Centre For Social Initiative Management

Background
CSIM set up operations in Chennai in 2000 with the aim of educating non-profit organizations on entrepreneurial values, business skills and management practices. CSIM set up in Hyderabad in 2003, and is supported by Dr. Reddy's Labs. So far, they have trained 2 batches on "Social Entrepreneurship" in Hyderabad, while the 3rd batch is underway.

Activities
CSIM aims at professionalizing social service, and bring in accountability in the sector. If you are working in the social sector as a volunteer or full-time member, or even if you wish to set up an NGO, you can benefit from its programs. CSIM runs a 6-month training program in Social Entrepreneurship. Classes are part-time, and you will be trained by professionals and academicians from the field. The course fee is around Rs. 2,500.

You could also sign up as a member of the "Entrepreneurship Learning Club", where you can meet social and business entrepreneurs, management practitioners and experts from the social sector. Membership costs you around Rs. 250.

Volunteer Opportunities
You could volunteer with their "Social Action Group" that collects funds for NGOs. It also runs a volunteer helpline that maps interested volunteers to the NGOs that they would like to work with. CSIM is an excellent place to meet like-minded people in the social sector.

The office is a typical Jubilee Hills kind of house, with a lovely garden and equally lovely interiors, although the silence is disconcerting at times. The office is quiet and orderly, and you find several individuals from different NGOs coming together to read and exchange ideas. Although it is fairly new, it has already built a commendable database of NGOs in the city.