Location of Facilities: Towards a New Approach for NGOs

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper addressing the site selection criteria for the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations). A high-quality site for the NGOs helps in implementing their objectives and thus the beneficiaries are immensely benefitted. An ideal site also helps the NGOs from the curse of overlapping and thus it facilitates the NGOs from preventing the wastage of the resources. This is a very important strategic decision, which should not be made without careful considerations and analysis. In this regard the NGOs should take the political, economical, social factors of the locations into contingence. The resource strength of the particular NGO also demands the assessments. The socio-economic condition of the potential beneficiaries is a vital factor. The contributions of NGOs in various aspects of human lives such as poverty alleviation, education, family planning, employment, relief operations in natural calamities and health and infrastructure development for the poor, have made this sector an indispensable one in the modern society. Public goods theory, subsidy theory, contract failure theory etc are the corresponding models acknowledging the NGO/Non-profit sector-operations. The NGOs are self governing, private, not profit organizations that are geared to improving the quality of life of the disadvantaged people (Vakil, 1997). The socio-economic condition of the people of the locality, NGO-overlapping issues, political situation of the locality, government policy and patronization, law and order situation, operational costs, local supports, safety of the NGO-field workers, financing facilities, means of transportation, local and national culture, poverty level analysis etc are the factors which may be taken into consideration for the deployment of the NGOs in a location. The proposed site selection model and point rating method may be helpful in this regard. Future researchers may empirically examine the subject matter of this article]

Key Words: NGOs, Location, Site Selection Factors