A novel organic nonlinear optical (NLO) material viz. NN-dimethylurea picrate (NNDMP) was grown by the slow evaporation technique using N,N-dimethyl formamide as a solvent. The solubility of the grown sample has been estimated for various temperatures. The XRD study reveals that the grown crystal crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system and the corresponding lattice parameters were determined. The relative second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the NNDMP was found to be 1.045 times that of KDP by Kurtz-Perry powder technique. FTIR and FT-Raman spectral analyses explain the various functional groups present in the sample. The optical spectral analysis of the grown crystal has been performed by UV-vis-NlR spectroscopy and the band gap energy was found out The thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) reveal that the NNDMP crystal is stable at up to 172 degrees C. A prominent first-order ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition at 323 K has been observed and activation energy was determined for the AC conduction process in the sample. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights rescrved.