Finances at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project

Food for thought...

The CRHP works on a budget of US $500,000 a year. That's a very small amount of money for an NGO to work with, especially when considering the number of programs and services that CRHP runs. Ravi says that ideally they'd like to have a budget of US 1 million.

Many NGOs spend up to 80% of their budget on salaries. CRHP spends 80% of their budget on services and programs, and only 20% on salaries. They have around 40 people working for them. No one makes more than US $300 per month, and average salary is between 3000 Rs and 7000 Rs a month, or between about US $65-$155. Shoba, Ravi's sister, makes the most at US $300 a month.

Ravi, the son of the founders of the organization, takes no salary, and neither does his father (his mother is deceased). He has a business and business partner in the US and 42% of profits from that comes to CRHP. Anything money makes is used for the CRHP.

At the hospital patients who can afford to pay usually pay half the cost of the care. Only 30% of patients pay at all.  

The other half of their funding, US $250,000, comes from donations, from both individuals and large donors.

Why can't they get more money? Ravi says that many people and foundations say that because CRHP spends so little of its budget on salaries that they must not have qualified people working for them. 

CRHP utilizes village residents and "uneducated" individuals (perhaps who never had formal education, or finished only up to a certain grade, don't have a degree, etc) in their programs. This makes the wide scope of their reach and services possible, and promotes ownership and leadership within the villages. And the organization manages to provides comprehensive medical services, educational programs, and assistance with setting up sanitation systems and safe water sources, among other projects, to around one million individuals around Jamkhed at the cost of - and this is not an exaggeration - a few cents per family per year. It is an extremely efficient system.

But the people evaluating their spending want to see more money going to salaries, and therefore CRHP has trouble finding funds. Anyone want to try to explain this logic to me?

Not many people want to do the kind of work that Ravi and Shoba and the dedicated social workers and village health workers do at CRHP for the rural communities, especially when the pay is as low as it is. It is not easy work. It is underfunded. It is really hot here. Lots of care is taken to ensure that the communities are made part of the decision making process along the way, and many jobs and leadership positions are given to the residents of these villages. This can make progress slower and decision making a bit more complicated. But the results are beyond incredible. Ravi says you really don't need much to live in Jamkhed. If only more people could understand and accept living a simple lifestyle...and have 100% genuine interest in helping people help themselves to make the world a little bit better every day.