Civil society

How and why to be active

The non-governmental organisations exist out of the public or private sector. In many countries, they are a part of so-called “third sector“. A nonprofit organisation, is an organisation that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals rather than distributing them as profit or dividends. It does not mean that nonprofit organisation does not intend to make profit, but it has to use the profit for benefit of the society.

Some non-profit organisations are also charity-based or service organisations; they may be organised as a not-for-profit corporation or as a trust, a cooperative, or they exist informally.

Some organisations operate like foundations, but they are more complicated to administer, hold more favorable tax status and are restricted to the public charities they support.

There are several types of nonprofit organisations such as volunteer or community organisations, foundations, civic associations, community groups, filantropic organisations, trade unions, political parties, cooperatives, professional and business boards and associations, charity organisations, non formal groups of citizens and social movements. Some of them can be formally registered or exist informally.

The ways how to create a registered formal organisation vary from country to country, based on the legislation (refer to national version of this module). However, there is something that is similar everywhere. It is the motivation to do it. When you start a nonprofit organisation, you will contribute with something positive to your community, your town, your country and even the world.

How to start? At first look around if some other organisations (nonprofit, for-profit, or government) have already started doing the same or similar work within your targeted community. It would be harder to get support if you just duplicated existing services, in comparison to improving or adding something new to the existing ones.

After you have decided that the work you want to do will meet a real need in the community, you must spend some time developing the essential ingredients of a successful nonprofit:

• a vital mission
• high-quality, responsive, and unduplicated programmes and services
• reliable and diverse revenue streams
• clear lines of accountability
• adequate facilities

Starting a nonprofit generally also requires these steps to formalize your organisation. Please note that laws and procedures can vary in each country.