1. I think a sort of value rating maybe helpful.
I have personally known some people who told me they had bought a registered defunct NGO as they thought it was the safest way to make a quick buck. They told me that if you were clever, it was easy to get grants from the govt., and even UN. I dont know if that could be done. ( they do seem to have been prospered a bit ). But it made me VERY wary of the little known NGOs.
I have also been accosted by door to door people asking for some charity, which later were found to be quite unfound.
Having said that there are many NGOs who seem to be really making a lot of impact in their chosen fields. Interestingly my daughter (who was once working for CONCERN India
2. The idea in one of your digest to monitor a proper account and ratio of operating expenses V project expenses is very doable.
It wont be feasible to grade NGOs on their work as they are on vastly different fields, expertise and resources. But Money is the center of all which can and should be tracked.
3. I feel as the only money can and should be monitored, a good Chartered Accounting Institute can do so. All Ngos should have proper Audited Accounts the basic Accountability. Maybe the ones with limited resources can be helped by Voluntary CA students.
You can also have a sort of voting system among the NGOs of similar fields mental Disability, cruelty to animals, senior citizens, children , women. The Ngos themselves as well as the people who have benefited by them should vote . It may be a sort of popular award annually.
4. I am really impressed by Sneha Sadan a home for street children in Chakala, Andheri (E) , where they are not only given shelter, food and basic education, but also technical and vocational guidence, helped to get jobs, even helped to get married and some of these former children are now being foster parents to a new generation of kids. And all this without much fanfare.
Shobha Mathur