Operations Research to Improve Financial Sustainability in Three Bolivian NGOs

Many NGOs providing reproductive health (RH) services are facing reductions in donor funding, requiring them to generate more of their own resources. Prosalud, CIES and APSAR, Bolivian NGOs, wanted to build skills in costing and market research to support efforts to improve financial sustainability. Staffs attended a one-week workshop, followed by implementation of three operations research (OR) studies designed to reinforce skills and generate information for decisionmaking. The Prosalud and CIES studies included the calculation of unit cost per service; measurement of client willingness to pay (WTP) higher prices for services, and a market segmentation assessment in selected areas where Prosalud clinics are located. The APSAR study focused on cost estimation, exclusively. [author’s description]