1. What is the need for / value of rating NGOs? (conceptual reasons as well as from your personal experiences i.e. in case they were rated, how would it have helped?)
The grading of NGOs is expected to help them in the following ways:
¨ Improve visibility among counterparties, business associates and other players in the sector
¨ Improve availability of credit at better terms and conditions
¨ Strengthen process orientation in operations which will be beneficial from the point of view of a move towards scalability and sustainability
¨ Dissemination of information between different NGOs which helps in continuous improvement by imbibing the learnings from each others mistakes and
¨ Reflection of transparency and integrity to supporting partners and business associates and also information sharing will help in developing policy guidelines for different institutions and establishing standards in the sector
CRISIL undertakes gradings of NGOs as part of an action towards corporate social responsibility by accelerating the chanelisation of credit to the weaker sections of society through these gradings. It is also a complementary addition to our existing ratings product suite for various segments.
2. On what different criteria should / can NGOs / nonprofits / charities / trusts be rated?
CRISIL uses the MICROS methodology for assessment of NGOs. MICROS stand for Management, Institutional arrangement, Capital Adequacy and Asset Quality, Resources and asset liability management, Operational effectiveness and Scalability and Sustainability.
3. Who should rate them? i.e. backgrounds of such organisations or individuals
The institutions for rating NGOs should have:
¨ Strong credibility in the sector
¨ Analytical rigor and independent and widely accepted assessment methodologies and
¨ Managerial and technical expertise in sectors in which NGOs operate
4. Which NGOs in your (subjective) opinion are outstanding ones in Mumbai?
A definitive comment on this can only be made after we carry out an evaluation exercise for the NGOs based in Mumbai.
Nevertheless some of the main NGOs operating out of Mumbai are as follows:
¨ The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC), Girgaum
¨ Prayas, Vorli
¨ ANARDE Foundation
¨ SSP
¨ Astha, Navi Mumbai
¨ Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Parel
¨ Pratham, Parel
Krishnan Sitaraman
Head – Financial Sector Ratings
CRISIL
CRISIL House, 121/122 Andheri Kurla Road,
Andheri(E), Mumbai – 400093, India
Fax – 91 22 66913050
Email – ksitaraman@crisil.com