Tech4Good Community

Founded in 2018, Tech4Good Community (T4GC) is a women-led social change organisation dedicated to strengthening the technology capabilities of locally rooted non-profit organisations and social enterprises that address developmental challenges across climate, disability, health, education and livelihoods.

Despite significant advancements in the development space, gaps persist in accessibility, affordability and adoption of digital tools within the non-profit sector. Tech4Good Community has worked with over 1,500 entities to addresses these challenges by integrating capacity building, hands-on mentorship and tailored engineering solutions. Its programmes include the Spotlight Series, FOSSFwd and the Climate Coalition.

The Tech4Good Community has received an institutional grant from the Tata Trusts and funding from Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Rainmatter Foundation, Samagata Foundation, and other philanthropic organisations.

The Tata Trusts’ support focuses on capacity building, including strengthening the engineering team, enabling fundraising efforts, and enhancing technological capabilities within non-profits.

About Tech4Good Community and its achievements:

Democratising technology to drive social change

In a world where technology primarily caters to enterprises, the social sector often lacks the tools necessary to maximise impact. As a non-profit organisation, Tech4Good Community understands the importance of democratising technology to drive social change. Its mission is to provide strategic guidance to non-profits to scale their efforts and amplify impact through technology.

Over the past seven years, Tech4Good Community has explored the challenges non-profits face, identifying gaps in existing technology and engaging with non-profit founders to uncover barriers to tech adoption. This includes demystifying technological complexities, fostering awareness, championing technological advocacy and building products with purposeful intent so that non-profits can manage resources more efficiently and improve service delivery to scale impact.

Multi-pronged approach

Tech4Good Community operates through a holistic intervention model that addresses core barriers to tech adoption in the social sector:

• Tech maturity assessments: Using an in-house tool, Tech4Good Community helps non-profits understand their tech readiness and define clear starting points for digital transformation.
• Custom open-source solutions: Through the flagship FOSSFwd programme, Tech4Good Community creates low-cost, open-source tools while fostering an engineering ecosystem through developmental sector internships for tech students.
• Capacity building: The Spotlight Series delivers targeted trainings in partnership with over 40 companies such as Google, Microsoft and Salesforce to bridge tech gaps in the sector.
• Climate Coalition: This programme fosters innovation in climate action by addressing fragmentation of interventions. Supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Rainmatter Foundation, it emphasises collaboration and capacity building.
• Mentorship programmes: Corporate volunteers guide non-profits through longer engagements, helping them ideate, contextualise and implement customised tech solutions.
• Storytelling and cross-learning: By sharing impact stories and fostering collaboration among mentors, tech students, toolmakers and non-profits, Tech4Good Community builds a thriving tech ecosystem for the social sector.

Evolving approach

Over the past three years, T4GC has transitioned from a tool-centric, proprietary focus to a user-centric, open-source-driven approach. This shift was driven by a deeper understanding of user needs and the limitations of piecemeal solutions, leading to the creation of more cohesive, impactful open-source products. Open-source solutions out-perform proprietary alternatives by addressing challenges such as vendor lock-ins, high licensing costs and limited customisation and replicability.

Scalable solutions

The organisation has also moved from developing customised systems for individual non-profits to building a suite of scalable systems designed for broad applicability. It has developed over 30 operational systems in-house to streamline donor, payroll, volunteer and project management.

In addition, Tech4Good Community provides training, tool set-up and guidance to non-profits through strategic partnerships with tech leaders such as Google, Salesforce, Open Data Kit and Atlassian.

It has conducted capacity-building workshops and hands-on training sessions with tools such as Kobo Toolbox, Plane, Metabase and ERPNext at 480+ non-profits. A one-on-one mentorship programme conducted by Google experts on Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Workspace and Google Earth enhances the non-profits' ability to leverage these tools.

Dedicated climate programme for multi-disciplinary impact

Although Tech4Good Community has been sector-agnostic and supports various social impact initiatives, the inherently intersectional nature of climate action prompted it to launch a dedicated climate programme, Climate Coalition. Climate change affects livelihoods, health, governance, infrastructure and social justice.

Accordingly, in 2024, Tech4Good Community adopted a multidisciplinary approach, working on interventions spanning agriculture, livelihoods, urban transport, water security, conservation and upcycling management. In 2025, the programme will focus on biodiversity conservation under the thematic banner of the Conservation Coalition while remaining part of the larger Climate Coalition umbrella.

Tech4Good Community's efforts are rooted in creating narratives that highlight the transformative power of technology for non-profits while ensuring accessibility and relevance for diverse audiences.