Non-government organizations (NGOs) are non-profit organizations that operate independently from any government, though they may work alongside government organizations and advocate for policy changes. For example, the American Red Cross, an NGO, often collaborates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on disaster relief. NGOs often have a humanitarian, social, or environmental focus. As an organization separate from a government, they can be very focused in their work, collecting and publishing data about the needs of the populations they serve and how their work fulfills those needs.

To simplify the categorization of voice types within the Research Honeycomb, for-profit organizations, like businesses and corporations, are included in this voice type. Though they are also a non-government organization, the label of NGO is typically only used for non-profit organizations. Businesses need data to develop products tailored to their customer base. Some of that information is made public.

To find organizations for your autoethnography, you can perform a site search in Google. To use Google's search systems to search for a particular website type, type site: before the website link or a domain (such as .org) and then add your search terms. Here is an example search

site:.org steelworker

Screen Reader Version

Screen reader version: site colon reddit period com space steelworker space quotation mark steel industry quotation mark space quotation mark I am a quotation mark. Do not leave a space between site, colon, and the website address.

TL;DR

Click all the links and look to see what other websites have said about that website or organization.

Prompts

• Goals: What is their mission and vision statement? What is their goal? If it's vague, what is implied by the language they use in those statements in the context of the rest of their website? This can be found on their About page, linked at the very top or very bottom of a website.
• Who: Who makes up this organization? Is there information about membership or a board of directors? If an organization serves a specific community, are any members of that community involved in leadership? Is there information on who funds their work or who owns the company? This information is typically on their About page, Directory, or Team page.
• Data: Look for a Resources list. How was their data collected? Are they making logical assumptions from that data? If there are any links to other information sources, do they lead to other organizations or stay within that organization's website? Look for information gaps. For example, does a survey of how long it takes Americans to commute to work consider those who use public transportation and rideshares, or only those who own their vehicles?
• Outside Views: What do other websites say about this organization? Are there any notable news articles about them? One of the simplest ways to do this is to search the NGO title in Google and browse the News tab.

MLA

 “Profile of the American Iron and Steel Institute.” American Iron and Steel Institute, 2023, www.steel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AISI-Profile-Book_updated-3.2023.pdf.

APA

American Iron and Steel Institute. (2023). Profile of the American Iron and Steel Institute. https://www.steel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AISI-Profile-Book_updated-3.2023.pdf