NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA AND CRITICAL SUCCESS

FACTORS:
CASE STUDY ON CRY NGO
Prof. Akansha Gajria
ABSTRACT
Non governmental organizations (NGOs) are high profile actors in the field of human
development, both as providers of services to vulnerable individuals and communities and as
campaigning policy advocates. NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) are increasingly
becoming an important force, in part because of claims that they are efficient and effective,
because they are innovative, flexible, independent, and responsive to the problems of poor
people at the grass-roots level. The growth of such NGOs over the past two decades has given
them an increasingly important role and has led them; forming a distinctive sector within civil
society. The increase in the number of NGOs and the range of activities of these NGOs, has
called for an understanding on the uniqueness, management practices and the factors
contributing to their success. The need not only comes from the organizations themselves but
also from the various stakeholders of these NGOs. Research in this sector has thrown light on the
diversity of NGOs and the distinctive sectoral characteristics. This paper explores the
understanding of NGOs, features that bring uniqueness in these NGOs and the critical factors for
the success of CRY.

Introduction
Non-governmental organizations are often setup to plug in the gaps left by the government.
India as a nation still has a large population that is vulnerable in terms of health, education,
jobs and opportunities in general. This has also seen a large proliferation of NGOs. By some
estimates, India has 3.3 million NGOs, or one NGO for every 400 individuals. This may seem
like a large number and it is. A lot of NGOs setup in India are either dormant or fraudulent, used
for a wide range of illegal activities such tax evasion and misappropriation of government funds.
Regardless, there are still a large number of credible NGOs that do genuine work for the people,
providing important services from education to health to disaster management to pet care, these
NGOs play a positive role in virtually every sector of the economy.
In India, there are NGOs doing brilliant work in different fields. NGOs come in all sizes, shapes,
ideologies, nationalities, organizing structures and styles. Some focus on nothing but local issues.
Others address issues that span whole continents, and some like Amnesty International span the
entire globe. Their very diversity reflects the complexity of these organizations. NGOs
encompass everything from charities and relief agencies to political parties; think tanks and
academic centers to community organizations; cultural associations to continent wide farmers'
networks; women's groups to environmental federations; social movements to human rights and
religious groups. NGOs basically work for social and community development and the interest

areas being literacy, education, health, child and women welfare, environment, advocacy, animal
welfare, volunteer promotion etc.
Unlike business, where success is measured in terms of sales or profits, NGOs success is not
easy to measure. NGOs do not aim at a measurable goal like profit. Their objective is more to do
with social transformation among targeted beneficiaries through voluntary work. However, few
of the aspects susceptible for measurement are beneficiary satisfaction which enables
identification of gaps in providing services. Productivity, money spent etc., are also some
measures which can be used to understand success of these NGOs. NGOs are now becoming
more and more professional in their approach. Also, they are quite aware about their goals and
are constantly working towards quality performance.
The present study on CRY - NGO is taken with the objective to analyze as to what exactly are
the factors that determine the success and growth of NGOs.

Literature Review
A good review of literature was presented by Tris Lumley (2013). Ten years ago, critics
dismissed impact measurement as too difficult, misleading, or simply not important. Today, 75
percent of charities measure some or all of their work, and nearly three-quarters have invested
more in measuring results over the last five years. A transformation in the tools that enable
nonprofits to measure the impact of what they do has raised the bar significantly, but not all have
grasped the opportunities offered by this kind of analysis.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter has argued that non profits may be the beta site for new management
innovations in the twenty-first century.
Management guru Peter Drucker (1989) argued that non-profit organizations are becoming
Americas management leaders, especially in the areas of strategy. Drucker claimed, They are
practicing what most American businesses only preach. He narrates that few years ago,
management was a dirty word for those involved in the non-profit organizations. It meant
business and non profits prided themselves on being free of the taint of commercialism and
above such sordid considerations as the bottom line. Now most of them have learned that non
profits need management even more than business does, precisely because they lack the
discipline of the bottom line. The non-profits are, of course, still dedicated to doing good. But
they also realize that good intentions are no substitute for organization and leadership, for
accountability, performance and results. Those require management and that, in turn begins with
the organizations mission.
Paton and Cornforth (1992) discussed the differences between the voluntary and other sectors
and identified four main areas of divergence distinctive purpose, resource acquisition,
stakeholders and governance, and culture.

CRY a non-profit organization:

Success is the overall goal of most non-profit organizations but there are some organizations that
could be viewed as highly successful. Have you ever wondered why some organizations thrive
and why others merely survive? There are a number of reasons that nonprofits either rise to
success or completely sit and struggle. Many individuals try to point to one reason or one factor
in understanding non-profit success. Success has a number of common threads or characteristics
that can be pinpointed for study.
Success is often determined by individual criteria and varies from organization to organization.
There are many different dynamics that play into the success or failure of an organization.
Child Rights and You more popularly abbreviated as CRY is a non-profit
organization in India that aims to restore children's rights in India. The organization was
established in 1979. CRY works along with 220 grassroots NGO partners across 23 states in
India, to transform the lives of India's children, permanently. Over three decades of working with
and for children, their families and communities across India
Over the years CRY has initiated, launched and organized campaigns to amplify the voice of
children and their rights. These campaigns have focused on specific issues - from influencing
child-friendly policies, to rehabilitation efforts in disaster and natural calamities, to creating
awareness on the situation of children. Our campaigns have always involved the public, our
citizens. Your support is crucial to bring about social change in the lives of children and their
communities.
The following factors determine the success of a non-profit organization with reference to our
case study on CRY.
1. COMMITMENT TO THE MISSION
Every non-profit organization has a mission to accomplish. Some organizations want to help
those less fortunate. Some organizations want to reach others with their message. Still other
organizations want to raise money to assist a great cause such as medical research or feeding the
hungry. There are many different reasons that nonprofits are formed but the driving force behind
these organizations is some type of mission.
Commitment in the United States seems to be at an all time low. When an organization is
committed to their mission, a power and energy is created. Commitment becomes a major factor
in the overall success of the organization. When the people involved are committed to the
mission, the organization has already achieved a huge success.
Such is the vision and mission of CRY and it truly stick to what it asserts.

Vision: A happy, healthy and creative child whose rights are protected and honoured in a society
that is built on respect for dignity, justice and equity for all.
Mission: To enable people to take responsibility for the situation of the deprived Indian child and
so motivate them to seek resolution through individual and collective action thereby enabling
children to realise their full potential
To make people discover their potential for action and change
To enable peoples' collectives and movements encompassing diverse segments, to pledge their
particular strengths, working in partnership to secure, protect and honour the rights of India's
children.

2. STRONG AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP

There are two major issues with non-profit leadership: strength and positive attitude. There are
many people who are strong leaders and have a great gift for leadership. The problem is that
many of these individuals use their leadership to control others into accomplishing the leader's
agenda. The sign of a great leader is that they move from controlling people to encouraging
people. The leader that can move people without controlling or manipulating them proves the
reality of their strength. The leader must also be positive. No one wants to follow a negative
leader. The more a leader becomes negative, the more they lose their ability to lead. Negative
attitudes will repel followers away from the leader. Non-profit organizations need leaders who
will move the group forward in a positive manner. Being negative does nothing but hold both the
leader and the organization back from progress.
In 1979 Rippan and 6 friends started CRY with Rs. 50/- around his mother's dining table.
They felt that something needed to be done to improve the situation of the underprivileged
Indian child. Uncharacteristically, given their backgrounds and motivations, they chose not to
found a grassroots-level implementing organisation working directly with and for
underprivileged children. They opted instead to make CRY a link between the millions of Indians
who could provide resources and thousands of dedicated people and organisations at the
grassroots-level who are struggling to function for lack of them. This "link" or enabling position
has determined CRY's strategic choices at every juncture - from the fundraising methods it
employs, to the nature of its relationship with the NGOs it partners.

A. Trustees
Each one of the Trustees holds CRY's interest above everything else, sharing a firm belief in
values of public trust, collective responsibility and transparency.
B. Volunteer Action
At CRY, the team encourages and supports their volunteers to empower people and communities
to bring about positive change - by encouraging them to initiate action in their environment.
C. ManComm
A leadership collective comprising of Regional and Strategic Directors, whose key role is to
provide direction and leadership, as well as uphold CRYs values across the organisation.

3. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Non-profit organizations need to be responsible with the finances that they gain. Any income that
goes to a non-profit organization is a gift and should be treated as such. The organization has a
responsibility to handle their income with an incredible amount of care. The reality is that nonprofit organizations cannot afford to waste money on foolish things. Being responsible with
finances helps an organization become more successful because they can make the money work
in a more effective manner.
CRY adopts an angel investor or a social venture capitalist approach to grant making. That
means they look for promising, nascent, grassroots-level NGOs and communities that work in
the rights framework, addressing the root causes of inequity rather than its symptoms. Their
grant making (also known as Development Support within CRY) follows a social justice agenda.
It emphasise on advocacy as an essential medium if change is to be achieved on a significant
scale.
With the NGOs they support, CRY defines its role as that of a partner - each infusion of funds is
accompanied by the non-financial inputs necessary to ensure their optimum utilisation and
maximum impact. Inputs in the areas of organisation building, programme development,
training, and perspective building in child rights, accountability and advocacy.
In addition, each initiative combines direct action with children, community mobilisation and
policy influencing components to maximise impact and ensure long-term viability. This is

particularly critical where both, society and government institutions are still plagued by feudal
biases of caste, gender, ethnicity and religion.
Over three decades of working with and for children, their families and communities, CRY's
grant making efforts to over 500 NGOs, has helped restore to 1,500,000 children their basic
rights to a childhood.
Community mobilisation is what they at CRY believe is the most effective long-term solution to
the multiple causes of poverty, deprivation, exploitation and abuse that shackle India's children.
In recent years, they have been witnessing incredible transformation across 13000 village and
slum communities in 22 Indian states that CRY works in along with its partner initiatives.

4. COMMUNITY CONNECTION
One of the more crucial aspects of non-profit work is connecting with the surrounding
community or the community at large. The only way that most nonprofits can survive is through
the involvement of those within the community. Without community involvement, most
organizations simply wither and die.
Non-profit success depends a great deal on a variety of factors. There needs to be an overall
commitment to the mission of the organization. Without commitment to the mission nothing of
significance will be accomplished. Strong and positive leadership is essential to carrying a nonprofit to another level. Being financially responsible will allow the donations and the income to
stretch farther and accomplish more. Developing connections within the community will allow
the organization to tap vital resources all around them. Harnessing these dynamics can help push
a non-profit organization in the right direction and propel them toward success.
Fundraising or Resource Generation at CRY is driven with a social justice agenda. Their
primary role is to channelize public action for child rights, in the form of financial and material
resources and time and skills. CRYs endeavour is to get the maximum number of people and
organisations involved, driving a people's movement for the rights of India's underprivileged
children.
Marketing tie-ups with corporations, events, school and college workshops, media campaigns,
signature drives, advocacy campaigns, the Internet and street theatre ensure that people
everywhere can access information on the situation of India's children and avenues to get
involved. Every fundraising venture from greeting cards to web marketing integrates revenue
objectives with advocacy for children.

CRY is almost entirely funded by individual donors who are people from every walk of life and
every corner of the country.
In addition to this, Corporate or Institutional partnerships have added more zeal to their work and
been an opportunity for the development sector (grant making) and the corporate sector to come
together and learn from each other.
Today, CRY has a strong and committed community of lakhs of donors across the globe who
shares their vision for the future of our children.

5. GOVERNANCE
In a nation of the size and diversity of India, inequities are deeply rooted in centuries-old layers
of gender, caste, class, ethnicity and religion. Government policy, political careers and electoral
success too often become a patchwork of 'schemes' aimed at appeasing specific interest groups.
In this context, the contribution of private philanthropy is ineffective in ensuring that the benefits
of India's increasing prosperity are equitably distributed. CRY believes that a new model of
governance - where priorities are determined by empowered communities is needed to help
overcome these vast inequities.
Today, 21st century NGOs adopt best practices in governance as a part of their strategy. At CRY
too, governance encompasses the non-negotiable values of accountability, transparency and
partnership.
With the help of development partners CRY attempts to achieve:

Selection criteria based on long-term strategy and values

Selection norms and processes designed for transparency
Multi-layered, participative, documented and audited grant sanctioning system
Data-driven, participative planning, monitoring and evaluation
Exhaustive financial and impact parameters - process and outcome
Internal and external audits - financial and programmatic
Financial risk management - training and funding support
Financial and capacity building inputs for organisation building including leadership
building, democratic functioning, performance measurement and internal transparency

With donors, media and government across markets:

Comprehensive reporting to donors and the public

Proactive transparency
Feedback mechanisms
Values, ethics screening
Norm and best practice bench-marking across for-profit and non-profit sectors
Active participation in development of sector norms across sectors.

With employees and our board:

Mission-centric performance planning, evaluation and reward systems

Conflict of interest and ethics policies
Democratic, participative, transparent decision-making
Formal and informal feedback mechanisms and forums
Documentation and independent audit
Consistent adherence to, and investments in, building mission and values led ethos and
culture.

6. CONSTANT INNOVATION
A strategic partnership, with Archies Greetings and Gifts, to outsource manufacture and
retailing of CRY products, augments CRY's reach and market share.
Launch of CRY Buddies, a virtual space for children to listen, talk and interact.
Online payment gateway introduced on www.cry.org
"My School campaign" to showcase aspirations of children from CRY project areas launched
as an exhibition.
First ever CRY Corporate Responsibility Summit launched to enhance engagement with
corporate organisations.
CRYs Youth division changes to focus on ensuring childrens voices are recognised as
significant and unique in issues that affect them.
Policy, Research, Advocacy and Documentation (PRAD), a new function established at CRY,
advocating for child rights and CRYs grassroots efforts in key advocacy platforms. PRADs

mandate is to provide technical support on policy, research and advocacy and knowledge
management.