Charity

A charitable organization is a sort of institution which is classified under the category of non-profit organization. The administration of a charity organization can be public or private. Charities might be described as foundations too.

When it comes to charity, the first impression that comes into our mind is donations and financial help. In fact, charity has a lot of forms.  In many countries when a charity is registered, a subtype is attributed to it. In other words, often the founders consider a general purpose for their foundation for instance advancing education or advancing health.  The bases of the charity, or what its functions work towards achieving is known as charity purpose.

Charity subtypes

Distributor charities: Collect financial help or non-cash donations and distribute them among those in need

Health charities: Health charities can operate on a very small scale, such as a clinic, to a large size, such as a hospital.

Care charities: They function as care foundations for the elderly or homeless, physically or mentally disabled individuals

Construction charities: Carry out construction of school buildings or low-cost shelters for disadvantaged families.

Educational charities: They are responsible for educating people and disadvantaged individuals in the community. These types of institutions can be further subdivided into the following categories:

• Educational institutions for the disabled and the mentally retarded
• Educational institutions for deprived people
• Technical and vocational educational institutions for deprived people
• Literacy institutions
• Consulting firms

Research charities: They carry out research in areas that result in solving the basic problems and requirements of society. An example is the Cancer Research Institute, which conducts research on cancer drugs and the production of inexpensive drugs to treat cancer.

Counseling charities: They provide counseling to disadvantaged people who are unaware that they need counseling or are unable to pay for counseling. Some of the services of charitable consulting services are:

• Legal and family counseling
• Educational counseling
• Career counseling
• Therapeutic counseling
• Educational and psychological counseling

Rehabilitation institutions: They are responsible for preparing or restoring individuals to a normal life in the community. The types of these institutions are:

• Institutions for the empowerment of the physically and mentally disabled individuals
• Care institutions for the orphaned or abused children and adolescents
• Addiction Rehabilitation Institutions

Goals

One of the most important goals of Charities is their endeavor to redress social problems such as providing care and support for disabled individuals, alternate therapies for disabilities, sheltered housing or House for homeless people. In fact, aims and intensions of this kind of social service providers are pretty much the same around the world.

Charitable organizations in Iran

Throughout history Iranians have been renowned for their ingrained sympathetic attitude. Helping those in need as a golden slogan and linchpin has been mentioned in Persian poetry and literature abundantly. Philanthropy is a praised virtue in Iranian culture.

Charity for disabled people in Iran falls traditionally under supervision of Iranian state welfare organization which is a governmental agency. An annual budget is allocated to this organization under confirmation and supervision of parliament. Due to lack of sufficient financial resources, it is expectable that a broad help program which can cover everyone in all cities and villages is going to suffer budget deficiencies.

However, in recent years many Non-profit organizations have started their work as charitable organizations providing plenty of social service categories such as raising social mental health awareness and especial attention to SOS survivors in Iran in addition to more traditional help services such as providing house for homeless people. Since the founders of these charities are the private sector, lack of financial and human resources are not as limited as state welfare organization.