Money, Money: Who Cares?

Fully understanding a non-profit organization requires knowing its source of income. A grassroots organization, for instance, seeks wide appeal in order to bring a large number of donations. Many non-profits run on funding from foundation grants, which means that the money is often tied to strict (and possibly arbitrary) regulations. Then, there are the groups that run primarily off of a few select donations from a few select wealthy people. NGOs, on the other hand, often run with significant help from one or many national governments. Important social work is carried out by a diverse group of non-profits and NGOs with an even greater variety of funding sources.

A post yesterday on Examiner.com references the claim that many NGOs in Israel are heavily funded by foreign governments. Instead of diving into the particulars of this claim, we will try and understand how this discovery could positively or negatively affect Israeli society.

First, is it possible that an NGO primarily funded by a single government can still improve a foreign society? This is a tricky question, as one would assume it impossible for the organization to divorce itself of its donor’s national interests. Therefore, the argument can easily be made that these organizations represent the (possibly ill-intentioned) will of a foreign nation. It is possible, however, that a another country’s interests lie primarily in improving life for everyday Israelis. It is not uncommon for wealthy countries to send aid in many different forms all around the world. Despite the fact that these organization certainly have their “mother” countries agendas in mind, they can do great work for their “host” countries.

Second, is it inappropriate for foreign governments to spend their citizens’ money helping the people of another nation? On one hand, as the world has “flattened,” we have become more and more aware of the plight of those in other parts of the world. Our knowledge of bad situations and ability to help these countries at least provides incentive, if not a moral necessity, to help those in need. On the other hand, governments have an obligation to tend primarily to their own citizens. Shouldn’t the Swiss government be concerned about Swiss citizens and allow the Israelis to start their own movements to improve their own society?

It’s notable that the tags of the Examiner post reference anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. This is where there is some serious gray area. From the Israeli perspective, some of these non-profits could seem absolutely traitorous; they are using their movement to advocate a particular mindset from the ground up. A society should certainly be worried about such deep-seeded foreign infiltration; social movements need to always remain true to their missions, and ties to another country could disrupt this. However, that is no reason to believe that these organizations are necessarily out to harm Israel. The article seems to advocate for better transparency and stricter regulations on these groups; striking this balance could allow foreign governments to continue to do great work in Israel without compromising the integrity of their missions.

When the source of an organization’s money is a foreign government, it is important to maintain a healthy skepticism about its goals. However, this should not turn into a paranoia that cripples well-intentioned organizations from doing good deeds.