NGO’s & Non-profits: short overview

As we all know, CiviMobile was developed to meet the needs and make it easier to organize work processes in non-governmental and non-profit organizations all over the world. It was developed to help CiviCRM users to be more mobile during the day, a boundless tool for those who are always on the go and need to update or add a piece of new information to the CRM right away.

Non-governmental organizations or NGOs: what are they and why they are needed

Non-governmental organizations are non-profit formal public associations by interests that participate in public activities. Non-governmental organizations are public organizations, public associations, charitable organizations (charitable society, charitable institution, charitable foundation), trade unions, their associations, associations of employers’ organizations, separate subdivisions of foreign non-governmental organizations, representative offices, branches of foreign charitable organizations, creative unions, their territorial centers. Main characteristics of NGOs:

• they arise as a result of the initiative of individuals or groups persons;
• all NGOs have the right to freedom of expression;
• NGOs do not have the primary purpose of making a profit. They are not distributing the profits that result from their actions among their members or founders but use them to achieve their goals;
• NGOs are membership organizations, but it’s not necessarily.

The scope of NGO activities in Europe and the United States covers almost all areas of human life — economics, politics, science, culture, education. An extensive network of youth, professionals, children’s, women’s, veterans, religious, as well as elite organizations, clubs, so-called “think tanks”, etc. NGOs create the basis of civil society, are a decisive stabilizing factor, a guarantor of democratic development.

Non-profit organizations — how do they work

Society needs organizations that would solve problems that are not dealt with by business entities because it does not bring profit. The state regulates the creation of non-profit organizations and declares its support to them.

A non-profit organization is a legal entity that is on the general system of taxation but is not a payer of income tax. That is, it is a legal entity that does not pay personal income tax. These can be municipalities, public hospitals, religious, and others.

The main activity of non-profit organizations — the activities of non-profit organizations to provide charitable assistance, educational, cultural, scientific, educational, and other similar services for public consumption, to create a system of social security and for other purposes provided by statutory documents concluded based on relevant laws non-profit organizations.

To define the activities of non-governmental non-profit organizations in international practice use the terms:

• non-government organizations, NGO;
• not for profit, non-profit organizations, NPO;
• a private voluntary organization, PVO.

One of the first international non-profit governmental organizations was the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863. The term “non-governmental organization” was introduced by the United Nations in 1945. UN Treaty (Article 71 § 10). The definition of the term International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) was first formulated in ECOSOC Resolution 288 (X) on 27 February 1950.

The experience of world democracies shows that civil society cannot exist without a developed network of non-profit, primarily non-political, associations of citizens, which ensures the participation of the general public in the development process. Such associations act as a mediator between the state and various social groups, protecting their rights and interests; they prevent the state from monopolizing the political, economic, and other spheres of society, ensuring public control over the activities of the state and its structures.

Non-profit-making, they redistribute what they have and create additional financial, material, intellectual, and other resources to meet private and public interests. Thanks to such associations, the public also presents to the state its view on various issues — social, cultural, economic, etc.

Read also: How do NGO’s & Nonprofits deal with COVID-19 these days?