U.S. Nonprofit Groups Report Sluggish Donations for Iraqi Relief Efforts

The aftermath of the United States’ invasion of Iraq has taken its toll on the fund-raising efforts of several

international charities. As a result, many groups have scaled back their aid programs and ceased actively soliciting funds for Iraq’s redevelopment. Some charity fund raisers say they have been stymied by the perception among Americans that the multibillion-dollar awards given to American contractors to help rebuild Iraq are more than sufficient to reconstruct the country’s battered society.

Numerous charities report sluggish donations. CARE, which has left its workers in Iraq even amid the security concerns that were heightened by the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad last month, says it is operating mainly on the funds it raised in the spring. “We had some success securing funds during the actual emergency itself, immediately post-conflict, but it wasn’t an outpouring like we saw in post-conflict Afghanistan at all,” says Marshall Burke, CARE USA’s vice president of private support.

Mr. Burke says CARE did particularly well in raising support from foundations, taking in $1.5-million. But he said the charity raised far less from individuals — about $215,000. He said most Americans felt “there is this enormous governmental pipeline that is flowing” into Iraq and that their donations were not needed. What’s more, he says, “we hear from donors that, unlike the Afghan people, who were victims of a regime, this was a political issue, and they feel it’s more for the government to be supportive.”

Mr. Burke says that CARE is no longer actively seeking donations for Iraqi projects. “Given the other pressing needs outside of Iraq, in terms of humanitarian relief as well as development, and the reluctance right now of the donor community to contribute to Iraq, we simply have pulled away from that and have focused on the issues in the 61 other countries we work in,” he says.

Not ‘Wise Use’ of Resources

World Vision mailed out two million appeals to previous donors in the spring and raised $1.8-million for its programs to rebuild schools and pay for personnel at health clinics in the northern city of Mosul and in the town of Ar Rutbah, near Iraq’s border with Jordan.

“The response was not as much as we had anticipated so we are not planning any additional solicitations,” says Dean Owen, spokes-man for the organization. “We don’t believe it’s a wise use of resources to continue fund raising for Iraq.”

Oxfam, which has withdrawn its 25 international staff members from Iraq for security reasons and is now working with other charities to continue its sanitation and water projects, has also stopped seeking donations for Iraq. Given the current instability and leveling off of donations, “we have a realistic idea of how much we could accomplish,” says Adrienne Smith, Oxfam’s media director.

Ms. Smith says that initially Oxfam was quite successful in soliciting money for Iraq, largely based on its ideological position. “During the war there was an influx of donations from very concerned people,” she says. “Many people specifically chose to donate to Oxfam because of our stance against the war.” Oxfam raised nearly $2-million from individuals. Ms. Smith says the organization was surprised to receive nearly half of that from online donors who were referred from MoveOn.org.

Oxfam is trying to decide whether it is safe to send workers back to Iraq, but the organization sees a clear and compelling need for independent organizations doing development work there, she says. “Humanitarian aid needs to be delivered without prejudice.”