Non-Governmental Organizations are the organizations that run do not run for the purpose of accumulating profits. NGOs work for a cause that can be social, environmental, developmental or a simple attempt to help old aged, women and children who are deprived of the basic necessities of life. They even comfort underprivileged and those in distress due to some kind of visual, physical, mental or emotional handicap.
Most of the NGOs target illiteracy, women empowerment, dowry, poverty, child labour, drug addiction, HIV-AIDS, disability, mental ailments, autism and various old age problems. NGOs mainly offer social services to create awareness among people regarding the varied issues of concern like human rights, civil rights, health care, corruption, domestic violence, blood donation, animal health and rights, child education, child labour, disaster management, peace and non-violence, women illiteracy, girl child killing and so on.
Some NGOs are devoted to children and therefore, run orphanages where children are educated and taken care of their needs to grow up in a healthy environment. While some work for women empowerment by helping them to be educated and raise their voice against domestic violence, dowry, girl child killing, women illiteracy and any other kind of injustice being done to them. There are also some environmental NGOs that aim to work for creating awareness among people regarding the importance of personal and environmental hygiene as a step to make them habitual of a healthier lifestyle. While some NGOs work for human rights as social activists to take up the initiative of social development single-handedly. Since NGOs are Non Profit Organizations, they work with the funds available to them through charity and donations mainly.
Child Relief and You (CRY), Red Cross Society, CARE, National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), Deepalaya, CINI, CHIP, One World, NGO India, Being Human, Help Age India, Department of Rural Development, Smile Foundation, Give India and Udaan are the leading Indian NGOs. While UNESCO, UNICEF, World Wildlife Fund, Bread for the World, WHO and AMNESTY are the international NGOs. They all are working for the social upliftment of people for so many years now.
You can easily get a job in NGO if you are dedicated to serve mankind, leaving aside all the worldly pleasures of life. An NGO jobs is not a 9 to 6 job in an air conditioned room. It is important to make yourself rough and tough to work with an NGO and even prepare yourself to work at odd times and at places where you would never want to be. Jobs in NGOs do not offer very high remuneration in the beginning but with experience you do get to receive handsome salary packages. You can begin as a volunteer or an intern to gain experience of how to work with an NGO and then look forward to it as a full time career.
However, NGO jobs are meant only for those who are benevolent and courageous to stand firm enough in the challenging situations of life and overcome them gallantly and not for those for whom success is materialized merely in terms of money.