Feasibility Study on Creating a Blockchain Based Information Platform for NGOs

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Stella Myers

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Individual

[GENERAL] Co proposers and Additional applicants

Mawuli Alormenu

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

5

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

A study to explore the interest of NGOs in subscribing to a platform where they can upload their community initiatives to provide public information which will enhance collaboration among themselves

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

This is a research project and does not require any licences at this stage

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

Ghana is a developing country and as a result various organisations including Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) undertake a number of development initiatives in different parts of the country as a way of supporting the Government's efforts to accelerate development in the country.

It is estimated that more than 1000 NGOs are operating within the country in various sectors such as education, water and sanitation, health, child protection, gender, skills development etc. Each NGO is involved in implementing development interventions in various regions of the country based on their annual programmes and thematic areas of focus.

NGO interventions are extremely relevant in terms of the support they provide to communities, particularly in the rural areas in the provision of some basic amenities such as classroom buildings, boreholes for easy access to potable water, educational materials, hospital equipment and free or partly funded surgeries etc. However, due to lack of public information, communication and collaboration among NGOs in the sector, it is difficult for NGOs to clearly identify communities that have benefitted from specific development interventions. This results in a situation where some NGOs implement their activities in the same beneficiary communities where other NGOs have already done similar interventions, leading to duplication of efforts and waste of resources. When this happens, needy communities are deprived of essential facilities while some beneficiary communities may have them in excess.

This lack of collaboration and communication leads to waste of resources, duplication of efforts, overconcentration of interventions in particular communities to the detriment of others among other challenges.

This problem could be resolved if there is a known public NGO information platform where NGOs can subscribe to and upload all their activities such that other NGOs can consult the platform and easily identify communities which have not been reached, or identify other NGOs doing similar work in order to collaborate with them. The idea is to have a one-stop location for all information relating to NGO work in Ghana. This will facilitate information sharing, collaboration and prudent use of donor resources.

The focus of this proposal is therefore to conduct a feasibility study among local NGOs in Accra, as a starting point, to determine the level of interest among the NGO community in subscribing to such a platform and making their activities public, to faciltate such collaboration and streamlining of efforts. As part of the study, NGOs will be made aware of blockchain technology, particularly the Cardano blockchain, since the platform is expected to be built on the Cardano blockchain.

The study will focus on local NGOs operating in Accra for now, and we intend to administer questionnaires to a sample size of 80 to 100 NGOs. A well-structured approach will be adopted in engaging respondent NGOs and collecting data to ensure that potential challenges are nipped in the bud.

Our approach involves the following:

a. Engagement with Regulatory and NGO Umbrella Bodies

NGOs are required by law to register with the government institution which regulates their operations and this is the Department of Social Welfare. As a starting point, we intend to obtain a list and contact of registered NGOs at the Department and this list will form the basis of our sample of respondents. Also, NGO umbrella bodies such as the Ghana Association of Financial Non-Governmental Organizations (FNGOs), the Association of Private Voluntary Organizations in Development (GAPVOD) and the Inter-NGO Consortium will all be contacted to obtain a list of their members in case the list obtained from the Department of Social Welfare is not exhaustive enough.

We will engage with the leadership of these three umbrella bodies to clearly communicate the purpose, benefits, and importance of the participation of their members in the feasibility study due to the intended benefits it can bring in terms of enhancing collaborative community work. The focus will be to seek the endorsement and cooperation of the leadership in order to facilitate data collection from their member NGOs.

b. Schedule Preliminary Meetings

Arrange preliminary meetings with member NGOs from the umbrella bodies to explain the study's objectives, methodology, and how the study will be rolled out. We will also use the opportunity to hold focused group discussions/forum on the existing challenges with regards to collaboration and their thoughts on signing on to a platform which will help in disseminating information about their activities. As part of these meetings, relevant information which may be essential in designing the questionnaire for data collection will be obtained and any concerns they may have regarding data collection and the study's impact on their operations will be addressed.

These meetings will be used as a platform to create awareness of the Cardano blockchain and Project Catalyst. The NGO community will be taken through the stages involved in Project Catalyst, the roles they can play, and how to register to become Cardano community members if they so desire.

c. Develop questionnaire

Based on discussions with the NGOs, and review of relevant literature, we will develop a qualitative questionnaire to gather primary information. A google form questionnaire will be designed for data gathering. The questionnaire will, among other things, collect data on the preferences of the NGOs with respect to how information will be presented on the platform, the level of detail they will like to give about their activities etc. Interviews will also be conducted with some of the participating NGOs to obtain more indepth information and a clearer understanding of their needs.

d. Data Collection

(i) Pilot Testing

After the development of the questionnaire, a pilot test of the data collection process will be done with a small group of the sample to identify and address any issues before scaling up.

(ii) Roll out of data collection

It is our expectation that not less than 80 NGOs will participate in the study however, this number may be revised upwards or downwards depending on the number of NGOs we are able to mobilise through the umbrella bodies and the Department of Social Welfare. Data collectors will be engaged to conduct interviews with some of the NGOs as well as provide support in speeding up the process of data collection.

e. Data Analysis and Reporting

After data collection, the following will be done:

• Collate, clean and make ready the data for analysis.
• Data analysis and report generation
• Preparation of presentation slides on findings
• Conduct a workshop for the NGOs on findings to validate the findings of the study

The findings of the study will be shared with the Cardano community online, and will form the basis for progressing to the next stage of the project which is the design and development of the said NGO platform.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

It is expected that the project will yield the following benefits to the Cardano community, among others:

• Increase in the potential use cases of the Cardano block chain
• Onboarding of NGOs onto the Ideascale platform
• In both short and long term, some participating NGOs will become involved in submitting proposals - become Proposers
• In both short and long term, members of the NGO community will become Community Reviewers, Proposers and Voters.
• In the short term, those who join the Town Halls, the telegram chats and Discord will contribute to discussions and may give very good ideas which can eventually help in more innovations in Catalyst operations.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

With respect to our capability to deliver the project with high levels of trust and accountability:

The key members of the project team are very active members of the Cardano community and the Wada community as well.

Stella Seyram Myers is a member of the Cardano community and a training and business planning Consultant. She has qualifications in business administration and 15 years of experience in educating and strengthening businesses through the design of interventions. She has coordinated various projects including business planning for NGOs and their Umbrella bodies in Ghana and has deep understanding on how NGOs are organised in Ghana and key challenges they face in meeting their community work objectives. Stella holds a degree in business administration. She has also participated in projects under Fund 10 and was a community assessor in Fund 10.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-myers-481bb315/

Faakor Fiadzigbey has been part of the Cardano community since Fund 8 during which she was a Community Assessor (CA). She was also a challenge team member for the Grow Africa, Grow Cardano challenge in Fund 8 and a CA in Fund 9 as well. She is also a funded proposer for Fund 10, and an experienced workshop facilitator, having provided training and capacity development interventions in her capacity as a Human Resource Management Practitioner to staff of various institutions.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/faakor-fiadzigbey-b9b09328/

This joint team of implementers have the relevant experience and goodwill within the Cardano community and will endeavour to do an excellent job if funded.

With respect to validating the feasibility of our approach, the focus of the proposal is to ensure high levels of participation of all NGOs registered with the Association. The following elements will be verified as the project is rolled out, to determine if the approach is yielding the expected results or will need modification:

• Number of NGOs identified for the study
• Successful initial meeting with NGOs, prior to design of questionnaires
• Adherence to project timelines
• Stakeholder satisfaction with the conclusion on the findings of the feasibility conducted.
• Success of the pilot testing
• Success of validation workshop
• Number of NGOs who have shown interest in subscribing to the platform.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

The main activities required to achieve Milestone 1 include making contact with government regulatory institution and NGO umbrella bodies to identify a large number of NGOs to constitute the respondents of the study.

Key milestones are:

• Identification of large pool of NGOs, ideally between 100 and 120
• Engagement with heads of umbrella bodies to obtain their buy in for the study
• Secure dates for meetings with NGOs to present the idea and possibly obtain information to support questionnaire design
• Determine exact sample size based on intial meetings.

Milestone 2 will involve the following:

• Design qualitative google form questionnaire to gather primary information.
• Administer questionnaire on pilot basis and review questionnaire where necessary
• Administer questionnaire to entire sample size - full study

The final milestone will involve data analysis, report preparation and validation workshop

• Clean 100% of data collated.
• Feasibility report
• Prepare presentation slides from feasibility report
• Organise validation meeting/workshop for all participating NGOs

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

The key members of the project team are very active members of the Cardano community and the Wada community as well.

Stella Seyram Myers - Team Lead and Research Coordinator

Stella is a member of the Cardano community and a training and business planning Consultant. She has qualifications in business administration and 15 years of experience in educating and strengthening businesses through the design of interventions. She has coordinated various projects including business planning for NGOs and their Umbrella body in Ghana and has deep understanding into how NGOs are organised in Ghana and key challenges they face in meeting their community work objectives.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-myers-481bb315/

Faakor Fiadzigbey: Workshop/Meeting Facilitation and Report Writing

Faakor has been part of the Cardano community since Fund 8 during which she was a Community Assessor (CA). She was also a challenge team member for the Grow Africa, Grow Cardano challenge in Fund 8 and a CA in Fund 9 as well. She is a Human Resources Management Practitioner by profession.

Telegram: @Fax660

https://www.linkedin.com/in/faakor-fiadzigbey-b9b09328/

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

A. Tasks Team effort in days

1. Engaging with Regulatory Institutions and NGO Umbrella Bodies 5
2. Preparation for & Meetings/Workshops with NGOs 6
3. Development of Questionnaire 4
4. Pilot study and review of questionnaire where necessary 8
5. Full study – Administer questionnaire and interviews with entire study sample 18
6. Data cleaning, analysis and report preparation 10
7. Validation meetings/workshops 6

Total no. of days required 57

@ Daily rate of 450 Ada

Total Amount required to complete tasks 25,650

B. Additional expenses

Hire of venue for meetings 6000

Meeting logistics: PA system, projector, Wifi etc. 1500

T&T and incentive for data collectors: 5300

Total for additional expenses 12,800

Total for A & B(Project amount) 38,450

Administrative expenses: (10% of project amount) 3,845

Overall Total for Project 42,295

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The budget for the project focuses on the essentials and is therefore on the low side, with a focus on reaching as many NGOs at the lowest possible cost. There is no need for publicity as the NGOS are already organised through their umbrella bodies. We would therefore mobilise them through contact with the umbrella bodies.

The project provides value for money for Cardano in terms of adoption of the block chain as a platform for collaboration which would result in maximisation of resources in the communities where the NGOs operate. We expect that members of the NGO community would become proposers and reviewers after the project, and also develop more use cases for the adoption of the Cadano block chain for their work. Cardano's impact and influence will thus be felt in many communities in Accra and Ghana as a whole.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept