Page 63 - Proceeding 2015

PĂCE?ILĂ Mihaela FAMP
INVOLVEMENT OF NGOS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY CCASP

organizations which are subsumed under other community services (European Commission Eurostat,
2011; Hailu Senbeta, 2003).

One of the richest classification systems is considered the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
developed by National Center for Charitable Statistics (n.d.) in collaboration with many non-profit
organizations. The system classifies non-governmental organizations in two categories: „the product or
field in which the entity is engaged and what they do in that field” (Hailu Senbeta, 2003).

Although they are different due to the variety of NGOs, all these classifications are important and can be
used to facilitate, if necessary, meetings and consultations between the third sector organizations and
academics, governments, industries, etc. for planning future work.

3. ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NGO SECTOR

Throughout history, two categories of actors have distinguished within the society: the state and civil

30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest differentiation has become outdated with the passage of time. In modern societies there is a new
society. Due to this model, the society was divided into two sectors: public and private sector. This

distinction: a profit-oriented sector and another one, not for profit, called the non-governmental sector or
the third sector (Hin?ea and Marton, 2003; Păce?ilă, 2014).

The first non-governmental organizations have emerged in the nineteenth century in industrialized

countries, being involved in charitable or philanthropic activities. The first organization was the Anti-
Slavery Society set up in 1839 followed by the Red Cross and Caritas (Young and Dhanda, 2013).

After World War II, Western European governments have recognized the importance of the NGO sector

in ensuring democratic consolidation and expansion. Therefore, they began to create a uniform legal
framework in order to reduce state influence on this sector and to bring more transparency on its
organizations’ activities.

The role of NGOs in society has grown tremendously in the past few decades due to their increasing
involvement in population welfare activities. Over time, they began to operate in fields where governments
had no mechanisms for handling problems. The importance of the work done by NGOs has been
recognized both in developed countries and in developing ones. Subsequently, the welfare and

philanthropy activities have been complemented by actions involving the transformation of existing
structures, democratization and strengthening civil society. In other words, NGOs have become

organizations working for structural change in the society (Bagci, 2007).

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