their distinct yet equally important functions.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog is looking forward to help and support in building their digital strategy. We have projects that are funded by Individual as well as Institutional fundraising activities. After some high level discussions with all stakeholders and reviewing their expectations, we believe a central data management system will solve the issues of monitoring data collected from the field and ensure efficient reporting over the project activities to the funding agencies. Broadly the following platforms may help us with smooth functioning and efficient fundraising, viz:
Centralized data management system (Financial and M&E)
Comprehensive Lead and Grant Management
Cadre management system
Other Systems
Key components of the project would be:
A centralized data management system is required by us largely to centralize information across all our projects & programs at following levels: 1) Beneficiaries 2) Assets (Demo plots, Water structures) 3) Various Initiatives/Activities 4) Donors/Funds received 5) Geography (Block & Village level) 6) M&E (Input, Output, Outcome & Impact) Indicators 7) Monitoring financial indicators Such a system will improve data accuracy and consistency for the existing projects.
For SSP, a system that will ensure the compliance requirements for data collected from the field for the above mentioned levels will also be helpful. Ideally a robust data collection system coupled with a makerchecker approach, option of task/project management across different grants & programs which feeds data to an overall comprehensive dashboard will be very useful. The same system can have capabilities of Outreach/communications to beneficiaries & various stakeholders (Cadres, internal program managers etc). This will also act as a Grant management system as well.
A comprehensive system to capture, track, organize, and manage donation leads from prospective donors or organizations. It will support in streamlining and automating lead management activities, allowing the organization to effectively manage their leads and improve conversion rates.
Some of the metrics like
SSP will consider a suitable vendor’s help to configure an existing Fundraising CRM to suit our needs and also integrate this further to the centralized data management system
Cadre Management System
A cadre management system to ensure communication between communities would be needed to efficiently organize, track, and manage various personnel involved in agricultural activities. An idle system would include modules like Personnel Database, Cadre Classification (to categorize personnel into different cadres based on their roles), Training and Development (to plan, schedule, and track training programs and skill development initiatives), Task Assignment and Management, Performance Evaluation and Resource Allocation.
Following are the major stages for the overall Cadre management system:
Contract period for the agency will be for a period of three years from 01st July, 2024 or until the completion of the Fidelity Asia Pacific Foundation supported project, on terms and conditions agreed mutually. The Contract will be governed by standard terms of service contracts of Swayam Shikshan Prayog and will be shared with shortlisted applicants upon request.
The agency must have prior experience in building Organizational and Project level Management Information Systems
A shortlist of maximum three consultants will be established based on expressions of interest.
The shortlist will be evaluated on the following criteria based on their updated resume, financial offer and their reference check by Swayam Shikshan Prayog:
Preference will be given to Agencies having successfully handled similar assignments. Weightage will also be given to Agencies with whom Swayam Shikshan Prayog had a prior satisfactory association.
The final selection will be by a Management Committee of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, who may telephonically interview the shortlisted candidates and the decision of the Committee will be final and binding.
Only the shortlisted Agency shall be contacted. In case your profile does not match the aforementioned requirements, your application will be eliminated at the preliminary scrutiny stage and Swayam Shikshan Prayog is not obliged to send any communication in that regard and will not entertain any follow-ups in that regard.
Please mail your expression of interest along with your profile; timescale based financial offer and at least 2 independent references to sspindia1@gmail.com