Objectives, Characteristics, Functions, Scope, Classifications of NGO’s

Non-profit organizations may provide a wide range of services, or they may offer just one or two. However, they all have something in common: they create objectives, visions, and missions to help them to carry out their work in a clear and organized way. They each play an important role in helping the organizations to carry out their tasks in a driven, motivated way, and they keep them on track and moving forward. They serve as a roadmap of how to reach their end goals and to identify what those end goals are.

Objectives of NGO’s

• To work for the social development of underprivileged individuals, groups and communities;
• To encourage healthcare development and health promotion;
• To assist in the process of social integration and personal realisation of underprivileged children, young people, adults and families;
• To endorse the human rights and in particular the rights of the children and young people as well as the rights of underprivileged groups and communities;
• To encourage and popularise voluntary work.

Characteristics of NGO’s

• They are formed voluntarily;
• They are independent of government;
• They are not for private profit or gain; and
• Their principal is to improve the circumstances and prospects of disadvantaged people.

Functions of NGO’s

The function of NGO is to focus on all the issues concerning human rights, social, environmental and advocacy. They work to promote and improve the social and political conditions of the society on a broad scale. Some of the functions of NGO are:

• Human rights and child rights
• Poverty eradication
• Animal Rights
• Prevent Social Injustice
• Conservation of Environment
• Aged people care routine
• Empowerment of women
• Disease Control and others
• Health and Nutrition plans
• Conservation of Wildlife
• Hygiene and Sanitation conditions
• Humanitarian Relief
• Education plans and literacy
• Refugee Crisis

Scope of NGO’s

Non Government Organizations are the non-profit voluntary groups established at local, national or international level. They perform different tasks for solving problems and development of society. NGOs are connected with government or private sector firms. They deal with some social issues like women empowerment, girl child, gender issues, education, pollution, street children, slum dwellers, health, urban development, human rights, concerns of less privileged etc. NGOs bring up people’s concerns and issues to the government and policy makers non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented/development oriented organization, either for the benefit of members or of other members of the population.

It is an organization of private individuals who believe in definite basic social principles and who structure their activities to bring about development to communities that they are servicing. An independent, democratic, non-sectarian peoples organizations working for the empowerment of economic and/or socially marginalized groups. As a result development of courses in the non-profit stream had also taken a back seat. However, now the scene is entirely different. Government policies, work of the existing NGOs and the media have a lot to do with bringing Non-profit management into a normal career option.

Classifications of NGO’s

Types

NGOs further the social goals of their members (or founders): improving the natural environment, encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, or representing a corporate agenda. Their goals cover a wide range of issues. They may fund local NGOs, institutions and projects, and implement projects.

NGOs are classified by their:

• Orientation, i.e. the type of activities an NGO undertakes, such as activities involving human rights, consumer protection, environmentalism, health, or development.
• Level of operation, which indicates the scale at which an organization works: local, regional, national, or international.

Orientation

• Charity: 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 that provide healthcare (including family planning) and education.
• Participatory: Self-help projects with local involvement in the form of money, tools, land, materials, or labour
• Empowerment: Aim to help poor people to 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.

Level of operation

• Community-based organizations (CBOs): 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: An NGO that exists in only one country; they are rare. These 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 (INGOs): Range from secular agencies, such as Save the Children, to religious groups. They may fund local NGOs, institutions and projects, and implement projects.