How non-profit organisations contribute to society?

Maya Angelou had said: When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. Non-profit organisations around the world are focused towards giving cheerfully – their time, wisdom and resources towards causes that have several times transformed societies.

United Nations Organisation had spelled out 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 towards transforming our world. Many NGOs in India have been involved in the fulfillment of some of these goals such as no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality and clean water and sanitation. These are often some of the basic living needs that may not be a challenge in many countries. However, in countries such as India, NGOs must address these needs first in order to be able to truly uplift the situation of those who are deprived. An NGO in India often must make targeted groups aware of certain needs so as to address them. For instance, if an NGO is working towards education of rural children in India, the organisation must meet parents and peer groups and convince them of the benefits of educating their children.

Non-profit organisations often engage in charity fundraising in order to gain investment in specific initiatives. They also work towards building trust and credibility within a community. For instance, if an NGO wishes to introduce more productive and cost-effective way of crop cultivation, it needs to first receive approval from the Sarpanch of the local Panchayat to be able to educate and work in the area.

Then there are hundreds of people around the world with less exposure to education or information; here, an NGO plays a role in delivering education to them. However, many NGOs lack access to communities and fundraisers – this becomes a setback. But to counter this, there are individuals who give away their time and resources in teaching children free of cost, providing food to others from their salaries or simply volunteering to help mothers or parents. Then there are others who pine to be part of a larger goal, a larger objective and wish to join hands with established NGOs.

Akshaya Patra – a non-profit organisation that’s working towards providing mid-day meals to school children, often encourages such people from villages and small towns to join the cause. There are several examples of staff members who are involved in the process of serving mid-day meals and who love every bit of the experience. Akshaya Patra has taken up two crucial goals from the UN’s SDGs that are important for India’s children and they are – Zero Hunger and Quality Education. In India, this is possibly the most logical way to address the problem of hunger among children. The non-profit organisation invites donors from all over the world for charity fundraising so more and more people are able to contribute in the cause.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Ngo in India providing food for 1.6 million school children across 12 States and 28 locations.