Is the Red Cross ngo or npo?

Comparative analysis of the meaning and characteristics of non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations

The words NGO and NPO are very common in today's various media and people's daily life. For many people, they are not new. I believe that most people who have come into contact with these two words will know the English words they represent and their Chinese meanings. However, in almost all countries in the world, especially due to the influence of the media, the terms NGO and NPO and their concepts have been generally confused and misused, and many people simply can't figure out the exact meanings, connections and differences expressed by these two words. The words NGO and NPO are often used in different countries or in the same country. 1 In order to understand and grasp NGO and NPO more accurately, it is necessary for us to clarify their meanings and characteristics, as well as their relations and differences.

I. Background of the concepts of NGO and NPO:

1, the emergence of NGO concept and China;

The word NGO is the abbreviation of "Non-government Organization" in English, which is literally translated as "non-governmental organization" in Chinese. Overseas, NGOs rose in the 1970s, and began to develop and popularize rapidly around the world after 1980s. At present, the promotion and influence of non-governmental organizations on social development is comparable to that of governments and enterprises, and they are becoming the third pillar in social politics, economy, environment and other fields. 2

In the international literature with western developed countries as the mainstream discourse, NGOs often refer to non-governmental organizations or non-profit organizations in developing countries. They mainly emphasize the difference between these organizations and centralized governments in developing countries, which has more political implications. In China, when the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing from 65438 to 0995, many international women's NGOs came to Beijing and held a huge Huairou NGO international forum. Since then, the media and the general public have begun to pay attention to this concept.

2. Background of the concept of non-profit organization:

The word NPO is the abbreviation of English "Non-Profit Organization", which is literally translated as "non-profit organization" in Chinese. This concept came into being later than NGO, which appeared in the United States in the 1980s and then flourished around the world. four

This organizational form existed as early as17th century. It was born out of social inequality during the industrial revolution, and then developed with the development of modern western capitalism, so it also has a rich background of western culture and social system. The name "non-profit organization" itself reflects a potential premise: before it, there was another organization form, profit-making organization or enterprise, whose purpose was to maximize profits. Therefore, non-profit organization is a concept based on market economy, with strict division of labor between government and enterprises and independent enterprises. Its existence and characteristics are closely related to the process of market economy and the development of profit-making departments (enterprises). The emergence of non-profit organizations is understood as the product of government failure and market failure. five

Generally speaking, NGO and NPO explain the nature of social groups from different angles. These two concepts were introduced from the west in China in recent years, and there is no * * * cognitive view on their connotation, extension and concept explanation. Many Americans like to use NPO; The word NGO is still the most widely used in the official documents of the United Nations and many other countries. Traditional culture in China often refers to these two types of organizations as non-profit organizations or charitable organizations. According to Article 2 of the Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Social Organizations, the connotations of non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations and social organizations intersect with each other, and people in the industry believe that there is no essential difference. six

Second, compare and analyze the meaning and characteristics of NGO and NPO;

The Chinese translation of NGO is "NGO", but it is different from "NGO". For example, enterprises are not government organizations, but they are definitely not the non-governmental organizations we are talking about here. Similarly, NPO is translated as "non-profit organization" in Chinese, which is not the same as "non-profit organization". For example, the government is a non-profit organization, but it is by no means what we call a non-profit organization here.

1, the concept of NGO and its organizational characteristics;

There is no unified understanding of the definition of non-governmental organizations in the world. At present, there are three representative definitions of NGO in domestic academic circles: broadly speaking, NGO refers to all social non-governmental organizations except the government and for-profit enterprises, including associations, private non-enterprise units, state-owned institutions, people's organizations and other organizations (including registered and unregistered organizations in the form of enterprises, etc.). ) 7; In a narrow sense, NGO refers to a social organization that strictly conforms to the Regulations on the Registration of Associations and the Regulations on the Registration of Private Non-enterprise Units, that is, in the official concept, there are only two types of organizations: associations and private non-enterprise units (another view is that only those grassroots organizations that are purely private are considered NGOs, except those with government background). The middle definition is to remove state-owned enterprises, institutions or other organizations in a broad sense.

Professor Li of Peking University Institute of Political Development and Government Management pointed out: "The concept of NGO is very broad and should refer to all organizations other than the government. In other words, it includes both legal organizations and illegal organizations; Including all kinds of political, professional, joint and academic social groups, as well as foundations, volunteer organizations, social assistance and welfare organizations, vulnerable groups protection organizations, legal aid organizations and so on. , even all things and units. But at present, when people use the concept of NGO, it mainly refers to organizations engaged in social welfare undertakings, such as the Red Cross, Project Hope, Disabled Persons' Federation, volunteer organizations and various foundations. This can be called the narrow NGO concept. nine

There are also different opinions on the definition of NGO in academic circles. Here we adopt a definition that is widely used in academic circles at present. This definition holds that non-governmental organizations are legally established, non-governmental, non-profit, self-managed, non-partisan, voluntary social organizations dedicated to solving various social problems. 10

Generally speaking, "non-governmental organizations" refer to social organizations that are independent of the government, not for profit, and voluntarily participate. Non-governmental organizations often pay attention to issues of social publicity and humanistic publicity, such as poverty alleviation, trade fairness, environmental protection, anti-war and anti-nuclear. These problems are generally not personal interests, organizational interests or national interests, but social publicity or human interests. 1 1

The official classification adopted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China is to divide non-governmental organizations into social organizations and private non-enterprise units. The former is further divided into foundations, academic organizations, industry organizations, professional organizations and joint organizations. The latter is further divided into education, science and technology, culture, health, sports and social welfare. On this basis, it is divided into national organizations and local organizations according to the level of registration administration organs. Scholars have also classified the NGOs in China.

2. The connotation and organizational characteristics of non-profit organizations;

Non-profit organization (NPO), a term that originated in the United States and spread all over the world, originally refers to various social institutions or organizations initiated by private individuals to achieve their own non-economic wishes or goals. 12 includes not only public intermediary organizations such as foundations and charitable fund-raisers, but also mutually beneficial organizations such as social networks, mutual assistance and cooperation, owners and professional associations, as well as privately established service organizations such as schools, hospitals, social welfare service institutions, art groups, museums and research institutions. The United States even classified the church as a non-profit organization. In the United States, the explanation we heard is that this word is the easiest to draw a clear line between non-profit organizations and corporate organizations. No matter how different non-profit organizations are, "non-profit" can summarize its * * * nature. Americans don't call non-profit organizations NGOs, that is, non-governmental organizations, because almost all non-profit organizations in the United States are privately run, so there is no need to call them NGOs. 13

To explain the meaning of "non-profit organization", we need to distinguish several concepts first, that is, the difference between "profit" and "profit". From the basic meaning of modern Chinese, we know that "win" means "earn", as opposed to "compensate", so "profit" means to earn profits (used as a verb), that is, to make profits (used as a noun). "Profit" is full and redundant, and "profit" is profit, or more profit. And "camp" is seeking, and "profit" corresponds to taking profit as the purpose. Therefore, the meaning of "non-profit" is not unprofitable in the economic sense, nor does it mean not to operate, but a vocabulary used to define the nature of an organization. It means that the purpose of running and operating such an organization is not to make profits. Non-profit organizations are organizations that realize social welfare or mutual benefit outside the government.

"Non-profit organization" has three specific measures of "non-profit":

First, the purpose of the organization is not to make a profit; Second, the profits of the organization cannot be used for distribution and dividends among members; Third, an organization's assets cannot be converted into private property in any form. For the understanding of this feature, many studies have begun to emphasize the purpose of "non-profit", that is, non-profit does not mean that organizations cannot operate in a commercial way and are not profitable. But at the same time, it also leads to another misunderstanding of non-profit organizations, that is, "not for profit" refers to ensuring public welfare, and then it is transformed into "not just for profit" Although these alternative explanations are based on the current national conditions in China, in order to attract private funds to set up public welfare undertakings, from the perspective of long-term and standardized development, we should not adopt the method of blurring the concept of "non-profit organization" to solve the problem of insufficient public welfare. As a non-profit organization, it should meet the above three measurement indicators, that is, the organization does not aim at profit (rather than "not only for profit"), the profit is not used for the distribution of members (rather than the business strategy of not paying dividends for a period of time for long-term return), and assets should not be converted into personal assets at any time and under any circumstances.

As a form of organization, non-profit organizations have existed since the early days of human history. However, as a social and political phenomenon that played an important role in the second half of the 20th century, the definition of such organizations is not completely determined, and their usage in different countries is not the same. At present, John, an American non-profit organization expert, is generally accepted internationally. Lester from Hopkins University? The definition of Professor lester M .Salamon in his international comparative research project of non-profit organizations. Lester. Salamon pointed out that non-profit organizations have six key characteristics: l, organization (regularity); That is, it has a certain organization and is an independent legal person registered according to national laws; 2. Non-governmental organizations, that is, non-profit organizations, are organizationally independent of the government, neither subordinate to government agencies nor dominated by government officials; 3. Non-profit, that is, non-profit organizations can make profits without accumulating profits for their owners, but profits must be used for the work stipulated in the organization's mission, and cannot be distributed between the owners and operators of the organization; 4. autonomy. Non-profit organizations have internal management procedures that are not subject to external control to manage their own activities; 5. Volunteer service: there is a considerable degree of voluntary participation in the activities and management of the organization, especially the formation of a board of directors composed of volunteers and the extensive use of volunteers; 6. Public welfare means serving a public purpose and making contributions to the public. Scholars have also found that such organizational forms have different names in different countries and fields, such as "non-governmental organizations", "charitable organizations", volunteer organizations, the third sector, civil society and so on.

Lester. Salamon regards non-governmental organization (NGO) as a part of non-profit organization (NPO). He adds two characteristics to the six characteristics of the above-mentioned non-profit organization: non-religious (the activity is not to attract new believers) and non-political (not to participate in recommending candidates for public office). The World Bank says that any non-governmental organization whose purpose is to help the poor, safeguard their interests, protect the environment, provide basic social services or promote community development. However, people often use these two concepts interchangeably.

It can be understood as follows: if we emphasize the difference between it and the compulsory mechanism, then it is an NGO；; If we emphasize its non-profit or public welfare, then it is NPO. Both are relative to government departments and enterprise departments. Why do you need a third department? Now researchers generally believe that it is due to the so-called "government failure" and "market failure", especially the so-called "second government failure and market failure".

Professor Qin Hui from Tsinghua University College of Humanities pointed out that the three departments can be divided into two dimensions: public welfare or private interests and compulsory or voluntary. The first department is the government department, which allocates resources and provides public goods by compulsory means; The second sector can be called enterprise sector, or profit-making sector, which operates according to market principles, pursues the maximization of interests, and creates and provides private goods by way of transactions. The third sector is an organization that provides public interests through a voluntary mechanism. If we emphasize the difference between it and coercive means, it is a non-governmental organization (NGO). If we emphasize its commonweal and non-profit, it is NPO. 16

Gao, editor-in-chief of China Development Bulletin? (nick young) pointed out that the China Development Bulletin is a non-governmental research institution that pays attention to the activities of domestic and international non-governmental organizations. "How to effectively mobilize social resources, enthusiasm is not enough." Tall? I believe that no NGO does not want to fight for government resources and policy assistance. "NGO is a silly word," Gao said. I prefer to use NPO (non-profit organization) to describe them. 17

In addition, we should understand that non-profit organizations and the original institutions in China are completely different concepts. The concept of public institution is the product of the government's overall responsibility for politics, economy and society under the planned economy, while the premise of non-profit organization is the division of labor and independence of government, enterprises and society, so it is a private and independent organization with its own operating rules and management concepts, and it is one of the actors in the public governance structure.

Third, the conclusion:

We can think that non-governmental organizations know such organizations from their relationship with the government, among which non-governmental organizations are closer to non-governmental organizations; Non-profit organizations understand such organizations from the perspective of the nature of their activities. Non-government is from the perspective of "national society". In modern countries, the most important organization is the government organization. The government is an authority that comes into being through certain legal procedures. It has the highest power and bears great responsibility for the national economy. Where the government's power and responsibility are not enough, some social organizations will occupy the space that the government can't take care of, which is social space. From the perspective of political power, social organizations or non-governmental organizations correspond to government organizations, some social groups and social institutions.

Non-profit focuses on "economic society". From this perspective, economic organizations (enterprises) are social organizations, economic organizations are for-profit organizations, and social organizations are non-profit organizations. Therefore, it is also collectively referred to as non-governmental organizations, that is, social organizations with both folk and non-profit, which are neither government agencies nor economic organizations. This kind of organization has many names in the world. Charitable organizations, voluntary organizations, exemption organizations, civil organizations, civil organizations, etc. As a whole, they are collectively referred to as "non-profit sector" and "non-governmental public sector".

Among the international NGOs we often hear, NGOs include the International Red Cross (ICRC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Green International (GCI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). International non-profit organizations include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Vision and the International Youth Fund. 18 Chinese laws and government documents generally refer to non-governmental organizations or social organizations, private non-enterprise units and other organizations. The government department responsible for the management of such organizations is called the Civil Organization Administration; The relevant laws promulgated by the state are the Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Social Organizations and the Provisional Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Private Non-enterprise Units. In the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Organizations, it is pointed out that "social organizations refer to non-profit social organizations formed voluntarily by citizens of China, which carry out activities in accordance with their articles of association in order to achieve the consent of their members", and social organizations include non-governmental (non-governmental) and non-profit meanings. In China's official documents, social organizations are divided into four categories: academic, professional, professional and joint. Academic organizations are generally named after research institutes, industrial organizations are mostly named after associations, professional organizations are generally named after associations and foundations, and joint organizations are named after federations and promotion associations. 19

In a word, the concepts of NGO and NPO are appellations for non-governmental organizations from different angles. There is no strict boundary between these two concepts, so we don't need to entangle them. The concept of non-profit organizations is broader than that of non-governmental organizations. If we want to emphasize the difference between a certain kind of non-governmental organization and political organization, we can use the concept of NGO. If we want to emphasize the difference between a certain kind of non-governmental organizations and for-profit enterprises, we can use the concept of NPO, but it also depends on the situation of different countries and people's habits.