Written by: Samik
Edited by: Noah
Visual by: Sofia
High school NGOs are multiplying faster than their impact. Because somewhere along the way, helping people became less important than being seen assisting people. In ISM or any campus, you will find dozens of student-led “organizations” advocating for climate change, helping the underprivileged, fighting against inequality, and the list goes on. However, upon closer examination, many of them exist solely on social media platforms, rather than in real life, and are structured around mission goals that rarely translate into tangible actions. In fact, what used to be genuine service has slowly become an “act,” a quick shortcut in the race for college applications.
Behind the surge of teen-founded NGOs lies a pressure cooker: college applications. Many students feel the need to stand out, and that “founder” title on their application is the way to do it, believing that creating an NGO is the fastest way to do it. The reason NGOs are the most popular option is that they carry a sense of stronger social impact and leadership that other projects may not offer, thereby making them the so-called “go-to” start-up. Additionally, in a competitive culture where leadership titles matter almost as much as actual work, the temptation grows even stronger. Especially as titles have become an olive branch for ambition and capability, often carrying more weight than the work itself.
Social media plays a big role in this process, to the extent that activism has become more focused on a race for likes than on the path to impact. A good photo or video sometimes can get more attention than the work put into it. The feeling of accomplishment when posting about the service one did or the donations one collected has become more satisfying than the process itself. Because of this, many student-led NGOs end up putting all their efforts into what looks good online rather than what actually helps on the ground. If the same amount of effort were put into making their online reputation look good rather than into actual work, the impact would be unimaginable.
“I often feel disheartened when I see people start service-related nonprofits just for applications. Once they get into college, the charities collapse, the causes become superficial, and it creates a bad environment for genuinely passionate students,” stated Eldar Luy, Co-Founder of Rise Philippines, a non-profit organization focused on the empowerment of underprivileged children in Manila. “I do this because I love it, not only for the applicational benefits.”
His words highlight the harsh truth: the sudden surge of student-created NGOs often comes at a cost. Instead of strengthening existing organizations that already have the structure and experience, efforts get spread across dozens of small groups that have no continuity. Volunteers who are actually keen on helping out a cause get spread thin, and resources get divided. Communities that are approached by students vanish after one fundraising event. For the organizations that genuinely need consistent support, the constant cycle of short-lived NGOs causes more harm than good. This is because all the help that comes through is dispersed among these small groups, leading to a lack of help in organizations that actually need it. Through social media, these short-term NGOs portray themselves as a cause that will ensure the longevity of their work, and, with stunning visuals and videos, they attract volunteers to the wrong place to commit.
The solution isn’t to discourage student-led initiatives, but rather to redirect toward real impact. Students could make a far greater impact by joining existing organizations with measurable change for their cause and still showcase on their CV that they were part of an organization that contributed to substantial change. Approaching this with a mindset that treats it not as a task to tick off will help students build meaningful relationships and gradually see tangible results from their work.
At the end of the day, real activism is not about adding another line to your resume, taking the best pictures to post on social media, or solely focusing on the “advocacy” point of view. As students, we have the power to create lasting change, but only if we train our minds in the early stages to focus on the image’s impact.
