Non-Governmental Organizations

In a definition from 1945 Non-Governmental Organizations (or NGOs) are defined as organizations that are not controlled by governments; organizations that exist to defend the rights of the civil society, but are independent from the state. NGOs also differentiate from private companies as they do not pursue a profit.

There are many forms of NGOs, and many alternative terms to cover it. Independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grassroots organizations, transnational social movement organizations, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations and non-state actors. In World Bank typology NGOs are categorized as either operational or advocacy NGOs. The primary purpose of an operational NGO is the design and implementation of development-related projects, where advocacy NGOs defend or promote a specific cause. Many international NGOs have a consultative status with United Nations agencies relevant to their area of work. As an example, the Third World Network has a consultative status with the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Large NGOs may have annual budgets in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. Funding such large budgets demands significant fundraising efforts on the part of most NGOs. Major sources of NGO funding include membership dues, the sale of goods and services, grants from international institutions or national governments, and private donations. Several EU- grants provide funds accessible to NGOs.

Some organizations resembling NGOs are starting to put more emphasis on generating their own profit, fuelled by a need to free themselves on the dependency of donations. Many social enterprises surfacing in China are examples of this, due to the tight restrictions towards donations that exist in China.

Springboard Innovation

Springboard Innovation emphasizes the aspect of profit by calling themselves a “social profit” organization.

Springboard Innovation is passionately enabling youth and adults to solve local challenges with sustainable, innovative solutions. They believe that the key to increased capacity is education and engagement with the community, and they customize educational material and training programs to fit any learner or context. One example is a program called Local Agenda that helps people create positive and sustainable change — in their own communities. Their approach is to share knowledge about problem identification, problem solving, leadership, and planning with community members, who are passionate about changing the future, but lack the skills Springboard can provide.

The organization looks at innovation as a process that can be learned and put into practice to create lasting change, and the program Local Agenda is just one great example of that. They have a very humble approach towards learning, and believe that with a little education about innovation you can, as a community member, create the sustainable change that YOU want!