Can a nonprofit really reach a million people? In India, nonprofits are often seen as small-scale, grant-dependent entities that are unable to match the pace or scale of public need. A new report by Change Engine offers a refreshing counter-narrative. Titled The Playbook for Non-profit Unicorns, the report deploys an in-depth study of 33 high-impact organisations to present a framework for how nonprofits in India have achieved population-level impact—defined as reaching at least one million people or 5 percent of the population affected by a specific problem.
While playbooks for tech startups abound, there aren’t any for mission-driven nonprofits tackling complex social problems. The report aims to close that gap by providing actionable, data-backed pointers for nonprofit founders as well as the funders, mentors, and ecosystem actors who want to help them go further. It is not a list of best practices but a blueprint grounded in field-tested strategies that helped these organisations scale across geographies, sectors, and systems.
Who is driving this scale?
The founders behind these organisations don’t fit the typical image of senior bureaucrats or sector veterans. In fact, the median age of the founders was 35, and 48 percent of the nonprofits were started by one person. Most came from corporate or development backgrounds, with 43 percent bringing a mix of both. This challenges the assumption that ‘grey hair’ is a prerequisite for large-scale impact. Young founders are showing that fresh ideas, risk appetite, and agility can be powerful drivers of change. At the same time, prior experience in the corporate sector appears to provide strategic depth—many of these leaders bring with them skills in systems thinking, execution, and stakeholder engagement, which have proven valuable in building scalable interventions.
What mattered most was not just credentials, but a combination of domain knowledge, strategic thinking, and resourcefulness. In many cases, founders established advisory boards early on to plug skill gaps and invested in internal capacity before external visibility.
The key levers for scale
The report outlines three key levers that nonprofits use to scale: working with the government, engaging communities, and tapping into the market. These are supported by what the report terms the EPIC framework.
Evidence: This implies the use of data and research to define the problem and advocate for change. Nonprofits collected data to understand the problem clearly and to assess whether their work was making a difference. This included surveys, assessments, interviews, and third-party evaluations. For example, PRS Legislative Research regularly shares data about how the Parliament of India functions. ASER Centre’s learning outcome surveys have been used by schools and policymakers across the country. Sharing this kind of data helped these organisations build trust with government officials, funders, and communities. Equally importantly, quantifying the problem helped them put a number to the issue and define a clear guiding metric. This, in turn, built salience around the problem, making it easier to rally stakeholders, attract resources, and sustain attention over time.
Public goods: This involves creating tools, frameworks, and platforms that can be freely used—as undertaken many of the organisations studied. This made these nonprofits’ work more useful to the wider ecosystem. For instance, Janaagraha published guides that citizens could use to better understand and engage with city governments.
Interventions for Change: This refers to direct implementation through services or programmes. While some organisations focused on research or tools, others worked directly with communities and designed and ran programmes that addressed the issue at its root. For example, Educate Girls worked to bring girls back to school in remote villages. SNEHA supported women and children in low-income communities through health outreach. These organisations developed models that could be tested, improved, and eventually delivered at scale—often through government systems.
Among the three levers of scale, this is often the most complex. Organisations that succeed in scaling their interventions rarely do so through linear expansion alone. They identify the right pathways—whether by embedding within public systems, building community-led delivery, or enabling market-based access—rather than relying solely on philanthropic funding and organisational growth.
Underlying each of these levers is a foundation of evidence and shared infrastructure that supports scale. The report examines how organisations have used data and public goods to not only inform their work but also expand its reach.
The role of evidence and public goods
Across different types of organisations, building and sharing evidence was a regular part of their work. According to the report, 80 percent of the nonprofits published research. Approximately 60 percent published at least three times a year. More than half had their work cited in official government documents, reports, or discussions.
Organisations used different types of data to support their work.
- Primary data: This included surveys with community members, focus group discussions, and evaluations of ongoing programmes. These helped organisations understand what was working and where changes were needed.
- Secondary data: Organisations also relied on public datasets, census records, and research published by other institutions to strengthen their own findings and proposals.
Some organisations focused entirely on data and research. For example, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy prepared legal studies and recommendations that were used by government ministries and committees. Meanwhile, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) published data on political candidates and election spending that has been used in legal and policy decisions.
By generating accessible evidence, organisations were able to build trust.
In addition to publishing research, more than 75 percent of the organisations created public goods—resources that can be freely used, copied, or adapted. These included tools, handbooks, datasets, and digital platforms. For example, Agami built OpenNyAI, a platform that offers artificial intelligence-based tools for legal services.
By generating credible, accessible evidence—and by creating public goods such as open-source tools and platforms—organisations were able to build trust, influence policy, and enable others to replicate or build on their work. This helped reduce duplication and amplify their impact far beyond their own delivery footprint.
Many of the organisations examined in the report—including PRS Legislative Research, Aravind Eye Care, CORO, and Educate Girls—use a combination of these three approaches. Their work covers areas such as healthcare, education, and legal reform, and presents different ways to address challenges at scale.
To understand how these levers work in practice, the report explores the ways in which organisations have scaled through government partnerships, community-led delivery, and market-based models.
1. Scaling through government partnerships
A standout finding is that working with the government is not only viable but essential for population-level impact. Of the 33 organisations covered, 80 percent collaborated with the government, and 61 percent managed to do so within 18 months of deciding to pursue a government partnership. Interestingly, 42 percent of them secured this initial engagement through cold outreach—challenging the belief that insider access is necessary.
The report outlines three ways in which non-profits typically work with the state.
- Policy reform: Influencing laws or regulations. For example, PRS Legislative Research worked with MPs to strengthen legislative scrutiny.
- Technical advisory: Supporting programme design, training, and monitoring. For instance, SaveLIFE Foundation played a key role in the enactment of the Good Samaritan Law, which protects bystanders who assist road accident victims.
- Implementation support: Delivering services using public systems. Rocket Learning works through Anganwadi centres to deliver early childhood education.
Organisations often start with one role and expand over time. Many follow a bottom-up approach, testing solutions in pilot areas before scaling through government channels.
2. Scaling through community leadership
Another key lever is communities. Of those studied, 57 percent used community engagement as their primary strategy. This goes beyond awareness-raising—communities are engaged as co-creators, implementers, and leaders.
Volunteers or community champions typically serve 50–300 families, providing a cost-effective, trusted channel to deliver programmes. For example:
- Educate Girls supports 18,000 Team Balika volunteers with only 3,000 paid staff.
- SNEHA works with 6,000 community champions across 450 staff, reaching families in vulnerable urban pockets.
- CORO supports grassroots fellows who go on to start their own programmes. One such network, Ekal Mahila Sanghatana, now comprises 19,000 single women advocating for land rights and state entitlements.
For community members, the motivation for participating in these models comes not from money, but from a mix of peer recognition, learning opportunities, and a sense of ownership. In fact, financial incentives often did not work as effectively as personalised support and public acknowledgement.
3. Scaling through the market
For a subset of nonprofits, solving a problem meant creating a new market. Social enterprises such as Aravind Eye Care and SELCO scaled their impact by offering services that were affordable, high-quality, and tailored for underserved users.
Aravind Eye Care delivers 7 percent of India’s cataract surgeries. Their assembly-line model and community-based outreach reduce costs, making surgery available for under USD 50. A cross-subsidy model ensures access for those who cannot pay. Meanwhile, SELCO doesn’t just sell solar panels—it designs tailored energy solutions that meet the needs of low-income households, supported by financing options.
These models combine scale with financial sustainability. However, the report cautions that market-based approaches can exclude socio-economically vulnerable groups unless carefully designed.
Moving from programmes to ecosystems
The report encourages nonprofits to think about scale early on—in terms of not only numbers but also building models that others can use. For many organisations, this means deciding whether the work is best scaled through direct delivery, the government, or communities, or by creating tools that others can adopt. Publishing evidence, even when based on secondary data, can help open doors to partnerships and support.
Funders have a role in enabling this early work. The report finds that the first two to three years are crucial, and that during this time, unrestricted capital makes it easier for organisations to experiment, make changes, and focus on long-term plans. Beyond programme funding, support for research, public goods, and capacity building is important if the goal is to build models that last and are replicable.
For ecosystem actors, including support organisations, networks, and policy intermediaries, the report points to a need for platforms that allow for peer learning, adaptation, and cross-sector collaboration. Many organisations are already working at scale but may not have the visibility or support needed to take the next step.
The report does not say that every nonprofit must scale. But it shows that those who choose to, can. Advice is not all they need—they require early belief, clear pathways, and support that grows with them.
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Know more
- Read the report that this article is based on.
- Learn more about fostering the conditions necessary for scale.
- Read this article to learn whether your organisation is ready to scale.
