Introduction: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working to facilitate and support the development activities in every sector to achieve the development goals of Nepal Government. While facing difficulty to reach different areas, contributions of NGO become the significant and milestone for the change and development of the society. This study was conducted in Karnali Zone, Midwestern Development Region of Nepal. Objective: The objective of this research was to develop the NGO assessment criteria. Methodology: This study was particularly based on the pragmatism philosophy. Deductive approach was used to test the theory. Cross-sectional descriptive and exploratory research design was adopted. Study was conducted among the beneficiaries, NGOs executive board, NGOs staff, Civil Society and Governmental Officials in Karnali Zone. A total of 562 respondents were selected for survey and 45 key informants were interviewed, 15 case studies were prepared, 15 focus group discussions were conducted and 56 observations were done in 56 NGOs and 15 communities. The qualitative analysis was done to develop the criteria. Results: There were four major indicators; structure, environment, value and impact. The total sub-indicators were 25 which finally increased to 33 but main elements were the same. Under the sub-indicators, there were 74 indicators in the Civil Society Index (CSI) which were applied in the field of research as a theoretical guideline of the study. the study developed 137 criterias; 14 indicators came from existing criteria of Civil Society Index, 70 new added, 53 modified and 3 existing criteria was removed. Further researchers can evaluate the impact of performance of NGO by using the NGO assessment criteria developed by this study.
Keywords: Assessment Criteria, Civil Society Index (CSI), Environment, Impact, NGO Structure, Value
