Governance and Value Creation by Non Profit Organizations in Iran

NGOs are difficult to define and classify, and the term ʹNGOʹ is not used consistently. As a result, there are many different classifications in use. The most common NGOs use a framework that includes orientation and level of operation. An NGOʹs orientation refers to the type of activities it takes on. These activities might include human rights, environmental, or development work. An NGOʹs level of operation indicates the scale at which an organization works, such as local, regional, international or national. One of the earliest mentions of the term "NGO" was in 1945, when the United Nations (UN) was created. The UN, which is an inter-governmental organization, made it possible for certain approved specialized international non-state agencies - or nongovernmental organizations - to be awarded observer status at its assemblies and some of its meetings. Later the term became used more widely. Today, according to the UN, any kind of private organization that is independent from government control can be termed an "NGO", provided it is not-profit, non-criminal and not simply an opposition political party. A variety of nowfamiliar theories account for the existence of nonprofit organizations in circumstances where other types of organizations, ranging from government agencies to investor-owned enterprises, might, and have, produced similar types and qualities of goods and services . Burton Weisbrod (1977) was perhaps the first theorist of nonprofit creation. In providing public goods, governments act to meet the demand for public goods, they will offer a level of public goods that meets the demands of the median voter, leaving an unmet demand for public goods such as services for disadvantaged groups or other minority interests. As provision of such goods does not attract private investors, nonprofit organizations, enabled in part by the privileges of nonprofit status, come into existence to fill these voids in public goods provision. The study aimed at eliciting the roles of NGOs through major projects undertaken in Iran and their impact. This study aims at eliciting the roles of Governance in NGOs in Iran and impact in value creation in the communities. Combined instruments of questionnaire surveys, interview and secondary data are utilized.