Aug

18

17.5% of Israelis employed by non-profits…and other interesting stats

Filed Under non-profit | 1 Comment

The most recent edition of The Marker Magazine (a fantastic magazine, worth reading if you can handle the Hebrew) had an interesting article about what is called “The Third Sector” in Israel, i.e. the non-profit sector (you can see part of the article online here). The article’s focus is on how Israel’s business sector is establishing and contributing to non-profits, and how it approaches charitable work from a business perspective of sustainability, viability, revenues, etc.

Here are some interesting statistics about Israel’s non-profit sector that were quoted in the article:

  • 30,000 non-profits are active in Israel.
  • 365,000 people were employed by non-profits in 2004 - representing 17.5% of the market.
  • 1,700 new non-profits are registered every year.
  • Israel’s “Third Sector” is fourth largest in the world relative to the country’s size etc. It contributes 13% to Israel’s GDP.

Israel’s top three contributors (the article lists 10):

Israel’s top three charitable funds (the article lists 10):

  • Keren Yedidut of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (International Fellowship of Christians and Jews) - $70m (you may have heard Rabbi Eckstein lately on the radio)
  • Sacta Rashi Foundation - $50m
  • Yad Hanadiv Foundation (Rothschild) - $30-50m (There doesn’t seem to be a site for this fund. Not only that, this article in Haaretz describes it as one of the most secretive foundations, and their recipients are not allowed to tell anyone that they were helped by Yad Hanadiv! Talk about upholding one of the highest levels of charitable donations according to Judaism - anonymity)

Learn more about the growing cooperation between Israel’s business and non-profit communities in the article: Oren Major, “The Social Tycoons,” The Marker Magazine, 91st edition August 2008, p. 40.