Can Philanthropy Help the Middle East?

Some 200 foundation, government, and nonprofit leaders from more than 30 countries gathered last week in Istanbul for what was billed as the First World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists. During three days of discussions, they touched on a variety of topics, including many — like building endowments and transmitting a “legacy of compassion and toleration” to future generations — that would not have been out of place at a Council on Foundations meeting.

This was not the first such event to occur in the Middle East this year.

Just a few weeks before the meeting in Turkey, Jewish scholars, business leaders, and donors met in Israel to help Hebrew University of Jerusalem start its own program for studying and enhancing philanthropy. And in January, another group of philanthropists from the Arab world and North Africa met in Dubai to start a new organization aimed at sharing information about effective programs and promoting legal and policy changes to foster more giving. One of the highlights was the release of a report from the recently established John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo, which found that “institutionalized philanthropy is rapidly growing in the region.”

In a corner of the world known more for its hatreds than its “love of mankind” (to use the literal meaning of “philanthropy”), these developments are hopeful signs. However, philanthropy has a long way to go before it will be able to make much impact on the Middle East’s social and economic problems, let alone its political ones.

Part of the reason, ironically, is that charitable activities have long been a central part of daily life in the region.

Both Islam and Judaism regard giving as an important obligation for their followers, as, of course, does Christianity. Over centuries, substantial sums have been contributed to support religious institutions of all sorts, as well as to provide direct assistance to the needy, as instructed by the Koran, Torah, Bible, and other authoritative works. Religious motives still have considerable influence on who donates and for what. But the usefulness of such giving for dealing with more worldly problems is limited. Sometimes, it may even fuel old antagonisms.

Nonetheless, a new generation of donors appears to be emerging in the Middle East, enriched by oil, investments, and technology, and more attuned to confronting social and economic conditions. Both in Israel and in the Arab world, they have been creating new foundations, as well as new ways of giving, such as, the Gerhart Center report notes, “shilla” funds, formed when a two or more entrepreneurs combine their money to combat a common problem. A larger share of their gifts also seems to be going to organized charities, rather than spent personally and informally, as has long been customary. International corporations have also been investing heavily in the region, bringing with them Western ideas of the social responsibilities of business.

This year’s conferences were largely a response to this new dimension in Middle Eastern giving. But how important it will be depends on how well three sets of challenges are handled.

The first is developing a philanthropic culture. Outside religious circles, donors in the region have little experience with governance and accountability in giving. Nor are relationships with community groups and others seeking to make social changes well developed. Fund raising still relies heavily on personal connections. And information about what grant makers are supporting and which organizations are worthy of such support is usually in short supply.

Those are the sorts of issues the programs being set up in the region aim to consider. However, their efforts will need time — and much education — to take root, especially in those parts of the Middle East that have had less exposure to modern approaches to philanthropy.

In addition, how the new donors will get along with their governments remains to be worked out. In Israel as well as in the Arab countries, government has historically taken the principal role in dealing with social and economic conditions. As a result, laws and tax policies have given little incentive for philanthropy. Only about 15 percent of Israel’s more than 30,000 nonprofit groups, for example, are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

Governments in the region have also been reluctant to cede too much authority to organizations not under their control. Concerns about the use of philanthropic funds by terrorist groups have further complicated matters.

Even so, as Mark Mackinnon, foreign correspondent of the Globe and Mail, in Toronto, has noted, civil society in the Middle East has been rising lately, as “nongovernment organizations dedicated to quiet, but revolutionary change have sprung up in countries that were long ruled by authoritarian governments” (or in Israel, socialist ones). It is notable that this year’s conferences on philanthropy also enjoyed the sponsorship of government officials, including members of the region’s monarchies. Forging partnerships with them was high on the agendas.

Although these are steps in the right direction, the growth of philanthropy in the Middle East will not least of all have to deal with the deeply mistrustful feelings that have long split the peoples of the region. A case in point involves a program started last August and run by nonprofit groups with the support of the Israeli government, which seeks to give the increasing population of young Arabs in Israel opportunities to perform community service. A recent poll revealed that 75 percent of these young people liked the idea, seeing it as a way by which they could contribute to their society, just as other Israelis do through required military service (from which Arabs are excluded).

To Arab political leaders, however, the program seems like an effort to indoctrinate their young people in the values of Israeli society and perhaps even a step toward drafting them into the armed forces. One even denounced the 600 or so who have volunteered as “pariahs.”

At its best, philanthropy can help overcome such suspicions by engaging people in what they have in common, rather than in what keeps them apart. The Middle East can surely benefit from such philanthropy, and it may be developing. But like much else in the region, the difficulties it faces should not be underestimated.

Leslie Lenkowsky is professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University and a regular contributor to these pages. His e-mail address is llenkows@iupui.edu.