Social Franchising with a Double Bottom-line Approach: How to Recover Costs while Providing Services to the Poor

The Smiling Sun Franchise Program (SSFP) works with 28 NGOs and their wide network of 320 static and 8,500 satellite clinics to provide high quality and affordable services in rural and urban settings, configuring one of the largest social franchise in the world. It is estimated that 19% of the population of Bangladesh receives services through NGO outlets. SSFP uses a unique double bottom line approach to convert this NGO network into a viable social franchise system, by strengthening quality of care, expanding service mix, increasing client use, and meeting financial sustainability targets while continuing to serve the poorest of the poor. The aim is to recover 70% of operational costs, thus increasing the possibility to continue providing healthcare services, even if donor support to the network decreases. A central project element is establishing a franchise manager organization (FMO) that will act as the Smiling Sun brand franchiser, and will conduct marketing and service promotion, training, quality improvement, MIS maintenance, financial management, procurement and logistic support on behalf of the network. This presentation will describe the SSFP approach to health service delivery, including approaches to client segmentation, service and product pricing, service diversification, product introduction, brand and service promotion, training, quality monitoring as well as the structure and relationship franchise management organization (FMO) to the franchise clinics that allows this network to provide services to all, even those who cannot afford to pay for services.