About this Publication
Most writing about the social sector is written from the outside looking in.
From the Field is different. It's written by people who spend their days inside NGOs, nonprofits, and social enterprises — fixing systems that aren't working, building tools that didn't exist, and helping organisations do more of what they exist to do.
We write about what we actually see. The process breakdowns that slow good programmes down. The technology decisions that age badly. The moments where a small operational change unlocks something significant. The questions that don't have clean answers yet.
What we cover
Technology and open source What works, what doesn't, and why the social sector deserves better than adapted corporate software.
Process and operations How organisations scale without losing coherence — and what happens when they try to scale without clear process first.
Data and evidence The gap between collecting data and using it. How field data can inform decisions rather than just satisfy compliance.
People and change Systems don't change organisations. People do. We write about what it actually takes to bring a team through something new.
Organisational design Structure, roles, accountability, and the quiet decisions that determine whether a growing organisation stays effective or starts to fragment.
Who writes here
From the Field is written by the GXCO team — a social enterprise that works exclusively with NGOs, nonprofits, and social enterprises across India and beyond.
We're technologists, strategists, process designers, and finance people who made a deliberate choice to work in the social sector. Not as a stepping stone. As the work itself.
Everything we write comes from direct experience — engagements, implementations, conversations with sector leaders, and the failures we've learned more from than the successes.
Who this is for
If you lead or work inside an impact organisation — and you're dealing with the real, unglamorous work of making it run better — this is written for you.
Not for donors seeking reassurance. Not for sector outsiders looking for inspiration. For the people actually doing it, who want thinking they can use.
A note on how we write
We try to be honest rather than optimistic. We'd rather tell you something is harder than it looks than leave you underprepared. We have opinions, and we'll say what they are. We'll also say when we're uncertain.
If something we've written is wrong, or your experience is different — we want to know. The best thinking in this sector happens in conversation, not in broadcasts.
From the Field is a publication by GXCO — a social enterprise building solutions for the impact sector.
For enquiries, write to us at hello@gxco.org