NGO Capacity Building

The McKinsey Capacity Framework reminds me of a relatively successful Non-Profit Organization in Shanghai, which is, Hand on Shanghai. (http://www.handsonshanghai.org/) It focuses on education, children’s health and elderly care. The volunteers are mainly university students. Its capacity is as followed and I believe the key factors for its success is its partnerships.

Elements	Hands On Shanghai
Aspirations	To promote volunteerism, inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world
Strategy	Education, Elderly Care, Children’s Health and Facility Improvement Programs
Organization Skills	Partnership with universities, elementary schools, hospitals and elderly care centers.
Human Resources	There are university student clubs for recruitment.
Systems and Infrastructure	Volunteers can register online for a certain program.
Organization Structure	The board members are mainly made up of three groups of people, which are university professors, industry CEOs and non-profit organization leaders
Culture	People drive change – People can make all of the difference. Passion overcomes obstacles – Passion and boldness transform. Service bridges and bonds – Working together in service to other bring people together. Innovation drives results – Reimagining possibilities creates impact. Servant leadership transforms – Humility and grace can change our world.

With stable partnerships with schools and care centers, the sustainability of the programs is promised. The partnership with universities make it easier for the organization to recruit volunteers. There is a policy in Shanghai that every university student should take part in at least two volunteer activities in one year. The weakness of the organization is the Systems and Infrastructure part. It does not have a performance measure. It is great that it can hold hundreds of volunteer activities every year. However, there is no clear definition on the quality of activities. If the measure can be set, the organization can advance to the next stage.

To be honest, Shanghai is not quite an incubator for non-profit organizations. Few people have the awareness of doing good. Non-profit organizations rely heavily on universities. My question is that is there any other ways to recruit volunteers instead of going to universities directly?