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Finding Empowerment Even in Data Entry

RMF and Source for Change

October 11, 2010 - India

by Caitlin McQuilling

Back in the spring as our Community Nutrition Educator’s began bringing in their baseline surveys, RMF India’s team had a dilemma. We were getting in data by the ton and started to realize (a little belatedly) that we would never be able to get all the data entered in time for it to be useful for our program, given the power outages in Jhabua and the scarcity of extra manpower we could spare for months of data entry. When we got to 37,141 forms with 71 variables of data each we knew there was no way we could do this ourselves.

We sought quotations from various data entry operators and Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) companies for taking on our enormous job. Most quoted us outrageous prices, way over our budget, and even with those high prices, extremely long time periods to finish the work. To my pleasant surprise, the company who came back to us with the most reasonable estimate, a fraction of the cost of the other BPOs, and with the shortest time frame, was Source for Change, an NGO who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time.

Source for Change operates like most BPOs. They got back to us with a professional, competitive quote that looked like all the others. They provide great customer service and promise impressive data security measures and processes. What makes SFC unique, however, is not just their low prices, but also the fact that they’re an all-women run BPO set in a rural area. They have trained these rural, marginalized women with the skills to compete in the high growth, high tech industry that’s helped create the shinning India that so many aspire to but that so few can access. SFC empowers the lives of the women in rural communities, not by charity or many of the other livelihood initiatives out there, but by giving them skills that are in high demand.

SFC’s missions statement states that they are “a progressive company based on the idea that social values can be achieved through the private marketplace.” RMF applauds this model and the work that SFC does. Not only did SFC provide RMF with high quality, professional services, they also provided important employment for women in their area. It was a pleasure doing business with an organization who holds the same principals as ourselves.

For more information on Source for Change and to look into how they can help your organization, please visit their website atwww.sourceforchange.in. They have our recommendation.

For more information about RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program in India, click here.

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