NGO Classification - CMDV104 2024 Lecture 3b

# CLASSIFICATION OF NGOS - Another method of understanding the nature of NGOs is to analyze the various categories into which NGOs can be classified. - They can be classified along the following broad lines: - Their evolutionary stage - Their organizational type - Their functional nature...

# CLASSIFICATION OF NGOS - Another method of understanding the nature of NGOs is to analyze the various categories into which NGOs can be classified. - They can be classified along the following broad lines: - Their evolutionary stage - Their organizational type - Their functional nature - Their geographical classification - Their membership ## Evolutionary Classification - In terms of the evolutionary classification of NGOs, *Korten (1990: 115-124)* argues that they must proceed through an evolutionary process that is characterized by four generations or stages. - Relief and Welfare - Small-scale self-reliant local development - Sustainable systems development and public conscientisation - NGOs must go through a process of evolution. - They must adapt themselves to their environment and the needs which they are trying to address. - When a particular need is satisfied, the NGO will change its character and function. - In order to survive, NGOs must be able to adapt themselves to the way in which the needs of the people they serve change. - **Four Stages of Evolution**: - **First Generation**: Relief and welfare organizations are organizations that tend to be defined in terms of their primary commitment to relief and welfare. - **Second Generation**: Small-scale self-reliant local development organizations are organizations that satisfy the basic needs of a community by utilizing local resources. - **Third Generation**: Sustainable systems development organizations are organizations that seek to maximize decision-making power and control by the local population of the macro-processes that concern themselves, by focusing on sustainable systems development. - **Fourth Generation**: Public conscientisation organizations aim to raise public awareness and change policies through development education ## Organizational Classification - NGOs can embrace the following four organizational types: - Voluntary organizations - Public service contractors - People’s organizations - Governmental and non-governmental organizations ## Functional Classification - The same arguments can be put forward with regard to the functional classification of NGOs. - *Cross (1994:10)* identifies two main categories: - Political NGOs: These are politically aligned and function according to a political agenda. - Goal-Oriented NGOs: These are functionally aligned with the interests of a specific group. - *Carrol (1992:13)* identifies three main functional clusters of NGOs - Productive and income-generating activities - Social services - Networking - *Jeppe (1992b:9&10)* and *Bowden (1990:141)* identify the following functional categories: - Specialized NGOs: These organizations engage in human and physical development activities by focusing on technical training, adult literacy, housing, agriculture, etc. - Welfare NGOs: These organizations focus on relief and welfare actions. - Developmental NGOs: The primary focus of these organizations is on human development (capacity building) and the development of physical infrastructure. - Advocacy NGOs: These NGOs provide communities and individuals with specialized facilitation or consultation services. ## Geographical Classification - In terms of a geographical classification, NGOs can be divided into the following categories: - **International NGOs**: These organizations are based in the northern hemisphere, although they may have offices in the Third World, and provide development assistance throughout the Third World through financial and personnel aid. - **Regional NGOs**: The activities of regional NGOs are restricted to a particular region, and provide more or less the same kinds of development assistance as international NGOs. - **National NGOs**: National NGOs restrict their development actions to a particular nation or state. - **Local NGOs**: These NGOs function at community level. ## Membership Classification - NGOs may be set up to benefit their own members, for example: - Cooperatives - Savings clubs - Unions - Other organisations may be set up for general public benefit, for example: - Charities - Campaigning organisations - Community-based organisations (CBOs) - which are sometimes also called local or indigenous organisations are also exponents of this category of classification. - CBOs are NGOs which have risen autonomously in communities, and which aim to bring about self-reliant development. ## Functioning of NGOs - **Four Interrelated Dimensions as outlined by *Padron (1987:71)***: - The popular sector and the historical context. - Institutional relationships of the NGO. - The internal dynamics of the NGO. - The project itself. - **Eight Steps of the Project Cycle as defined by *Salem and Eaves (1989:3)***: - Analysis of development issues - Project identification - Project design - Project financing - Project implementation - Monitoring and evaluation - The interrelated nature of the process is illustrated by the fact that none of these phases could take place outside a process of interaction with the four mentioned dimensions. - **Merrington (1991:10) ** states that an NGO has as its function the transformation of resources which it receives from society, into programmes, projects, products and services for a particular target group of people. - **Merrington (1991)** argues that for an NGO to function efficiently it must possess a well-trained and motivated staff. - It needs an organisational structure that is appropriate in design to the task that it seeks to accomplish. - The "vision" of the NGO must be accepted by all the important stakeholders in a given community. - The role of an NGO can be defined beyond the mere implementation of concrete development projects. - An NGO serves as a catalyst for the implementation of the development process. - The primary objective of development is to initiate a process of "awareness building, of education, of people forming their own organisations to define and create a demand for what they need to lead a decent life" (*Bhasin 1991:8*). - There are a number of reasons why communities are unable to initiate such a development process by themselves. - They lack the necessary resources - They do not have organizational structures that are able to cope with initiatives - They are trapped in a dependency relationship - The role of development catalyst is a temporary one. - For an NGO to perform an effective catalyst role, it has to maintain "substantial independence in defining and interpreting its own mission" so that it does not fall captive to powerholders and their agenda *Brown & Korten (1989:12)*. - The catalysing functions of an NGO should aim at producing participation, empowerment and sustainability in terms of the development process. - NGOs are functional in strengthening civil society *Shaw (1990:14)*. - They can also function as expressions of a given civil society's capacity for free organisation. - NGOs are enabling communities to "articulate" their development needs, and develop their own strategies based on those articulated needs *Drabeck (1987:x)*. - NGOs should also function as agents of empowerment. - *Erasmus (1991:15)* states that... participation in development through a process of empowerment, and any evaluation of NGOs must revolve around the extent to which NGOs succeed in empowering people at grassroots level. - ** *Elliot (1987: 57)* ** states that empowerment is not something that can be delivered or bought, but that it is a process which depends on people more than physical resources. - The use of a model of evaluation which involves the "measuring of actual performance against preset objectives" is of little use by itself. - A model of evaluation should include the measurement of overall organisational effectiveness as compared to final programme impact in terms of variables such as morale, participation, leadership, power equations and social values. - One of the main aims of evaluation is to ensure that development actions will result in sustainability. - All the components of the development process are interrelated. - Any NGO effort aimed at development should keep this situation in mind and formulate an appropriate holistic participatory strategy to address the challenges of the development process.