Different Types of NGOs in India

An NGO is a non-governmental organisation. Every work done in the NGO is just for the benefit of society. Different types of NGOs in India are working on health care, education, family planning, environment protection, wildlife conservation, child labour protection, women empowerment and many other works related to these fields which help society. 

NGOs can also run programs to show the importance of education, the importance of family planning, women’s safety in India, the importance of unity in diversity and many more.  The role of NGOs in the development of society and all other fields is huge. 

What is an NGO?

NGO stands for non-governmental organisation. An NGO is a private organisation that is run by a person or group of individuals. There is no role of the government under the NGO. 

Any person can run his NGO. There are some rules and conditions which should be followed by that person while making his own NGO. In India, it is the Central Society Act under which all the NGOs are registered. 

In the state of Rajasthan, there is the Rajasthan Society Act which deals with NGOs in Rajasthan. 

Purpose of NGOs 

There are lots of purposes for NGOs in India. There are different types of NGOs in India which help poor people by solving their problems. Every NGO works in different situations, but there are some common purposes of NGOs which are as follows:

• Helping the people
• Providing education to poor children
• Helping orphan children
• Providing books to students
• Helping old people
• Organising programs for awareness

In simple words, every work related to social welfare can be done by NGOs. 

If you want to do good to all the people and you feel that you should help such types of people then you can also open your NGO or join any other NGO. 

Different types of NGOs in India 

There are mainly three different types of NGOs in India based on the registration which are registered under the Companies Act, the Indian Trust Act and the Societies Act. 

Whenever a person wants to start his NGO, he must have the knowledge of which type of NGO he should open. After knowing about the different types of NGOs in India, a person can run his NGO properly with the help of his team. There are mainly three types of NGOs in India:

• NGO as company
• NGO as trust
• NGO as society

NGO as a company

Whenever you want to open an NGO you should decide which type of work you want to do in the NGO. When an NGO is started as a company then the NGO should be registered under section 8 of the Companies Act 1956. The NGO registered under the Companies Act is also known as Section 8 company. 

The difference between a company and a Section 8 company is that the purpose of opening a normal company is to earn profit. But when a company is open under section 8 of the Companies Act 1956, then the purpose of the section 8 company is to do charity and social service. 

Key Points in NGO as a company

• Section 8 companies are known as NGO  
• They can also take grants from the government. 
• Section 8 companies are also known as a non-profit company
• If the NGO is registered under section 8, it enjoys tax exemption. It means the donation given to the section 8 company is exempted from tax.
• There should be a minimum 3 members to start an NGO as a company
• There is no maximum limit for NGO as a company
• The maximum time for the process of registration is 3 to 6 months. 

NGO as a Society

If you want to open your NGO as a society, then you should register your NGO under the Societies Act. Whenever you want to register your NGO under society, you have to decide whether you want to open your NGO as:

• National level society
• State-level society

NGO as a National level society

• The minimum requirement of members is 8.
• The members should belong from different states
• These NGOs can provide their services all over India.
• National-level society NGOs can take the grant from the National level
• It takes one to two months for registration

NGO as a state-level society

• There should be a minimum of 7 members.
• The members should come from the same state
• State-level society NGOs can provide their services within that state.
• State-level society NGOs can only take the grants from the state-level
• It takes one to two months for registration

NGO as a trust

If you want to open your NGO as a trust then you should register your NGO under the Indian trust act. 

• There should be a minimum 2 members
• No maximum members limit
• The government ministry provide the fund for NGOs as trust

There are two types of NGOs as a trust

• Private trust
• Public trust

Private trust

• It is open for self-purpose
• No grant is provided for private trust
• A private trust is not considered an NGO
• These trusts are not exempted from tax

Public Trust

• It is also known as a charitable Trust
• Public trust is registered as a charity
• Public trust can take the grant from the ministry and government
• Public trust is considered as NGOs
• These trusts are exempted from tax. 

Whether you are opening a private trust or public trust, you have to sign a Partnership deed which is a written agreement between two or more members who are going to become a trustee. 

The NGOs opened under these three registration categories can do the work under different categories. They can work on them:

• Basis of their orientation
• Basis of the level of operation
• Basis upon sectors

Types of NGOs based on their orientation

There are mainly three different types of NGOs in India based on their orientation that are:

• Charitable orientation
• Service orientation
• Participatory orientation
• Empowering orientation

Charitable orientation

Charitable orientation NGO primarily focused to provide the necessities to the lower-income communities. They provide them with clothing, medicine, food, housing facilities, school education, transport and many other things. 

These types of NGOs help the people during natural situations and emergency situations as well. You have heard that many of the NGOs provide free services in times of floods. Such types of NGOs come under charitable orientation. 

Service orientation

Service orientation NGOs promote awareness of education, health, family planning etc. Their main motive is to educate people aware of their right to education, health and many more. These NGOs provide services with the collaboration of other parties as well. 

Participatory orientation

Participatory orientation and yours are considered as self-help projects. In these types of NGOs, the local people are engaged with the deployment of a project by contributing their share in the form of money, land, labour, materials, tools, etc.

Empowering orientation

The goal of the empowering orientation NGOs is to educate the needy people about the social, political and economic factors which impact their lives. If there is any e problem to the society they hold the power to file the public interest litigation on the behalf of such people. These NGOs make people aware of their fundamental rights. 

Types of NGOs on the basis of the level of operation

There are mainly four types of NGOs in India which are based on the level of operation:

• Community-based NGOs
• City-level NGOs
• National level NGOs
• International NGOs

Community-based NGO

These types of NGOs in India target a specific community. They work in small groups to increase the standard of society. 

City-level NGOs

These types of NGOs in India work at the City level. These are the mixture of club business associations, communal organisations and educational groups. These NGOs work to solve the different types of problems on the city level.

National level NGO in India

The involvement of these NGOs is at the national level. National level NGO has a huge team of volunteers. All the team members of this type of NGO have a National agenda. Red Cross Societies, professional organisations, etc. are examples of national-level NGOs in India.

International NGOs

The non-governmental organisation which organises its activities on an international level comes under international NGOs. 

Different types of NGOs based on Sectors

There are lots of sectors in India where an NGO can work. These sectors are:

• Agriculture
• Education
• Development of society
• Health care
• Environmental issues
• Poverty removal
• Reservation in India
• Waste management
• Women’s Safety in India

All these are the types on which an NGO can work. There is every type of NGO existing in India that provides good services and helping the society to make peace and harmony between citizens of India. 

How to join NGOs in India

There are two main types by which you can join the NGOs in India.

• Join NGO as a member
• Start your own NGO

How to join an NGO as a member?

If you want to join an NGO in India then there are some conditions which should be fulfilled by you. It is the work of helping others. You must have the ability to help other people without thinking about your gain. 

• Two courses are BSW and MSW. These courses are related to NGOs. With the help of these courses, you can join the NGOs for internships which build your experience in this field.
• You can also join the NGOs online and offline. 
• You can meet with people who are running NGOs near your city and ask them to get membership of the NGOs.
• A person can also join the NGO online through the websites of NGOs.

The websites of NGOs provide options:

• Become a member
• Get involved
• Internship

A person can choose any option from these options. If a person is thinking about opening his own and then he should get one internship in another NGO so that he can know about the working of the NGOs. After clicking on these options they will ask you to fill the phone with your details. 

After the verification of your details, they may add you as a member to allow you to do an internship with them.

Before feeling the details in a site, first confirm that the site is real or fake.

Start your own NGO

Any person who is willing to help other people by solving their problems can start his personal NGO. 

The requirement to open an NGO

• There must be at least 7 members to start the NGO who have the same purpose. 
• Trust deed
• Memorandum of association/rules and regulation
• Articles of association regulation
• ID proof
• Residence proof

These are some requirements to open an NGO. Any person can open his NGO by providing these requirements and documents used for the registration of the NGO. There can be some changes in the documents based on the different types of NGOs in India. 

Registration of NGOs in India

It is not necessary for a person must have to register his NGO. If the members of an NGO don’t want to take any financial help from the Government of India, they can skip the part of the registration of the NGO. 

But if the members of an NGO register their NGO, then we can also get help from the government to run their NGOs. 

There are three main Acts in which you can register your NGO:

• Trust Act
• Society Act
• Companies Act

Registration of NGO under the Trust Act

Different states have different trust acts in which you can register your NGO but in case if there is no trust act in the State then, Trust Act 1982  will be applicable for the registration of an NGO in that state. 

• If you want to register your NGO in a trust act, there must be at least two trustees for your NGO. 
• The person has to submit his application letter to the charity commissioner or registrar of that state
• Requirement of Trust deed

Registration of NGO under the Society Act

NGOs can be registered under the Society Act of the state. For the registration of an NGO under the Society Act the required documents are:

• Memorandum of association rules and regulation
• There should be at least 7 members

Registration of NGO under the Companies Act

The person can also register his NGO under the Companies Act. The required documents for the registration of NGO under the Companies Act are:

• Memorandum of association
• Articles of association
• There should be at least three members in the NGO

These are the three ways by which you can register your NGO and get financial aid from the government as well. The members of the NGO will depend upon the Act in which you have registered your NGO. 

Bank accounts for NGO

When a person starts an NGO, he has to open a bank account in the name of the NGO so that he can collect the donation from other persons also. Some specific documents should be there to open a bank account for an NGO:

• PAN card
• Registration certificate of NGO
• Other related documents

How to collect funds for NGO

There are three ways to collect funds for NGOs. If you have already registered your NGO under any act, 

• You can take financial help from the government. 
• By creating the online website, you can add your NGO bank account details by adding a donation button on your website.
• The organisation of programs in which the NGO can collect donations. 

Top NGOs in India

There are different types of NGOs in India in many of the NGOs are working day and night for the help of people. There are some top NGOs in India such as:

• Nanhi Kali
• Give India Foundation
• Goonj
• HelpAge India

These are some top NGOs in India that are working on the top level. You can also open your NGO like these and yours if you really want to help other people. 

FAQ related to different types of NGOs in India

Conclusion

So these are the briefs on different types of NGOs in India. Every type of NGO has its benefits. These are exempted from the tax and anyone can give donations to NGOs. NGOs work for the public welfare and it encourages the people for charity. 

If you have any doubts, suggestions or opinions in this regard, please post them in the comment box. 

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