Make A Difference Storytelling Initiative
Active Citizenship, Social Impact, Education
Community Engagement, Program Innovation
The platform has made it possible for us to capture real, authentic stories from the ground. Volunteers are now able to easily share their experiences: what’s working, what’s challenging, and what’s shifting for the children they work with. It’s also become a way for us to listen better. We’re able to spot challenges that volunteers or children are facing in real time, and then design timely solutions
About the partner
Make A Difference (MAD) works with young people in child-care institutions across India, supporting them with long-term learning, emotional, and life-skills programs
Goal of the study
To understand how effectively volunteers are integrating MAD’s values into their day-to-day work, while creating space for reflection and peer learning across the volunteer community
Outcome of the study
With Dots, MAD brings together volunteer stories and feedback alongside structured MEL data, enabling real-time insights, faster decision-making, and a continuous learning loop across cities and shelters
The tagging feature allows volunteers to connect their story to MAD’s core values, helping them see how those values show up in real situations on the ground. It also helps recognize and celebrate others who were part of the moment, whether it’s a fellow volunteer, a child, or someone else from the community. That layer of recognition and connection makes the storytelling experience more meaningful
Features badges, reactions and thematic campaigns to encourage ongoing story-sharing, fostering an active storytelling community
The integration with MAD’s existing architecture through Platform Commons has made the experience seamless for our volunteers, with single sign-on removing the need to manage multiple logins. It’s also made user management easier for our teams, with access, roles, and permissions handled in one place