Non-government organizations work very much like businesses. They are registered with the government and consequently pay taxes. They have management teams and employees to do their mission. They have resources to allocate, people to allocate it to, and people to source it from.
But compared with businesses, NGOs receive greater trust. This is probably attributed to the social development aspect of the industry. Words like compassion, service and selflessness have undoubtedly been associated with charity work. We view NGOs as forces doing good for the greater good. As such, we leave them alone most of the time, assuming they know best because they have the best intentions.
However, since NGOs are much like businesses, it follows that as there are no perfect businesses—there are also no perfect NGOs.
Whereas the public and the media constantly criticize businesses, they are less vigilant about holding NGOs accountable for their actions. Because of this general trust for NGOs, we may make the mistake of turning a blind eye to practices that do not work. Worse, we may not even think about how they can improve in the long run.
This relative indifference toward NGO practices is something that we should think twice about. After all, if NGOs are a force of good for the greater good, helping NGOs improve by giving them positive feedback and holding them accountable can bring more good for society.
In my MBA journey, I have chosen to use the NGO industry and development sector work as my primary focus. As such, I have applied the article, “Vocation of the Business Leader,” by the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, to development sector work.
Vocation of NGOs to their employees
Like businesses, NGOs should be regarded as a viable means for their employees to provide for their families. However, the industry is often regarded as a career option only for the selfless, such as volunteers and missionaries who work hard but with minimum or no pay.
Most NGO work are project-based and program-dependent. Thus, employees are often hired to fill in short-term projects and programs. This has made sub-contracting and long-term probationary statuses for even long-time employees common. Very little effort is exerted for projects to be sustainable in the long run, which means less commitment to job security and career development of employees.
Additionally, short-term projects and programs make investment in human capital the least of NGOs’ priorities. If projects and programs last only for months, employees are often left with spurts of career learning rather than ongoing and incremental skill and knowledge improvement.
To make NGO work sustainable, it should be regarded as a viable means of livelihood. There have been detrimental effects in underpaying and not prioritizing job security in development work industry. These workplace practices result in less innovation, less commitment and even less exceptional manpower in the workplace.
In providing their employees an opportunity to make a decent living, NGOs can attract not only the selfless but also the brightest individuals to solve the world’s greatest problems. Moreover, providing decent wages can make the workplace more diverse, leading to more innovative and creative solutions for society’s pressing problems.
NGOs should look after the regularization, personal and career development, training, and provision of benefits to their employees in the same measure they are committed to the welfare of their beneficiaries. In making the well-being of their employees a priority, they can improve the delivery of their services to their beneficiaries.
Vocation of NGOs to their donors
Like businesses, NGOs source their funds from organizations and individuals to carry out their mission. These donations are often made voluntarily, as part of corporate and personal advocacies. But unlike business investors, donors do not receive a financial return on their investments.
First of all, it is the vocation of NGOs to set the correct fund-raising targets. The world has limited resources to allocate to pressing needs. Bigger NGOs can afford to make massive campaigns that shift the limelight away from other organizations with equally important advocacies. NGOs should ensure they are raising the right amount of funds to cover operations of their goods and services, but not excessively so that other funds will not be used immediately as promised to donors and beneficiaries.
NGOs’ relationships with their donors should also be a two-way street, in which NGOs give transparent accountability reports, advocacy updates, and non-solicitation-related communications. This is a way for NGOs to give credit to the people who fuel their advocacies.
Vocation of NGOs to their community
Like businesses, NGOs do not work in a vacuum. They must work with local communities, government and the development industry, where organizations that are both similar and unlike theirs exist.
NGOs have to operate with other organizations that may be vying for the same donor bases. However, they should avoid thinking of each other as competitors. Collaboration should be fostered among NGOs with both similar and different advocacies. After all, it is the vocation of NGOs to focus on the greater good instead of only their organization’s targets and objectives.
Furthermore, NGOs should acknowledge the role of government in meeting the nation’s needs, and should help government when called upon to do so. They should respect government programs and in fact pattern their programs to support national goals. For example, a health-related NGO should cooperate with the Department of Health to achieve the latter’s goals instead of acting as an individual agent.
It also follows that NGOs should pay the right amount of taxes, comply with the law, and register all fund-raising activities as mandated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. NGOs could go a step further and give recommendations to government. They can also target beneficiaries that government or other NGOs have not yet reached.
Similarly, NGOs’ workplace practices should leave only a minimal carbon footprint. Being environmentally friendly in the workplace means lessening the use of paper, not buying supplies made of non-recyclable materials, and using renewable energy.
NGOs should create a more compassionate and equal world by looking at the well-being of multiple stakeholders such as their employees, beneficiaries, donors, and community.
Samantha Isabel Coronado is an MBA student at the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. She wrote this essay for her class on Lasallian Business Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility during her second term in the MBA program.
The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.