4 Main Categories of NGOs
NGOs are non-profit entities that have humanitarian objectives. They stand as advocates for human rights, while pursuing many different causes that plague mankind.
“There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.”
-Helen Keller
NGOs champion to end suffering and improve the quality of life for less fortunate people. Based on the level at which NGOs operate, they can be divided into 4 categories.
- Community Based
Community-Based Organizations or CBOs are mostly locally based, set up by individual initiations. CBOs target specific communities and are multi-faceted when it comes to the cause they are working towards. The cause could be educational, or even religious- there are no barriers as to what it can be promoting. Neighborhood organizations, women’s shelters, women’s organizations, and sports associations all of these come under CBOs. They usually consist of a small number of people who are trying to improve the standards of society.
2. City-wide Organizations
These NGOs operate on a city level. An example is World Vision India based in Chennai. This NGO’s primary focuses are child and social welfare. City-wide organizations can be understood as associations of community-based organizations. They also include business coalitions, ethnic organizations, educational organizations, etc. They also act as first responders in case of any disaster, providing relief for the victim by supplying them with food, water, medicine, clothes, etc.
3. National Level NGO
As the name suggests, this NGO operates on a national level. It is quite likely that the NGO would have started as a city-level organization and with time, coalesce with other city-level organizations by expansion, and finally being able to help people nationwide. Compared to the above two, these NGOs have a larger number of volunteers and also have more amount of funds. Due to it being national-level, it is quite possible for them to also have the aid of the government. Sometimes collaborating with said government, during natural disasters or to raise funds for a particular cause.
4. International-level NGO
As the name suggests, these NGOs operate on an international level. Examples of international NGOs are OXFAM(Oxford Committee for Famine Relief), CARE, Save the Children, etc. These organizations are not bounded by countries and therefore can lend their support based on the need. They also help the regional organizations- whether it is through funds or volunteers.
Another way NGOs can be categorized is through their orientation.
- Charity
This is a common term associated with NGOs. These NGOs run food drives, medicine distribution, and clothes distribution, and provide shelters, especially for victims of disasters. Usually, there is less participation from the recipients, and more efforts are to raise money or funds for the underprivileged.
2. Service
These NGOs work towards the promotion of education, health, and family planning for the underprivileged section of society. Focusing on a specific cause, these NGOs spread awareness about that cause and try to help people in need.
3. Participatory
With a community of people willing to help, these NGOs secure resources like land, money, clothes, and food to distribute to the needy people. Usually seen in cooperatives, participatory NGOs identify a specific need and then plan and execute their campaign.
4. Empowerment
These NGOs in particular work toward empowering individuals so that they can understand the current economic, political, and social status and use that knowledge to become independent and self-sufficient.
No matter at what level or what orientation an NGO is, the work done by the members of an NGO remains the same. It is to be noted that the more widespread an NGO is, the more help it can do to people in need.
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