Gurugram (Haryana) [India], July 2 : Eighty per cent of India's most impactful nonprofits startups referred to as "nonprofit unicorns" have achieved large-scale success by partnering with the government, according to a report by accelerator for nonprofits Change Engine.
Nonprofit unicorns are organizations that have created meaningful impact for at least one million people or 5 per cent of their target population.
According to the report, 41 per cent of these nonprofits secured their first government partnership within a year of initial outreach. Even more notably, 42 per cent were able to break through via cold outreach reaching out directly to government officials with prepared materials and proposals.
Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder of Change Engine said, "The government holds unparalleled power to scale interventions; a single policy reform, a new institution, or a significant budget allocation can move the needle non-incrementally on societal challenges. To become unicorns, nonprofits must proactively partner with the government to create population-level impact."
The study selected 33 nonprofits from a pool of 100 based on the depth and breadth of their impact. More than half of these organizations (55 per cent) now operate in five or more states, either by improving government-run programs or by leveraging public infrastructure to deliver their own services. This wide reach demonstrates the government's role as a vital enabler for nonprofits aiming to create systemic change.
Several nonprofits highlighted in the report provide powerful examples. The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy supported Ministry of Finance by drafting reforms to improve India's bankruptcy code and continues to assist the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in implementing new laws.
The SaveLife Foundation cut road crash fatalities by 58 per cent on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and is now scaling its zero-fatality model to 100 highways with support from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Rocket Learning, which focuses on early childhood education, has reached 150 districts across nine states, equipping over 150,000 Anganwadi workers with digital tools. Their students now perform in the top 30 per cent of average classrooms.
"The message to nonprofit founders is clear. To build scale, they need to think EPIC: build on Evidence, create Public goods, and scale high impact Interventions for Change. And to scale direct intervention, nonprofits need to partner with the government, engage with communities, or unlock the power of markets," added co-founder Shubham Bansal.
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