Entrepreneurial Strategies for Health Impact

DKT leverages entrepreneurial principles to drive measurable health outcomes, embracing innovation, calculated risk-taking, and private-sector engagement to advance sexual and reproductive health. Several key factors define DKT’s entrepreneurial approach:

Commitment to the Private Sector

While recognizing the crucial role of the public sector and civil society, DKT prioritizes private-sector engagement, partnering with commercial entities, healthcare providers, and distributors to ensure sustainable and scalable impact. This approach enables cost-effective, large-scale delivery of contraceptives and reproductive health services.

Financial Sustainability

DKT employs a self-sustaining model, setting product prices based on each country’s economic context to ensure affordability while enabling cost recovery. In many markets, DKT’s pricing strategy generates modest surpluses, which are reinvested into local programs or global initiatives.

  • 82% of DKT’s operating costs are covered by sales revenue.
  • DKT’s average cost per couple year of protection (CYP) is less than $1, demonstrating high cost-effectiveness.

Cross-Subsidization for Equity

DKT applies a cross-subsidization strategy, offering both premium and low-cost contraceptives within the same market. Revenue from higher-margin brands is used to subsidize more affordable options, expanding access for low-income populations. Profits from self-sustaining programs in Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia are reinvested to support programs in lower-income countries.

Lean Operational Structure

DKT maintains a low overhead cost model, ensuring that donor resources are directed toward maximum impact:

  • Less than 2% of total operating expenses are allocated to headquarters costs.
  • Only 0.2% of total expenses are used for fundraising, with the majority directed to education, outreach, and demand generation.

Decentralized Decision-Making

DKT’s Washington, D.C. headquarters provides broad strategic oversight, while field offices operate with substantial autonomy. This decentralized approach enhances agility, enabling country teams to:

  • Adapt quickly to local market conditions
  • Seize timely opportunities for innovation
  • Develop culturally tailored programs that resonate with target populations

Calculated Risk-Taking and Innovation

DKT fosters a culture of responsible risk-taking, encouraging bold, evidence-based innovations that expand access to contraceptive options, improve reproductive health services, and drive behavioral change.

Rigorous Performance Measurement

DKT employs transparent, data-driven evaluation methods to assess program effectiveness, using key reproductive health indicators such as:

  • Couple Years of Protection (CYPs)
  • Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR)
  • Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)

DKT publicly shares these impact metrics for accountability and continuous improvement. Additionally, DKT published the Contraceptive Social Marketing Statistics (CSM Report) from 1991 to 2023—a critical industry resource now managed by the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RH Supplies) for future publications.