This outlines some of the virtual office strategies employed by our all-volunteer US team.  By applying select, free applications, we can continue to run a professional organization while making US-based expenditures essentially zero.

For our overall management structure and protocols, see: Management_INGO

For our fundraising strategies, see: PersonalFundraising

For our e-communication tools, see: collaboration

Faxing documents

We have a myfax.com account.  Please contact fax(AT)nyayahealth(DOT)org for information.  

Office Software

Techsoup.org has great offerings, and we are in the process of registering. 

We will continue to use the MS office suite.   This is $31 currently via techsoup instead of the $279 retail price; Nyaya encourages volunteers to make use of this program, but cannot pay for the software ourselves.  Volunteers can do this by registering with techsoup and affiliating their accounts with Nyaya.  Paying for $31 licenses for everyone getting involved in the data team isnt really a sustainable strategy. when important for programs that are organizationally critical, great, absolutely fine, let's buy them. but in general we should be careful about buying licenses when we actually already have quite a bit of capacity. 

Universal Document Types to Send to Colleagues and Donors

PDF and XPS are two document types that can be used by colleagues and donors.  The reason for this is that they both preserve device-independent document appearance and formatting.  This is not true of MS Word or other word processing programs.  As such, it is rarely, if ever, appropriate to send a word document to a donor given the significant risks of formatting problems between different devices.  PDF is the gold standard and ALL official documentation should be sent via this document type.  If a particular colleague or donor for some unknown reason cannot use PDF, the next would be XPS.   To create an XPS document within Word, go to print (as you would to print to a file or a printer) and select  XPS document.   

PDF converters

These are essential.  For professionalism and compatability, we must send documents as PDF files and not word files.  

Foxit is a great, cheap, and low-RAM alternative to Adobe.  

Full adobe is available on techsoup.com for $45.  This is another option.

MS Office 2007 has a PDF plugin

Editors:  

Some editor is required for editing PDF documents, particularly for our wire transfer request to e-trade.

Current recommendation:  http://www.ctdeveloping.com/

Other options to consider

Foxit  Editor.  can try to get the free version

Web-based, free, still in beta:  http://www.pdfescape.com/ 

Making Calls

We have free unlimited calls within the United States via our skype account.  We can use these anytime, from Achham to call home or from US to save on cell phone minutes.

Weekly conference call update between US and Nepal teams

A weekly call is hosted between the U.S. and Nepal teams every Tuesday night 9pm (EST)/Wednesday morning 6:45am (NST) with the explicit aim of providing strategic direction and creating a better (but still imperfect) platform for engagement and connection.

Call-in requirements: (more detailed instructions below)

• To participate, all one must do is:
• Dial - (605) 477-2100
• Enter Access Code - 587784#
• Participants can enter and leave the call at any point without the host having to manage callers.

To access archive of recorded conference calls:

Beginning with Nyaya's 1st pilot U.S. - Nepal call on August 23, 2011, all conference calls have been recorded for convenient playback by team members and other Nyaya Health supporters. All are strongly encouraged to access the recordings by clicking on the wiki link below or playback on phone/streaming/downloading as MP3/WAV files to hear weekly Director updates and to send in any new/follow-up questions via email for the following week's call.

• To access wiki archive of conference call MP3 recordings, go to Weekly Conference Call update Recordings
• To playback on phone:
• Dial - (605) 477-2100
• Enter Access Code - 587784#
• Enter reference number for specific recording (sent out by email following each weekly call)
• To stream/download as MP3 or WAV file on your computer:
• Go to https://www.freeconferencecall.com/loginaccount.asp 
• Log in (Access code: 587784#; Dial-in number: (605) 477-2100; Subscriber PIN: 837953#)  
• Identify correct reference number for specific recording (sent out by email following each weekly call)
• Press 'play' button under 'Playback' column to stream recording online
• Or press 'WAV' or 'MP3' button to download file to your computer to playback offline
• Please ensure that you do not press 'Delete' button next to recording under any circumstance 

Important notes:

• The explicit aims of these weekly 30 minute calls is to provide direction and updates for the U.S. and Nepal teams in addition to giving team members an opportunity to ask questions directly to the Executive Director and Country Director. It is not a standard operations call, but one designed to give our team direction, inspiration, and cohesion -- some aims that continually prove difficult to achieve over email and scattered one on one meetings alone.
• The weekly call will follow the call structure below each week and always take place at the time listed above. Call structure will be altered if any material becomes stale or irrelevant. 
• This conference calling mechanism (freeconferencecall.com) eliminates bandwidth requirements for the Nepal team and thus gives the multiple methods to join the call (via mobile phone dial in or skype).
• For those that cannot attend the call, these calls will be recorded and be made available to team members through easy to access links. They are downloadable as MP3 files and thus are easy to navigate. Essentially, you can listen to them just as you would listen to a podcast. Additionally, there will be a mechanism for those that cannot attend calls to submit questions to the ED and CD via email in advance of the call

Weekly call structure:

• The 1st 15 minutes will always be dedicated to U.S. side and the 2nd 15 minutes to Nepal side to allow the Nepal team more flexibility to join the call in case of technological difficulties.
• Upon special request, members of the Nepal team may be able to stay late on the call (beyond the standard 30 mins) to communicate with INGO team members who rarely get an opportunity to communicate directly with Nepal.
• Each week (starting next week), questions can be collected in advance of the call via email to be answered during the call.
• The calls will consistently follow this structure below. First, the Executive Director will follow this structure for 15 minutes followed by the Country Director for 15 minutes.
• 1st 7.5 mins -- "Director Update" This week will be successful if… (top 3 priorities listed for the week)
  1)    
  2)    
  3)    
  FYI: Special updates and needs  (i.e. 'Internet is out in Achham this week so I will need important updates communicated in bulk via phone' or 'We are dedicating an unusual amount of time finalizing a new partnership with organization x in NYC this week.')
  1)
  2)
  3)
  Additional questions to be answered by the Directors:
  1. What are you most curious about?
  2. What are you most excited about?
  3. What are you most grateful for?
  4. What is a key story of progress you feel compelled to share with the team?

• 2nd 7.5 mins - "7 minutes, 7 questions"

Field questions submitted prior to the call via email and live questions asked during the call

Freeconferencecall.com Account Information & Recording Instructions

Screen-Sharing Meetings

For virtual meetings involving screen-sharing we use freescreensharing.com.

To host a meeting: Request log-in details from U.S. Team

To join a meeting: Enter your name, email address and Meeting ID: 996-997-542

To dial-in to a meeting: Dial: (559)546-1200 and enter the Meeting ID: 996-997-542 followed by the # key.

Website Server Details

See: http://docs.google.com/a/nyayahealth.org/Doc?id=df8rgpnb_15ctnjkthr&hl=en

Online circulation of RFA

Typically the method of circulation of Request for Applications (RFA) depends on the type of position we wish to fill and subsequently the kind of applicant pool we wish to generate. Here are the basic steps that maybe applicable to most of these processes.

NOTE: A majority of the postings made on career websites can be done free of charge, the only catch is that it needs be done individually for each website. Occasionally we have paid a small fee to publish on more commercial sites with the goal of reaching a wider audience. To pursue the paid option it is best to use the discretion of the Executive Director (ED) or the point person for that particular RFA on a case-by-case basis.

1. Make sure RFA for the specific position has been finalized. This should include details like the basic academic qualifications, minimum experience required, language fluency and citizenship restrictions when applicable. 

2. Discuss and get a good sense of the type of applicant pool the organization aims to generate from the circulation process.

3. The general target for most of Nyaya's RFAs are recent graduates from undergraduate or graduate programs focusing on public health or management.  Schools typically have two methods of disseminating information about opportunities like these. 

     (i) publish about the opportunity on their career websites;

     (ii) e-mail their student listservs.

To publish oppportunity on the schools' career websites:

1.  Refer to a previous posting sheet such as the one found here that outlines the career websites and our login information for those sites. This will save you a LOT of time.Go through each link for the desired school or website and follow the basic instructions on each page to create a new position. These instructions are mostly self-explanatory. All of the details necessary to complete these requests for posting must be easily accessible from the RFA created for position. But when in doubt always good to check with the point person for RFA or with ED.
2. Almost all posting requests will be approved within 2-3 business days since the day of submission of your request. An email notification stating that your job posting has been published can be anticipated around the same time.

To request that RFA be forwarded to school listservs:

1. Refer to a previous posting sheet such as the one found here. This should include details like email addresses for schools' career offices. 
2. E-mail those offices requesting that your RFA be forwarded to relevant student list-servs. It is often helpful to give a brief description of the position we're trying to fill and a brief note about our organization. Don't forget to attach the RFA for the position. A basic template for the email could be as follows: 

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to you on behalf of Nyaya Health, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working with communities in Nepal and with the Nepali Ministry of Health to develop healthcare services in a poor, rural region in the far-western region of the country. We are currently looking to hire a new  <enter position here> for our organization. We would greatly appreciate it if you would be willing to pass this information on to your current students.

 Include description abt the position here. Often can be part of the text from the original RFA.

If interested in finding out more about this position and about Nyaya Health, visit our website at <enter relevant link here.>
Please email: humanresources@nyayahealth.org with any further questions about this position.

Thank you,
Sincerely,

<enter your name here>

Nyaya Health | www.nyayahealth.org

p: +1.417.861.8611
e: humanresources@nyayahealth.org

666 Dorchester Ave
Boston, MA 02127

About Nyaya Health

Nyaya Health Mission Statement
Nyaya Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working with communities in Nepal and the Nepali Ministry of Health and Population to develop healthcare services in the poor, western regions of the country. Our mission is two-fold:
1. To develop healthcare capacity for free community-based healthcare in rural Nepal; and
2. To establish and disseminate a scalable model of healthcare delivery in regions affected by
poverty, isolation, war and neglect.
About Achham
Achham is one of the poorest of the 75 districts of Nepal. Situated in the Far Western region of the country, Achham is home to approximately 260,000 people, most of whom live on less than $1 a day. The majority of the population in this rural district work in agriculture, and most men migrate to India seasonally for labor. Achham is at least one day travel from Kathmandu (by plane followed by road). The electricity grid is unreliable in the district, though the hospital has solar panels that power essential services and a backup generator. Bayalpata Hospital has satellite internet and landline phones. Cellular phone networks have recently been established and are moderately reliable.