NGOs or Non-Governmental Organizations are generally considered a group of people collectively working for a specific purpose in society. So, these NGOs help to provide the unfulfilled services by the society. Different sectors of society need help for upliftment like childcare, women, elders, education, rehabilitating people from the evil practices and many more sectors involve NGOs in India. It is one of the strongest pillars in a country where apart from three tiers of governments, NGOs also work for the society and fulfill the rest loophole in the society. Therefore, the government also encourages such organizations that can fulfill people’s demands at the local level where sometimes government is unable to reach.
So, have you ever thought about how these funds are collected for the NGOs? As the name suggests, it is a Non-governmental organization, and it works for non-profit work; it needs money to provide services to society. The procedure is simple as NGOs collect donations from those who want to help or return their contributions to society. So, with this donation in NGOs, they are empowered to work for society.
Many people tend to donate money to NGOs; if you are one of them and want to donate money, do you know how you can donate money. What things must you check about an NGO to donate to it? If you have such doubts in your mind, we will help you solve these questions. Let’s start our discussion about it, but before that, let’s clarify the literal definition of an NGO, which will make it clear for you to understand how you can check its credibility.
What is an NGO?
An NGO is a non-governmental institution that works for society to fulfill the loopholes in society, which is generally not fulfilled by society. It aims to provide some financial aid to that unprivileged section of the society that remains unheard of by other people. An NGO may work in various fields such as social, economic, cultural, and education fields and try to fulfill the loopholes of these sectors.
You must also understand why NGO is essential because there is a need for an institution to fulfill the needs where the government cannot reach. Therefore, NGOs are critical for society’s betterment. It is also essential to know that NGOs work with their independent rules, their sovereignty. There is no government interference in such organizations apart from specific policies for registration and donations, and therefore, they possess their policies for their work in society. They have various mediums of raising funds for an NGO, and donations are the most famous and vital way of raising funds.
As you learn about the NGOs and why it is essential, if you are planning to make donations, let’s understand what you must consider while donating NGO. Ketto is one such online platform that helps these NGOs to raise funds, so you must understand the credibility criteria for making donations on Ketto.
What are the things you must consider before donating to an NGO on Ketto?
Donations are the primary source of income for NGOs. Donations can be from various sources in small to large amounts of money. It can be from the citizens of India, individuals, corporations, or foreign nationals. If an NGO is new, it faces specific issues to raise funds, but if it has made its stronghold in the society, it is easy for them to raise funds. So, you can see which NGO you want to invest in and find the following factors to check its credibility. If you are a foreign national and invest in an NGO in India, these factors are essential for you too.
Check whether the NGO is a registered NGO or not:
The first and foremost work before donating the amount to an NGO is to check its credibility and find out whether your money is going in safe hands or not. So, the first criteria are to check whether the NGO is a registered NGO or not. Registered NGOs will also have eligibility to seek help from government departments, so it must be a registered NGO if you want to check the credibility. Various acts in India help to register an NGO. Such acts are:
- “Indian Trust Act, 1885” is necessary for the Trust Registration of an NGO.
- The “Society Registration Act, 1860” is essential to register an NGO as a Society in the market.
- It must also be registered as a company even though it is a non-profit company. SO, it must also be registered as a company under Section 8 of Company registrations of “Companies Act, 2013.”
So, these are some of the registration laws in India. Therefore, if you are planning to make a donation in NGO in India, you can always check its credibility by finding out whether the company is registered under these laws or not.
If an NGO collects funds from foreign nationals, it must be registered under FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act). So, you must also consider this registration. If you find that the NGO is registered under any of these laws, you can trust it blindly and donate to the NGO.
You must check the available payment method with an NGO:
If an NGO is asking only for cash transactions, it would be not easy to trust such NGOs because cash transactions usually go untraced, and therefore, you must not trust such NGOs who only ask for cash payments. Furthermore, cash does not provide any legal proof to us whether we have donated or not. Therefore, this is not a legitimate way to make payments.
You must check the available options to make payments, such as cheques and other online payment methods. These are legitimate ways of payment, and it provides a record of your payment. Therefore, we must check whether there are various options for payment or not; if not, we must not invest our donation in such NGOs.
Whether there is Transparency and Accountability of an NGO or not?
Since the independence of India, there are still many people who live below the poverty line. Naturally, loopholes are misused with such a vast population, so people remain disadvantaged. Therefore, the NGOs propped up, and many people benefited from it. As there is an increase in NGOs, not all these NGOs need to be credible. Before making any donations to an NGO, you must check its credibility through its history.
You must check how it has performed in earlier times, whether the raised funds have been used for the said purpose or not. You can check its social media accounts, some financial details, tax structure, and various such details about an NGO before donation in NGO. It would make your money go in safe hands rather than misusing it for some unpredictable purpose.
You must beware of such NGOs with more political affiliations and not work much for their desired goals. So, to check this, you can visit their official website, social media, tax details, contact information, campaigns, and annual reports.
It is essential to know that a trustworthy NGO will always be open to public scrutiny and transparent in its work. So, you must check such transparency about its functions and thus, make donations to an NGO. On Ketto, you can find various such NGOs that you can find as a transparent and accountable organization.
Whether the donations to a particular NGO are tax-deductible or not?
It would help to consider whether the donation to a particular NGO provides you with the tax deductibility under section 80G of the Income Tax Act. This is beneficial for you to donate for the betterment of society and get tax benefits; therefore, you can get both the benefits of philanthropy and tax-free donations. So, if the organization provides such tax benefits, it would act as a cherry on the cake. Thus, check all these factors before making a donation to NGO on Ketto.
It is essential to have a reliable, trustworthy, and accountable NGO to make donations. So, to conclude, we can say that before making any donation to an NGO, there are various things one must consider. To ensure that your money goes in reliable hands, do proper research about these factors and ensure that it is used for the same purpose you have donated it. We are not claiming that all the NGOs are suspicious. Still, you must ensure that the NGO you are investing in is according to the parameters of reliability and accountability. So, remember these points and move ahead with the noble cause of donations for the betterment of society.
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