You are a Not for Profit Organization. Why do you need to charge so much for your workshops? This was a question that I got from a faculty member when I delivered my lecture at the TNMC (Nair Hospital), Mumbai on the 14th of August
(This question came, when I gave details of our forthcoming workshop on Aug 24)
It is reasonably often that I get asked this question. We also get related questions like “What do you do on a regular basis in the office?”, “What do you do with the money you raise?” and more…
A simple answer to the first question is: We are “not for profit“, but we do need revenues for expenses“
For a workshop, our expenses are charges for the venue, snacks etc, but more importantly for the time we put in to
- Create and continuously update the material
- Promote the workshop
- Answer questions like these about charges
- Answer questions about paying at the venue (and saying no – because people promise and do not turn up)
- Travel to the venue
- Conducting the workshop
- Feedback monitoring
- Ultimately lobby with bodies like the MCI, MMC etc so that we can fund these programs and get you credit hours
We are not funded or subsidized by the Government or any funding agency. When medical colleges organize such a workshop, the people who work at it get a salary for those days. They have a venue and many facilities at subsidized rates. Of course they too put in lots of hard work to organize workshops, but we’d like to mention that it is much harder for us right now.
And what do we do in office on a regular basis? Some of our day to day activities are:
- Regularly create and update our training workshops to give you – our audience the best learning experience.
- Maintain and update our website and blog so that you get all answers to your questions
- Answer you by email when you have queries about our workshops, about doubts you have after attending a workshop, about your literature search query and lots more
- Fund Raising to see how we can subsidize our programs (the time taken for this is huge!)
- Raise revenues for the present through other resources
If you really care and want to learn more do check out:
http://www.qmed.org.in/funding-an-overview/
http://www.qmed.org.in/fundraising-challenges/
We are open to answering questions about how we function. Do take the trouble to visit us and learn more. You will be surprised when you know how we manage with the minimum!
