The NGOs can be classified into various types on the basis of different factors like orientation or level of cooperation.
NGO type by orientation can be grouped into Charitable orientation; Service orientation; Participatory orientation; and Empowering orientation.
NGO type by level of co-operation can be grouped into Community- Based Organisation; City Wide Organisation; National NGOs; and International NGOs;
The Non-governmental organizations forms a heterogeneous group and it has a long list of organization working in different areas with varied scope of work. The alternative terms used in addition to “NGO” include private voluntary organizations, civil society, independent sector, self-help organizations, grassroots organizations, volunteer sector, transnational social movement organizations, and non-state actors (NSA’s).
Some of the Famous terms used for NGO are mentioned below.
BINGO – It is a short term used for business-friendly international NGO
CITS – It is a type of NGO that basically devoted in helping the scientific community by motivating the young talent towards R & D.
CSO – It is short term for civil society organization
DONGO – It refers to the Donor Organized NGO
ENGO – It is an abbreviated form of environmental NGO like Global 2000;
GONGO – It refers to the government-operated NGOs
INGO – It is an abbreviated form of international NGO like Oxfam
QUANGO – It refers to the quasi-autonomous NGO like an ISO non-governmental organizations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
TANGO – It refers to the technical assistance NGO
GSO – it stands for the Grassroots Support Organization
MANGO – It refers to the market advocacy NGO
CHARDS – It is a short form for Community Health and Rural Development Society
As per the World Bank Typology, the NGOs can be classified into Operational and Advocacy NGOs.
Operational NGO – The main purpose of operational NGO is to design and implement the development-related projects. The scope of the Operational NGOs can be national, international or even community-based.
Advocacy NGO – The main purpose of an Advocacy NGO is to promote a specific cause. It makes efforts to raise awareness and knowledge by doing various activities like lobbying, press work and activist events.