The term ‘Governance’ comes from the Greek verb 'Kubernáo', meaning ‘to steer’. Every institution, be it public or private, needs governance to function. There are formalized forms of governance, and the most formalized one is the ‘government’. NGOs also need 'Good Governance' for effective functioning, growth, and sustainability. The principles of good governance hold true in the dynamic environment the NGOs face today as the issues of accountability, transparency, responsibility, disclosure practices and organizational relationships among the board and stakeholders have come to the forefront in the case of NGOs.

It is thus advisable for NGOs to follow good governance practices, to strengthen their own internal structure, to avoid any crisis arising out of poor governance. Good governance practices help NGOs to establish strong credibility of the organization by exhibiting transparency, accountability, and responsibility. Though there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach that can be taken here, in this module, the learners will learn about good governance principles that they can put into the structure and functioning of their NGOs.