Research on Non-Governmental Organizations [NGO]—Basis for NGO Development
There are two foundations for the development of non-governmental organizations [NGO], one is the moral foundation and the other is the professional foundation. Only with these two foundations can NGOs accumulate their credibility.
1. Moral foundation, including the following aspects:
1. There should be a clear and public purpose and social mission, and the purpose and social mission are in line with social public interests or the common interests of mankind;
2. Unswervingly and tenaciously pursue and practice the purpose and social mission (you can't just shout slogans without actions or actions that violate slogans);
3. Use just means to achieve a just goal (you can't use the means to achieve the goal);
4. The senior managers of NGOs have high morals, and no moral crisis incidents have occurred (any unethical behavior of NGO executives will damage the credibility of NGOs).
Second, professional basis, including the following aspects:
1. Have the professional ability to meet the requirements of the donor, such as: after a mental health association for the elderly receives a donation of 1 million yuan, it needs to be able to provide corresponding services for the elderly;
2. Have the professional ability to meet the consultation of the society and stakeholders, such as: an industry association publishes an industry development report every year, and the report should have a certain quality to meet the needs of people to obtain relevant information such as professional knowledge and development of the industry;
3. The decision-making and implementation process of professional activities should be open and transparent, so that donors, stakeholders or the public can easily know this process;
4. Financial information should be disclosed to donors, stakeholders or the public.
When an NGO does not have or loses the above two foundations, its credibility will decline, and its development will stagnate or regress.
As far as NGOs are concerned, if they want to obtain donations, they cannot have secrets. They should disclose their decision-making and implementation process, as well as their financial information.
For an NGO, if it wants to obtain donations, it should first have the professional ability to convince donors that donating money to them is more efficient than doing it themselves.
Many NGOs want donations, marketing and lobbying are necessary, but so is an ethical and professional foundation.
The above content is excerpted from: "The Current Situation, Existing Problems, and Development Path of Chinese NGOs" (by Fang Bangjian)