NGO

Organizations which are independent of government involvement are known as non-governmental organizations or NGOs. or non-government organizations. NGOs are a subgroup of organizations founded by citizens, which include clubs and associations which provide services to its members and others. They are usually nonprofit organizations. Many NGOs are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences. Surveys indicate that NGOs have a high degree of public trust, which can make them a useful proxy for the concerns of society and stakeholders. However, NGOs can also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum.  According to NGO.org (the non-governmental organizations associated with the United Nations), “[an NGO is] any non-profit, voluntary citizens’ group which is organized on a local, national or international level … Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.”

Russia had about 277,000 NGOs in 2008. India is estimated to have had about two million NGOs in 2009 (approximately one per 600 Indians), many more than the number of the country’s primary schools and health centers. The term “NGO” is used inconsistently; it is sometimes a synonym for a civil society organization, any association founded by citizens. NGOs are known in some countries as nonprofit organizations, and political parties and trade unions are sometimes considered NGOs. NGOs are classified by orientation and level of operation; orientation refers to the type of activities an NGO undertakes. Activities may include human rights, environmentalism, health, or development. An NGO’s level of operation indicates the scale at which an organization works: local, regional, national, or international.

NGO may be defined as an association having a definite cultural, educational, religious or social program registered with the Central Government. The full form of NGO is Non Governmental Organization, NGO’s are also referred to as Non Profit Organisations (NPO’s) sometimes.

NGO in India

NGO’s are nor “owned” by anyone and cannot distribute profits through the form of dividends as such. Whatever profits they may earn from economic activities are reinvested or spent on appropriate non-profit activities.

The typical sources of revenue for non-governmental organizations are donations, funding grants from unilateral and multi-lateral agencies, membership fees, miscellaneous sources and interest and dividends on investments.

The Following Forms of Associations May Act as NGO

(i) A trust of two or more persons as Trustees therein. The Trust may be registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1982.

(ii) A company registered u/s . 25 of Companies Act, 1956. Usually clubs, associations of professionals get registered under this provision of the Companies Act, 1956.

(iii) A society of persons registered under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860 with the Registrar of the Societies, with aims and objects and a structure as laid down in the said Act.

(iv) A statutory body consisting membership of persons constituted by or under a stature, having a structure as laid down in the statute by which it is constituted.

(v) A charitable trust constituted under the Charitable Endowments Act, 1920.

(vi) Any other organization akin to a society.

Thus an NGO in India can either be registered as a trust,society or as a company under sec 25.

Types of NGO

NGOs may be classified by their orientation and level of operation.

1. Orientation

• Charities: Often a top-down effort, with little participation or input from beneficiaries, they include NGOs directed at meeting the needs of disadvantaged people and groups.
• Service: Includes NGOs which provide healthcare (including family planning) and education.
• Participation: Self-help projects with local involvement in the form of money, tools, land, materials, or labor
• Empowerment: Aim to help poor people understand the social, political and economic factors affecting their lives, and to increase awareness of their power to control their lives. With maximum involvement by the beneficiaries, the NGOs are facilitators.

2. Level of operation

• Community-based organizations (CBOs) are popular initiatives which can raise the consciousness of the urban poor, helping them understand their right to services, and providing such services.
• City-wide organizations include chambers of commerce and industry, coalitions of business, ethnic or educational groups, and community organizations.
• State NGOs include state-level organizations, associations, and groups. Some state NGOs are guided by national and international NGOs.
• National NGOs include national organizations such as YMCAs and YWCAs, professional associations, and similar groups. Some have state or city branches, and assist local NGOs.
• International NGOs range from secular agencies, such as Save the Children, to religious groups. They may fund local NGOs, institutions and projects, and implement projects.

Activities of NGO

The World Bank classifies NGO activity as operational and advocacy. NGOs act as implementers, catalysts, and partners. They mobilize resources to provide goods and services to people who have been affected by a natural disaster; they drive change, and partner with other organizations to tackle problems and address human needs.

NGOs vary by method; some are primarily advocacy groups, and others conduct programs and activities. Oxfam, concerned with poverty alleviation, may provide needy people with the equipment and skills to obtain food and drinking water; the Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy (FFDA) helps provide legal assistance to victims of human-rights abuses. The Afghanistan Information Management Services provide specialized technical products and services to support development activities implemented on the ground by other organizations. Management techniques are crucial to project success.

1. Operational

Operational NGOs seek to “achieve small-scale change directly through projects”, mobilizing financial resources, materials, and volunteers to create local programs. They hold large-scale fundraising events and may apply to governments and organizations for grants or contracts to raise money for projects. Operational NGOs often have a hierarchical structure; their headquarters are staffed by professionals who plan projects, create budgets, keep accounts, and report to and communicate with operational fieldworkers on projects. They are most often associated with the delivery of services or environmental issues, emergency relief, and public welfare. Operational NGOs may be subdivided into relief or development organizations, service-delivery or participatory, religious or secular, and public or private. Although operational NGOs may be community-based, many are national or international. The defining activity of an operational NGO is the implementation of projects.

2. Campaigning

Campaigning NGOs seek to “achieve large-scale change promoted indirectly through the influence of the political system.” They require an active, efficient group of professional members who can keep supporters informed and motivated. Campaigning NGOs must plan and host demonstrations and events which will attract media, their defining activity. Campaigning NGOs often deal with issues related to human rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights, and their primary purpose is to defend (or promote) a specific cause.

3. Combined

NGOs may conduct both activities. Operational NGOs will use campaigning techniques if they face issues in the field which could be remedied by policy change, and campaigning NGOs (such as human-rights organizations) often have programs which assist individual victims for whom they are trying to advocacate.

4. Public relations

Non-governmental organizations need healthy public relations to meet their goals, and use sophisticated public-relations campaigns to raise funds and deal with governments. Interest groups may be politically important, influencing social and political outcomes. A code of ethics was established in 2002 by the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations.

Structure of NGO

1. Staffing

Some NGOs rely on paid staff; others are based on volunteers. Although many NGOs use international staff in developing countries, others rely on local employees or volunteers. Foreign staff may satisfy a donor who wants to see the supported project managed by a person from an industrialized country. The expertise of these employees (or volunteers) may be counterbalanced by several factors: the cost of foreigners is typically higher, they have no grassroots connections in the country, and local expertise may be undervalued. By the end of 1995, Concern Worldwide (an international anti-poverty NGO) employed 174 foreigners and just over 5,000 local staff in Haiti and ten developing countries in Africa and Asia.

2. Funding

NGOs are usually funded by donations, but some avoid formal funding and are run by volunteers. NGOs may have charitable status, or may be tax-exempt in recognition of their social purposes. Others may be fronts for political, religious, or other interests. Since the end of World War II, NGOs have had an increased role in international development, particularly in the fields of humanitarian assistance and poverty alleviation.

Funding sources include membership dues, the sale of goods and services, grants from international institutions or national governments, and private donations. Although the term “non-governmental organization” implies independence from governments, many NGOs depend on government funding; one-fourth of Oxfam’s US$162 million 1998 income was donated by the British government and the EU, and World Vision United States collected $55 million worth of goods in 1998 from the American government. Several EU grants provide funds accessible to NGOs.

Government funding of NGOs is controversial, since “the whole point of humanitarian intervention was precise that NGOs and civil society had both a right and an obligation to respond with acts of aid and solidarity to people in need or being subjected to repression or want by the forces that controlled them, whatever the governments concerned might think about the matter.” Some NGOs, such as Greenpeace, do not accept funding from governments or intergovernmental organizations. The 1999 budget of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was over $540 million.

3. Overhead

Overhead is the amount of money spent on running an NGO, rather than on projects. It includes office expenses, salaries, and banking and bookkeeping costs. An NGO’s percentage of its overall budget spent on overhead is often used to judge it; less than four percent is considered good. According to the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, more than 86 percent should be spent on programs (less than 20 percent on overhead). The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has guidelines of five to seven percent overhead to receive funding; the World Bank typically allows 37 percent. A high percentage of overhead relative to total expenditures can make it more difficult to generate funds. High overhead costs may generate public criticism.

A sole focus on overhead, however, can be counterproductive. Research published by the Urban Institute and Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation have shown that rating agencies create incentives for NGOs to lower (and hide) overhead costs, which may reduce organizational effectiveness by starving organizations of infrastructure to deliver services. An alternative rating system would provide, in addition to financial data, a qualitative evaluation of an organization’s transparency and governance:

• An assessment of program effectiveness
• Evaluation of feedback mechanisms for donors and beneficiaries
• Allowing a rated organization to respond to an evaluation by a rating agency

4. Monitoring and control

In a March 2000 report on United Nations reform priorities, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan favored international humanitarian intervention as the “right to protect” citizens from ethnic cleansing, genocide, and crimes against humanity. After that report, the Canadian government launched its Responsibility to Protect (R2P) project outlining the issue of humanitarian intervention. The R2P project has wide applications, and among its more controversial has been the Canadian government’s use of R2P to justify its intervention in the coup in Haiti.

Large corporations have increased their corporate social responsibility departments to preempt NGO campaigns against corporate practices. Collaboration between corporations and NGOs risks co-option of the weaker partner, typically the NGO.

In December 2007, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs S. Ward Casscells established an International Health Division of Force Health Protection & Readiness. Part of International Health’s mission is to communicate with NGOs about areas of mutual interest. Department of Defense Directive 3000.05, in 2005, required the US Defense Department to regard stability-enhancing activities as equally important as combat. In compliance with international law, the department has developed a capacity to improve essential services in areas of conflict (such as Iraq) where customary lead agencies like the State Department and USAID have difficulty operating. International Health cultivates collaborative, arm’s-length relationships with NGOs, recognizing their independence, expertise, and honest-broker status.