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Community Shops -- Nonprofit Selection

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Selection Criteria for Partner Organizations:

  1. Great mission - the non-governmental organization (NGO) must inspire a volunteer to take on its cause. The purpose of cShops is to support and expand the community development programs of an NGO by providing an e-commerce channel through which to sell their artisan goods and generate awareness about their work in the consumer communities. It is NOT to generate additional income for an individual artisan, but to provide NGOs another means of generating support for holistic community development.
  2. Well managed. The NGO must meet the minimum criteria for management and financial transparency. cShops will rely on volunteers and partner organizations to vet the organization.
  3. Established community development programs including the production of arts and handicrafts. In addition to maintaining the longevity of the community development programs, the NGO must meet the sustainability criteria listed below in order to maintain the online store on cShops.
  4. Some experience in international sales of handicrafts. The NGO must have the infrastructure and to support the establishment and maintenance of the online store.
  5. Support in the U.S. The NGO must have representatives in the U.S. that will be responsible establishing the online store and marketing and distributing the goods on cShops.
  6. Willingness for the NGO to cooperate with the cShops vision. There must be a philosophical fit, as outlined below, between the NGO and cShops.

Prerequisites
Prerequisite qualifications will vary depending on the country of origin of the exporting NGO.

For Indian NGOs, the following is necessary before the NGO can export goods:

  • IEC (Import Export Code) certificate and number.
  • FCRA registration.
  • For handicraft items, registration with the Handicraft Registration Council. (Cost of 3,000 Rs.)
  • Bank accounts in the US and in India.
  • Registered as a non-profit in the US and in India.

Philosophical Fit
A perfect philosophical fit entails that the NGO wishes to enter into the project with cShops for the sake of beneficiaries. They fully understand all the resources required for the success of the project and wish to see project to completion. The idea of conducting business does not interfere with the core vision of the NGO or take away from the beneficiaries in any way. (For example: an increased volume of orders should not result in a sweatshop or stressful work environment.

An NGO may be excited about the idea of "export" and "web" without clearly understanding how this will help beneficiaries. They may not understand all the requirements clearly, but maintain that they can handle it. This does not make for a good philosophical fit.

Sustainability
The NGO must have a plan to sustain the venture after the initial activity. Questions to assess the NGO's capacity to sustain the activity include:

  • How many people involved in this project are temporary resources, and what provisions will be made once these resources are gone.
  • How does the NGO plan to scale production capacity to match increased volume of sales over time?
  • Do both offices (local and U.S.) understand the nature of the long-term commitment and that there will be some increased paperwork in both offices. What resources are in place to handle this?

Technology Requirements

  1. Email access greater than 56K at least at some external location (ex: cyber café) and email access of at least 56 K on site.
  2. Digital camera of decent resolution.
  3. CD R/W.
  4. Word, Excel, Photoshop (or some photo management software that can do miniaturizations for emailing and web publishing).
  5. Computer with minimum the minimum specifications to handle images, email, CD reading, USB port etc.
  6. Reliable phone.
  7. Photocopier or easy access to photocopier.

Technical Knowledge Requirements

  1. Can find and create files and folders on the computer.
  2. Knows how to access email, including dialing up, accessing inbox, sending and receiving messages, accessing and updating address book, appending with attachments.
  3. Knows how to take a printout, including feeding paper, changing print options (landscape etc.).
  4. Knows how to connect digital camera to the computer.
  5. Knows how to upload photos into computer.
  6. Knows how to compress photo size to send them over the web.
  7. Can create forms, documents, lists using Word, or Excel.
  8. Knows how to catalog pictures.
  9. Knows how to burn Cd's.
  10. Knows how to use photocopier.
  11. Knows how to use the phone.

English Requirments

  1. Can write up attractive product descriptions of sale items.
  2. Can write professional letter, for example to request that a certificate be issued by regulatory boards etc.
  3. Can read, understand instructions on forms and fill forms using these instructions.
  4. Can read, understand, and respond to emails.
  5. Can write up case studies and supporting collateral related to the organization's activities in an attractive and professional manner.

Capabilities Matrix

Criteria Green Yellow Red
Technology Requirements Perfect OK Negligible
Technology access for NGO task team Constant (several computers free OR dedicated personal computer) Limited (Computer sharing bet. over 3 people OR specific people only) Negligible
Technology Knowledge Requirments Good Ok Negligible
English skills of NGO task team Good Ok Negligible
Office in the US Yes - No
Support in the US Long term reliable support Short term/volunteer support None
Philosophical fit Good Ok No
Sustainability fit Good Ok No
Prerequisites in place Yes Soon No
Production fit Good Ok No



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