Two-Faced Non-Government Organizations: Profit-making behind Serving the Oppressed

Abstract

The coexistence of social responsibility and organizational sustainability in Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) causes certain controversies about how these organizations achieve their objectives and fulfill their role in the society. Traditional means of obtaining funds from donations have now been replaced by the so-called “neo-liberal” practice of sealing partnerships with the biggest corporations and businesses worldwide. This paper assessed the efficiency of NGOs in delivering their societal promise, and examined how profit interplays with social justice and vice versa in NGOs, as guided by Rawls’ Mature Theory of Social Justice and the two components that consist it. A semi-structured interview was administered to five different NGOs from Metro Manila to explore their different finance initiatives. Through the thematic analysis and interviews, it was found that there exists a “sweet spot” between profit-making and delivering social justice. It was concluded nonetheless that more and more present-day NGOs are heavily influenced by neo-liberal practices of corporations with which they partner.