American Jewish Organizations’ Giving to Nonprofits in Israel Was Largely Stable Amid COVID Pandemic, Study Finds

A new study by NYU philanthropy experts at NYU and Tel Aviv University finds that US-based philanthropic giving to Israeli nonprofits was stable and even rose slightly in the COVID pandemic, a trend that they say is likely to continue despite the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Examining 2015-2021 donations to the Israeli nonprofit sector from US Jewish communal and non-governmental organizations, or NGO's, the report points to a "general upward trend in support" of Israeli nonprofits in such areas as health, care for the aged, and poverty. The sources of this philanthropic giving were highly centralized, with 80 percent of the philanthropy coming from just 7 percent of all donor organizations.

Part of an ongoing look at cross-border donations to Israeli nonprofits, the research paper is titled "Giving to Israel: American Institutional Philanthropy to Israeli Nonprofits, 2015-2021." The authors are NYU philanthropy specialists Jamie Levine Daniel of NYU Wagner and Galia Feit and Osnat Hazan of the Institute for Law and Philanthropy, Tel Aviv University.

"Donations from US-based organizations to Israeli nonprofits are reflective of general donations trends in the US during the period of our study," says Levine Daniel, who is the Henry and Marine Traub Foundation Association Professor of Nonprofit Management and Public Service at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. "Our approach may be replicable, to a degree, for scholars interested in other cross-border relationships in philanthropy."

According to the paper, "Overall, giving by US-based organizations to nonprofits in Israel is growing. The total sum of giving amounted to $2.65B in 2021. Aside from a 1% nominal decrease in giving in 2020 (during the COVID-19 outbreak), this giving reflects a real average annual increase 3.6%" compared to 2015.

The study does not consider donations by individuals.

"Looking forward," the study states, "support for Israel, especially from Jewish community institutions…is likely to continue its upward trend."

Although giving levels appeared to have remained stable despite global and regional shocks, support for Israel should not be considered as unconditional, comments Levine Daniel.

"That being said, from our institutional perspective, one reason we may see a continuation of this stability is because of the myriad organizations that engage in cross-border philanthropy," she adds. "In addition, donors have the choice of donating to centralized collections that determine where to send their funds, or they can be more directed and cause-based in their giving. So even as the within-country allocations may shift, overall support can remain stable or even grow.