Marketing a charitable hospital (non profit) in a rural town in India

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by mindreader90, Mar 22, 2013.

  1. #1
    Hi guys,

    I have a strange query (strange because I couldn't find any questions even remotely close to it on this forum). My family runs a charitable hospital in Hapur. It's a rural town in Northern India. It's the largest hospital in the city and caters to lots of rural folks at a bare minimum cost. You can get a general consultation for most medical disorders for about Rs.10/visit (that's about 20 cents!).

    Now the hospital is not professionally managed. I want to make a website for the organisation but I am not really sure how it will help the hospital grow. The prime demographic is rural Hindi speaking villagers.

    Any comments or suggestions regarding this predicament will be highly appreciated..
     
    mindreader90, Mar 22, 2013 IP
  2. jack2230

    jack2230 Active Member

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    #2
    You could invest in building a website although like you say, I doubt many Hindi speaking rural villagers will find it much use. It could be a good thing to have to generate funding etc. though, although in terms of telling potential customers/people in need you are there offering medial services then I don't think a website would be the best form of marketing.

    Jack
     
    jack2230, Mar 22, 2013 IP
  3. nathad22@live.com

    nathad22@live.com Greenhorn

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    #3
    you can open a forum and ask for suggestions as I saw in :medicaltourisminkolkata.com which asks for suggestions and developers
     
    nathad22@live.com, Mar 22, 2013 IP
  4. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #4
    Yeah, it will help in getting donations and financial aids from people who are better off and want to help the needy. I think I'll go ahead with it.


    Another question - do you think I should go with a .com or a .org? Is there any benefit in registering a .org?
     
    mindreader90, Mar 22, 2013 IP
  5. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #5
    Thanks for the tip. I will go over and check this website out. :)
     
    mindreader90, Mar 22, 2013 IP
  6. nathad22@live.com

    nathad22@live.com Greenhorn

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    #6
    just now I received another idea. Go and talk with Geninsindia.in. It is a TPA(3rdparty administrator) on behalf of many mediclaim insurance companies in India. If you have your hospital set up according to their prescription, patients will have cashless treatment in your hospital and all expenses by your hospital will be reimbursed.
     
    nathad22@live.com, Mar 23, 2013 IP
  7. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #7
    I think that's your best bet, too. The focus is totally different (much more heartstring-tugging and much less "what we can do for you") but building a site for your customers is almost pointless, I would imagine. One page of the address, map, opening times will suffice (mobile-friendly) for that.

    You'll want lots of photos (preferably of children and people with children), lots of lovely heartwarming stories (and sob stories), that sort of thing. :)


    No difference at all, though a .org would make more "sense" in that it's a non-profit. I'd go for a .org and see if any of the registrars do cheap deals for registered non-profits (on domains or hosting).
     
    TIEro, Mar 23, 2013 IP
  8. lilc800

    lilc800 Active Member

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    #8
    If I were you I would set up a clinic in the Rural area, this way in the future they will know who to go to and get the best price. I am not too sure how a website will help you (unless those people get online, even then you would need to promote to that area).

    I think any type of offline marketing will benefit you.
     
    lilc800, Mar 23, 2013 IP
  9. cronik

    cronik Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Well first of all, this is an amazing thing and I know people like me would like to see how this hospital has helped and directly affected people in your area. A website can help you get donations and also spread the word to the world about the great thing you guys are doing. Other then that its probably going to take a lot of offline marketing to grow the business and attract more people to the hospital. If the care is good, word will travel around fast. Good luck to you and your family, please keep us updated and let us know if you get a website up :)
     
    cronik, Mar 23, 2013 IP
  10. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #10
    Incidentally, once the site's up and running, hit me up and I'll sort you out some free banner ad space on my sites. Always up for doing my bit for a good cause.
     
    TIEro, Mar 24, 2013 IP
  11. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #11
    Wow, thanks for this information. We had no idea about this. I will talk to the board of the hospital and see if how we can enrol in this scheme. Thanks a lot for this tip!
     
    mindreader90, Mar 31, 2013 IP
  12. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #12

    THANKS A LOT for your support guys!!!! It really does means a lot to us. I was away from the forums for a few days because I was terrible busy setting up the website which is live now:

    www.birandevimodihospital.org

    I used a premium wordpress theme which I got for a bit cheap due to a discount code..Have been working on it quite a bit..my family is still very skeptical - some of them think I should spend more time on my businesses instead of fooling around with charity. They feel charity is for those who are already very rich and have made a lot of money/fame in the world. I hope I'm able to prove them wrong.

    Will keep the community updated about my progress with the website.
    The first major challenge that I'll probably face is from the medical and support staff - getting them to tell me about themselves so that I can broadcast it to the world...Hapur is still a very small place and people like to live quiet lives. They do not want unnecessary publicity. I hope I'm able to convince them that its for their betterment.

    Also set up a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BiranDeviModiHospital
    And a contest on freelancer for the logo: http://www.freelancer.com/contest/contest.php?project_id=17015

    Incidentally, couldnt post the contest on digital point because of some reasons. So if any designers are watching this, please participate in the contest over there!
     
    mindreader90, Mar 31, 2013 IP
  13. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #13
    Guys, it would be swell if you could participate in a logo design contest or a poll. Here's the link:
    http://www.freelancer.com/contest/Logo-Design-for-a-non-profit-healthcare-organisation-17015.html
     
    mindreader90, Apr 6, 2013 IP
  14. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #14
    My vote goes to 35/36 - lovely and available in both languages. You've had some really good submissions!
     
    TIEro, Apr 6, 2013 IP
  15. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #15
    thanks :)
     
    mindreader90, Apr 11, 2013 IP
  16. mindreader90

    mindreader90 Active Member

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    #16
    Hey guys,

    So I am going to roll out a health tips service from the hospital wherein subscribers can get personalised health reccomendations through their mobiles. Anyone know of a good bulk sms software that can be used in india?
     
    mindreader90, Apr 27, 2013 IP
  17. Nathan Nartker

    Nathan Nartker Greenhorn

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    #17
    This is awesome what this hospital provides. I am looking into working for hospitals. I think what i have seen that hospital do is focus on the management part. They were suffering financially and they cut back to what they can do best. in addition they reached out to the community to better inform them. They held meetings with the community and reached out to anyone who wanted to partner up
     
    Nathan Nartker, Sep 30, 2014 IP