14 new NGOs, ranging from stalwarts to start-ups joined the community and put together their first conversational flows in the Glific platform in just 2 days. These NGOs cover a wide-spectrum of sectors under the development umbrella from transforming villages to transforming schools, from delivery of healthcare to political action to supporting differently abled in having successful careers to creating joyful learning experiences. We are excited to get them kicked off and support them in the journey towards amplifying their reach and impact in the years to come.

The 2 days of offline meet-ups, dubbed as “Bootcamp” included sessions from

1. Ideation of objectives to
2. Orientation on the features
3. Some hands on crafting of the conversations that the NGOs will undertake with their beneficiaries in the coming months.
4. Brainstorming and share session with the veteran Glific community members, and finally
5. Lightning talks from each NGO to showcase the progress accomplished in 2 days

Through extensive ideation and build sessions with the participants, we discovered the seven ways in which they are seeing chatbot as a game changer for their already excellent work

Seven Ways NGOs See Chatbots as a Game-Changer

1. Exit High-Touch Interventions: Chatbots provide a way to transition from high-touch in-person interventions without leaving gaps in community support.
2. Track Outcomes Beyond Programs: They help create a community of alumni and track outcomes beyond the program duration.
3. Data-Powered Fundraising: NGOs are looking forward to having more data about their interactions and campaigns with their beneficiaries, and therefore attract funders proactively.
4. Expand Outreach: WhatsApp chatbot enables the expansion of outreach to beneficiaries, making services more accessible. Argument is 100% valid that still there is a lot of folks who do not have easy access to smart phones and internet, but in those who do, WhatsApp is a ubiquitous app and part of their dialy lives
5. Resource Sharing: NGOs can share resources over WhatsApp, the most opened app in every person’s phone who has it, that empower individuals and communities in a language and over an interface they understand easily.
6. Safe, Private Spaces: Chatbots coupled with end to end encryption of WhatsApp provide a safe and private spaces for beneficiaries to discuss sensitive issues, which they might otherwise be unwilling or afraid to share with a human in a face to face interaction
7. Boost Engagement over platforms: Nudging through WhatsApp increase the usage and engagement of existing tech platforms.

Six things the newly onboarded members had to say from the 2 day hands on experience

1. “It is easier than I thought, and the Glific Preview allows me to fail fast and learn faster”: The grueling process of Facebook verification creates a sense of tech like a black box where one is always unsure of what is happening, but once an organization is passed it, the actual work of creating your own rule based chatbot on glific is a as easy as creating a flow chart of conversation is a welcome change of pace for the NGOs.

2. “The interface is very intuitive and it is fun to play with”: And this is coming from a hundred percent non-tech folks who were present and each of them created at least 2 conversational interactions on their bots within a span of 4 hours all by themselves.  

3. “We have made more progress than anticipated in 2 days”: it is one thing to have things easy, but it gives another kind of rush to see the interactions one has created in the flow editor work like a charm as you converse with your own creation in the WhatsApp interface you use on a daily basis.   

4. “Well documented support”: The Glific team’s objective was to ask the right questions, guide the NGOs to the product documentation, and allow them time to explore & do it themselves

5. “Finding a community of NGOs ”: When mission oriented orgs ranging from transforming schools and education, transforming rural india, providing disaster relief, activating citizens to improve local neighborhoods are in the same room, we will let your imagination ponder the potential for collaboration and pollination of ideas that is possible. 

6. “Possibilities are unlimited”: Seeing the showcases of how other orgs are using the chatbot. Getting a sense of perspectives, ideas and strategies adapted to deliver impact.  

Finally here is the list of organizations who joined the community of NGOs

1. Waste Warriors
2. Goonj 
3. SNEHA
4. Magic Bus
5. Pratham Books
6. Waatavaran
7. TRRAIN
8. TIP Sessions
9. Life-Lab
10. Transform Schools, People for Action
11. Reuikai knowledge Trust 
12. SES
13. JSVN
14. Rebuild India Fund, Dasra
15. Angan Trust