Participation Of Non-governmental Organizations In The Development Of Community-Level Cultural Activities With Case Study Of Otago Community Trust

Cultural construction has always been the focus of the state and the Communist Party of China. The 18th Party Congress has given the building of a "socialist cultural power" a prominent role in its political agenda, underscoring the Party's commitment to cultural affair in a new era. At the present stage, the development of community-level cultural sector becomes an integral part of the socialist cultural enterprise emblazoned with Chinese characteristics. It is not only instrumental in helping fulfill the spiritual and cultural needs of citizens, but also crucial to the formation of a harmonious and culturally-advanced society built upon a robust network of communities of various sizes.In recent decades, incumbent and previous governments have attached great importance to cultural construction and community cultural activities. The engagement of government combined with its strong capacity to mobilize resources has facilitated the development of cultural activities within communal spheres. At the same time, due to lack of administrative methods, China's cultural construction and community cultural activities exhibited plenty of shortcomings, there is still much more to be desired in the sector. To counteract these flaws and to improve government administration, there is an urgent need to introduce the component of non-government organizations.Non-governmental organizations can have a significant role to play in organizing and overseeing public engagement in social and cultural activities thanks to their flexible institutional mechanisms and close proximity to the general public. The key objectives of non-governmental organizations' active involvement in community cultural activities are three-fold: to make up for the government's failure in community cultural sector building;to meet the community residents' demand for cultural consumption; to improve the quality of community-wide cultural offerings. It can be said that non-governmental organizations have added a whole new dimension to social governance.Since China opened up its door to foreign investments and embarked on economic reforms, the country's NGO sector has ridden the wave of a period of incredible openness, and is now making strides in socio-economic, political and cultural arenas. In recent years, on-governmental organizations are setting their eyes on community-wide cultural activities and getting increasingly involved. There are generally three factors that determine the level of development in NGO sector: economic and social development factors; organizational management level factors and policy factor.This paper focuses on NGOs' role in the promotion and development of community-level cultural activities, selecting New Zealand's Otago Community Trust as the subject of case study to examine how unique social and historical conditions shaped its evolvement over the course of two decades. The following sections investigate the ways in which Otago Community Trust, as a community-oriented charitable organization,maintains its ongoing investments in the arts, culture, and community development projects. In addition, this paper also includes insightful discussion with regard to NGOs'balancing act in between increasing its organizational flexibility and advancing its relationship the government.Non-governmental organizations have since evolved into a potent social force,expanding community-based social and cultural activities as well as civic enterprises across the country. The developmental pathways of NGO's participation in community cultural activities are outlined in four separate aspects. It is of great practical significance to examine and draw the lessons from Otago Community Trust's community involvement to shine a spotlight on China's own domestic NGO sector.