The Chinese translation of NGO is "NGO", but it is different from "NGO". For example, enterprises are not government organizations, but they are definitely not the non-governmental organizations we are talking about here. Similarly, NPO is translated as "non-profit organization" in Chinese, which is not the same as "non-profit organization". For example, the government is a non-profit organization, but it is by no means what we call a non-profit organization here. 1, the connotation of NGO concept and its organizational characteristics: there is no general understanding of the definition of NGO in the world. At present, there are three representative definitions of NGO in domestic academic circles: broadly speaking, NGO refers to all social non-governmental organizations except the government and for-profit enterprises, including associations, private non-enterprise units, state-owned institutions, people's organizations and other organizations (including registered and unregistered organizations in the form of enterprises, etc.). ) 7; In a narrow sense, NGO refers to a social organization that strictly conforms to the Regulations on the Registration of Associations and the Regulations on the Registration of Private Non-enterprise Units, that is, in the official concept, there are only two types of organizations: associations and private non-enterprise units (another view is that only those grassroots organizations that are purely private are considered NGOs, except those with government background). The middle definition is to remove state-owned enterprises, institutions or other organizations in a broad sense. Professor Li of Peking University Institute of Political Development and Government Management pointed out: "The concept of NGO is very broad and should refer to all organizations other than the government. In other words, it includes both legal organizations and illegal organizations; Including all kinds of political, professional, joint and academic social groups, as well as foundations, volunteer organizations, social assistance and welfare organizations, vulnerable groups protection organizations, legal aid organizations and so on. , even all things and units. But at present, when people use the concept of NGO, it mainly refers to organizations engaged in social welfare undertakings, such as the Red Cross, Project Hope, Disabled Persons' Federation, volunteer organizations and various foundations. This can be called the narrow NGO concept. There are also different opinions on the definition of NGO in academic circles. Here we adopt a definition that is widely used in academic circles at present. This definition holds that non-governmental organizations are legally established, non-governmental, non-profit, self-managed, non-partisan, voluntary social organizations dedicated to solving various social problems. 10 generally speaking, "non-governmental organizations" refer to voluntary social organizations independent of the government and not for profit. Non-governmental organizations often pay attention to issues of social publicity and humanistic publicity, such as poverty alleviation, trade fairness, environmental protection, anti-war and anti-nuclear. These problems are generally not personal interests, organizational interests or national interests, but social publicity or human interests. 1 1 The official classification adopted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China is that civil organizations are divided into social organizations and private non-enterprise units, and the former is further divided into foundations, academic organizations, industry organizations, professional organizations and joint organizations. The latter is further divided into education, science and technology, culture, health, sports and social welfare. On this basis, it is divided into national organizations and local organizations according to the level of registration administration organs. Scholars have also classified the NGOs in China. 2. The concept of non-profit organization and its organizational characteristics: The term non-profit organization (NPO) originated in the United States and spread all over the world. At first, it refers to various social institutions or organizations initiated by private individuals to achieve their own non-economic wishes or goals. 12 includes not only public intermediary organizations such as foundations and charitable fund-raisers, but also mutually beneficial organizations such as social networks, mutual assistance and cooperation, owners and professional associations, as well as privately established service organizations such as schools, hospitals, social welfare service institutions, art groups, museums and research institutions. The United States even classified the church as a non-profit organization. In the United States, the explanation we heard is that this word is the easiest to draw a clear line between non-profit organizations and corporate organizations. No matter how different non-profit organizations are, "non-profit" can summarize its * * * nature. Americans don't call non-profit organizations NGOs, that is, non-governmental organizations, because almost all non-profit organizations in the United States are privately run, so there is no need to call them NGOs. To explain the meaning of "non-profit organization", we need to distinguish several concepts, namely "profit" and "profit" and "profit". From the basic meaning of modern Chinese, we know that "win" means "earn", as opposed to "compensate", so "profit" means to earn profits (used as a verb), that is, to make profits (used as a noun). "Profit" is full and redundant, and "profit" is profit, or more profit. And "camp" is seeking, and "profit" corresponds to taking profit as the purpose. Therefore, the meaning of "non-profit" is not unprofitable in the economic sense, nor does it mean not to operate, but a vocabulary used to define the nature of an organization. It means that the purpose of running and operating such an organization is not to make profits. Non-profit organizations are organizations that realize social welfare or mutual benefit outside the government. There are three specific measures for "non-profit organization": first, the purpose of the organization is not to make profits; Second, the profits of the organization cannot be used for distribution and dividends among members; Third, an organization's assets cannot be converted into private property in any form. For the understanding of this feature, many studies have begun to emphasize the purpose of "non-profit", that is, non-profit does not mean that organizations cannot operate in a commercial way and are not profitable. But at the same time, it also leads to another misunderstanding of non-profit organizations, that is, "not for profit" refers to ensuring public welfare, and then it is transformed into "not just for profit" Although these alternative explanations are based on the current national conditions in China, in order to attract private funds to set up public welfare undertakings, from the perspective of long-term and standardized development, we should not adopt the method of blurring the concept of "non-profit organization" to solve the problem of insufficient public welfare. As a non-profit organization, it should meet the above three measurement indicators, that is, the organization does not aim at making profits (rather than "not only for making profits"), profits are not used for the distribution of members (rather than the business strategy of not paying dividends for a period of time for long-term returns), and assets should not be converted into personal assets at any time and under any circumstances. As a form of organization, non-profit organizations have existed since the early days of human history. However, as a social and political phenomenon that played an important role in the second half of the 20th century, the definition of such organizations is not completely determined, and their usage in different countries is not the same. At present, John, an American non-profit organization expert, is generally accepted internationally. Lester from Hopkins University? The definition of Professor lester M .Salamon in his international comparative research project of non-profit organizations. Lester. Salamon pointed out that non-profit organizations have six key characteristics: l, organization (regularity); That is, it has a certain organization and is an independent legal person registered according to national laws; 2. Non-governmental organizations, that is, non-profit organizations, are organizationally independent of the government, neither subordinate to government agencies nor dominated by government officials; 3. Non-profit, that is, non-profit organizations can make profits without accumulating profits for their owners, but profits must be used for the work stipulated in the organization's mission, and cannot be distributed between the owners and operators of the organization; 4. autonomy. Non-profit organizations have internal management procedures that are not subject to external control to manage their own activities; 5. Volunteer service: there is a considerable degree of voluntary participation in the activities and management of the organization, especially the formation of a board of directors composed of volunteers and the extensive use of volunteers; 6. Public welfare means serving a public purpose and making contributions to the public. Scholars have also found that such organizational forms have different names in different countries and fields, such as "non-governmental organizations", "charitable organizations", volunteer organizations, the third sector, civil society and so on. Lester. Salamon regards non-governmental organization (NGO) as a part of non-profit organization (NPO). He adds two characteristics to the six characteristics of the above-mentioned non-profit organization: non-religious (the activity is not to attract new believers) and non-political (not to participate in recommending candidates for public office). The World Bank says that any non-governmental organization whose purpose is to help the poor, safeguard their interests, protect the environment, provide basic social services or promote community development. However, people often use these two concepts interchangeably. It can be understood as follows: if we emphasize the difference between it and the compulsory mechanism, then it is an NGO；; If we emphasize its non-profit or public welfare, then it is NPO. Both are relative to government departments and enterprise departments. Why do you need a third department? Now researchers generally believe that it is due to the so-called "government failure" and "market failure", especially the so-called "second government failure and market failure". Professor Qin Hui from Tsinghua University College of Humanities pointed out that the three departments can be divided into two dimensions: public welfare or private interests and compulsory or voluntary. The first department is the government department, which allocates resources and provides public goods by compulsory means; The second sector can be called enterprise sector, or profit-making sector, which operates according to market principles, pursues the maximization of interests, and creates and provides private goods by way of transactions. The third sector is an organization that provides public interests through a voluntary mechanism. If we emphasize the difference between it and coercive means, it is a non-governmental organization (NGO). If we emphasize its commonweal and non-profit, it is NPO. 16 Gao, editor-in-chief of China Development Bulletin? (nick young) pointed out that the China Development Bulletin is a non-governmental research institution, focusing on the activities of domestic and international NGOs. "How to effectively mobilize social resources, enthusiasm is not enough." Tall? I believe that no NGO does not want to fight for government resources and policy assistance. "NGO is a silly word," Gao said. I prefer to use NPO (non-profit organization) to describe them. 17 in addition, it should be understood that non-profit organizations and the original institutions in China are completely different concepts. The concept of public institution is the product of the government's overall responsibility for politics, economy and society under the planned economy, while the premise of non-profit organization is the division of labor and independence of government, enterprises and society, so it is a private and independent organization with its own operating rules and management concepts, and it is one of the actors in the public governance structure.