Background
The Indian social sector has rapidly evolved in the past couple of decades. Due to the increased recognition of the role and need of non-state actors in achieving India’s development goals, a number and types of organisations have emerged in India’s social sector today. To capture the confidence of Nonprofit organisations (NPOs) on key aspects of the social sector, eight prominent indices have been developed over the last fifteen years. These measure and rank countries on various aspects of philanthropy and civil society.
Considering that the sector grapples with and responds to complex socio-economic and political issues of the country, it is important to systematically measure how well equipped the constituent organisations, including the NGOs, the funders, and the ecosystem support organisations, are, in terms of resources, talent, internal structures, ecosystem support and environment of operations. It is also pertinent to identify and describe the role played by the internal and external factors in enabling and/ or limiting these organisations in effectively functioning to achieve their organisational and development goals. It further aims to capture the granular picture of the factors that influence the functioning of NPOs in India. It is an opportunity to understand why some sectors demand more attention in specific states or how specific factors such as regulatory environment, tangible and intangible socio-cultural fabric affect the ease of giving in some sectors
Objectives of the study
CSIP aims at building a Social Confidence Index (SCI) that measures and describes the current status of the Indian social sector from the perspective of Nonprofit organisations (NPOs). SCI will measure the confidence of NPOs in India on key aspects of the social sector which are essential for them to carry out their stated mission and objectives.
About SCI
- The index will be an assessment taken by NGOs and other stakeholders of the broader, policy and regulatory context, and contributing factors that impact their ability to achieve their missions and goals.
- It will consist of a quantitative ‘score’ that will measure the confidence of NPOs for effective functioning and service delivery in India. This will be accompanied by qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews (IDI’s).
- The assessment of the NPOs’ confidence will be done across critical components and indicators relating to the internal, external, systemic, environmental, processual, and capacity-related aspects of the social sector.
- These components will inform the primary survey design, the secondary documents collected as well as the discussion guides for the IDIs. In the primary survey, these components will be defined and measured by a weighted scoring approach arrived after consultations across stakeholders.
Scope of work
The agency will be expected to accomplish the following tasks. Please note that the task list below is indicative and not exhaustive. Tasks will be finalised based on emerging needs and mutual discussion.
- Desk review
- Develop both quantitative and qualitative methodology for the collection of data
- Develop indicators for the score, including weightage of components and other important aspects
- Stakeholder identification and consultation
- Data collection
- Develop a methodology for the computation and analysis of the scores
- Data analysis
- Writing preliminary analysis reports for both qualitative and quantitative responses
CSIP will provide a base list of respondents but the responsibility of contacting and consulting with the dedicated sample lies with the agency.
Scale and Geography
Pan-India. The sample should be representative of India and should be spread across thematic areas or sectors in the field. Ideally, all the states and UT’s should be covered but proposals can suggest an alternate state or zone-wise categorisation. Proposals that follow a consultative, participatory, and representative approach will be scored higher.
Methodology
The study will involve a mixed-methods approach and will include a survey and IDIs. The rankings will be done across thematic areas/sectors and also across states/zones. The methodology should clearly identify the ranking criteria across states/zones along with sectors.
Key Deliverables
- Desk review
- To familiarise with reports and literature relevant to the project
- Preparatory meeting with CSIP
- Raw data and cleaned data in .csv format
- Draft report
- Final report
Timeline
6 months from the date of signing of the contract.
Eligibility Criteria
- The organisation should be registered in India under the Companies Act, not-for-profit organisation, or Society Registration Act.
- The organisation must have 5+ years of experience in conducting research, evaluation, and report writing of similar nature in India.
- The organisation must have prior experience of similar studies, preference will be given to organisations with prior experience in developing pan-India and multi-sector indexes.
- The organisation must have a positive net worth in the case of a profit-making company.
Technical Proposal
A proposal should include the following sections:
- Study methodology: Describe overall approach and methodology including survey design, tentative key information areas, and methodology
- Relevant Experience: Provide details of projects scope and nature you have worked previously (past 10 years)
- Timeline: Include a detailed work plan of key activities
- Sample reports: Two sample reports of similar nature and scope to be provided
- Provide team plan and detailed CVs
Financial Proposal
The financial proposal should include a budget narrative and line-item budget. The cost estimates should be presented in INR.
Evaluation Criteria
| Evaluation Criteria | Maximum Scoring |
| Technical Proposal | 50% |
| Credentials/institutional capacity | 25% |
| Financial Proposal | 20% |
| Team | 5% |
| Total | 100 |
Interested agencies need to submit their technical and financial proposal along with the CVs of team members to csipresearch@ashoka.edu.in by January 10, 2022 with the subject line “Social Confidence Index Proposal”.
The last date for the submission of queries is December 20, 2021. Queries should be sent to csipresearch@ashoka.edu.in with the subject line “Social Confidence Index Query”.
Proposals submitted after the last date of submission or incomplete proposals will not be considered. Only shortlisted agencies will be contacted for the further selection process by January 25, 2022.
Social Confidence Index – Response to Queries