HISTORY & BACKGROUND

Four existing members of CWO started welfare work on a small scale. Initially, the team collects money from friends and relatives and distributes it to various welfare organizations. Ironically, there were no transparency procedures found in these organizations to select needy people. Therefore, the team planned to dispense welfare on their own.

To materialize the idea, a team consisting of 10 members from diversified backgrounds was formed and registered a trust with the name of “CRADLE WELFARE ORGANIZATION (CWO)”. Cradle Welfare Organization aims to undertake community development and to promote the interest of the poor and deserving by improving the provision of basic health and education facilities.

In our country, donors always search for a welfare platform that has transparent procedures for needy people. On the other hand, if we turn our attention towards lower-class people, they are also looking for a welfare platform that caters to their needs on a consistent basis while maintaining their self-respect. Our business model is to bridge this gap by collecting money from donors and delivering it to needy people with a transparent procedure on a consistent basis.

CWO made the strategy to work in two areas as depicted in our logo:

1. Health
2. Education

CWO formally installed 40 hand pumps as its first project in the health sector. Pumps were installed with ownership, and this ownership is USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of CWO. The organization used to install hand pumps in common places without any ownership, which resulted in these pumps remaining in tatters after 6 months due to lack of maintenance.

In 2014, CWO expanded its work towards education and started to confer scholarships in parallel with the hand pumps. Students are judged on six parameters for awarding scholarships as stated below:

• Salary (need)
• Number of dependents (need)
• Father deceased or alive (need)
• Aptitude test (Meritorious)
• Talent (Meritorious)

Members used a matrix approach to blend need and meritorious basis; gave different weightage to the above parameters depending on the probability of fake information. Information was gleaned in four steps (School recommendation, Test, Interviews, and Random visits). Unlike other organizations that confer scholarships based on a single factor, personally or aptitude test, CWO awards scholarships with the help of a matrix and a strict policy that no blood relative of members will compete for scholarships.

CWO is also conducting free-of-cost monthly training for these selected students because its aim is not only dispensing money but also grooming students properly.

This is the beginning of the journey towards self-actualization, which will continuously improve with time and experience based on the trust of the people.