I have always ‘suspected’ the business model and economics of NGO’s.
For years, I have received offers to ‘launder’ money via an NGO. The modus operandi is that you pay them say 1 lac by cheque as a 80G Donation and get back 93-95k back in CASH (the commission to launder is 5-7%).
In the past year, the SKS Scam has totally proven that what starts of with a ‘Noble’ cause, becomes a ‘Gochi Offering’ – aka NGO.
SKS fell from heaven due to its profiteering ruthlessness, combined with the heady cocktail of a public listing, laced with government interference.
This week – 2 NGO’s I had never heard of before have been bickering over their trade names. One of them has even sent me a ‘show cause’ notice (should have been a cease and desist). In this case, both the NGO’s operate under very similar names and are refusing to let go.
I seriously question the following:
– If an NGO can copy and NAME itself almost like another, where is their sense of morals and ethics? How can I be assured that the money they receive is also not being treated with the same unethical value system?
– Who is the AUDITOR of these small and tiny NGO’s? Who checks their books? Who makes sure that the trust placed in them by their donors and contributors is actually being respected?
– What motivates 22 year old’s to ditch their careers and become ‘social’ entrepreneurs? What are their aspirations? Are they all Florence Nightingales? I can understand Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett doing this, but what makes these young folks pursue a seemingly punishing, and financially non rewarding career? Is there a hidden agenda behind all this?
– Are these NGO’s and their promoters even CAPABLE of the task they have set out to do? Are they losers/people who can’t take the real world pressure and run and become Social Saints? ( I see this a lot with people who join religious movements) – are these people ESCAPISTS?
– Do people like you and me DONATE out of GUILT for not doing too much – not helping society and hence is this is a nice way to monetize common man GUILT?
– Do NGO’s get easy funds from rich entrepreneurs and Social VC’s and Banks who are in a hurry to just invest in ‘GOOD’ deeds?
I have NO DOUBTS about the wonderful organisations like CRY, Save the Children, UNICEF and others – but for all these newly minted ‘NGO’ types – my mind is turning red….
What is your view and experience of these NGO’s??
*****
The NGO drama on therodinhoods.wpengine.com is available here
Rabi Gupta
There are so many Govt schemes which give these NGO’s easy access to money. It’s like if you have a Govt contact you can get such funds easily. Tens of NGOs even run away taking Govt money. Who cares??
Rupesh Kumar Shah
Alok,
The topic is close to my heart. Written a wrong reply
When I was in Delhi, used to visit a NGO called “Salaam Balak” for once or twice in month. SB vision was to educate the orphans and homeless and arrange basic necessities for the same. The experience was amazing as it taught me how to organize things effectively in constrained conditions. I used to meet senior member and all they used to speak about is
I also used to frequently meet a Head for a NGO in Alwar. It was run by a large Education Group. But their intent was different. All they spoke was
This taught me to comprehend the nature of NGO’s.
Rest every selfless act in my opinion is service.
Jaydeep Shetty
i also have seen people i know joining NGOs which have potential for a foreign posting, probably in the US or Europe. Which is why the preference to join these international NGOs. Needless to add these preferred NGOs deal with matters most unimportant to India and of critical use to the West. In the last decade, atleast 3 of the 5 people i have known have settled abroad and i have no doubt the remaining two will do too. One of the 3 people has already quit the NGO after she got her ‘permanent residence’………. I agree many NGOs are a scam…..
Omkar Sapre
You cannot, rather should not, label a sector based on the one or two experiences like SKS. If one panipuriwalla pissed in the lota, does not mean all panipuriwallas do it. Also the offer to launder money via an NGO is a scam, as in the concept is a scam, and actually nothing happens like that. Same like Nigerian frauds, people who fall for it, lose their money.
Also, not all NGOs are ‘donation dedo baba‘ types. There is a noticeable trend among NGOs to become self sustainable, as in their beneficiary pays for being serviced. In this case, the money charged may is much lesser than what it would have charged it it was a profit making venture. This is a trend being driven by the donors themselves, who are bringing in an exit clause to their donation.
NGOs get registered under the Charity Commissioner and I-T department, if they are taking donations and offering tax exemptions. And both these departments are reasonably strict. As always, these are bureaucratic departments, and do have their share of unscrupulous elements. These two departments do conduct audits every year. Best audit is by the donors, who can ask for the details of the expenses and complain to these departments if they suspect an anomaly. So donors have powers to make sure that their donation is respected.
Regarding motivation, I have seen lot of young folks get into social activities, volunteering and helping people. My take on them, based on my discussions with them is, that they have the balls to go through that grueling, the balls which the earlier generation like me and you lacked. I as a kid may not have give a biscuit to a roadside kid (or may have given, but cannot remember), but I am surprised at some kids I see today, who do not think twice before sharing. Social sensibility seems to be building up in them, faster than it took to build in me and you. It takes to balls to donate 10 when you have 1000, but does when you have 100 or may be 50 and donate 10. And NGO is not financially non-rewarding, NGOs do give good salaries but do give a much needed satisfaction, which sometimes is hard to get elsewhere.
Also many of these small NGOs have been started by people who had faced some problems, hardly anyone helped them and so they started the NGO to target the same problem they faced. Some founders lost their loved ones to some problem and that was the reason to start an NGO.
Running an NGO is no different than running a company, and the founder goes through the same circle as a company founder. If the founder of a company can be capable of achieving what he/she is set out for, so can an NGO. I have seen and I do guide some of these tiny NGOs. Regarding the two NGOs you referred to, which ‘you never heard of’, what is their fault? Both these NGOs have been written about in many publications like MINT, ET, Dare, India Today, ToI, etc. Is it their fault that your never read these articles? Is it their fault that they do not have the money to advertise on TV, as some of the NGOs that you have no doubts about, have to catch your attention. My experience with NGOs is that the bigger they get, larger the scope for and more the incidences that will turn your mind red and also make your blood boil.
For some of the NGOs I have seen and visited, their trust and believability — because they are big and wonderful — is the prime weapon. I have seen instances of two donors being given a proof of their donation, and the beneficiary shown to both was the same. Also there were instances where the beneficiary did not exist and reporting of non-existent expenditure. This learning from the investigation I was doing for a story in my earlier employer, but never happened. Also I did volunteer with some NGOs, where I got to know these things. No way I am pointing to anyone, but wherever you have NO DOUBTS about, I would suggest you get involved, ask and question, and try to find a relation between beneficiaries and expense. Take a sample size of beneficiaries, and try finding them and talking to them.
Regarding donating out of guilt, it would have been good if people did that. Reason does not matter, the end result does. But hardly anyone does that. Me and you and other ‘common man’ like us, has developed the hard skin, which guilt cannot penetrate. People have no guilt in giving or taking bribes, or aborting female fetuses, and you are talking about ‘guilt of not doing much’. Ha ha, Oh come on, Alok!
Where are these rich entrepreneurs, social VCs and Banks in a hurry to invest in good deeds and be a source of easy money? Hardly come across those. Lemme know if you find them, will connect them to some of the NGOs I know.
However, as with any sector, the NGO sector also has its share of sharks, clownfish, dolphins and whales, but as I said earlier, if one panipuriwalla pissed in the lota, does not mean all panipuriwallas do it.
Sourav
An informative read. They indeed are doing some great work.