How to Profit off the Poor… and Keep Your Soul

Even non-profits I’ve met over the last two weeks run themselves to rely on revenues not donors. An example is LabourNet, a company that seeks to move India’s huge informal workforce into a formal channel. The company organizes phalanxes of construction crews, drivers, cooks and retail clerks and matches them with the best employers. How does it reach them? Word of mouth and SMS. So far 7,000 workers are in the system. Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala
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Posted by: Posted by Kaizar Campwala - Nov 16, 2009 - 5:59 AM PST
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Edited by: Kaizar Campwala - Nov 16, 2009 - 6:01 AM PST

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Kaizar Campwala
3.1
by Kaizar Campwala - Nov. 16, 2009

I like this story idea and the examples of the for-profits and non-profits operating in India. Unfortunately Lacy doesn't do the necessary work of contextualizing these examples into the larger Indian and global economy. Where is the data that backs up her claim of China vs. India? How do we know she's not writing about outlier examples?

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Xenia Pineda
3.5
by Xenia Pineda - Dec. 29, 2009

I thought story was very informative, i was not aware of the profits being taken in from these organizations. Although this is true organizations such as the NIIt they are not robbing the people of there money...they are providing technology. I really liked this quote, “Being poor isn’t about not having money, it’s a lack of capabilities”. The poor need technologies that will not inhibit them and will prvide them with the technology they need.

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