Primary Institutions

The following are significant organizations and institutions that are relevant to the Third Sector as a field, including their webpages and a brief profile:

• Registrar of Associations (Rasham ha’Amutot) - the unit in the Corporations Authority in the Ministry of Justice handling registration of nonprofit corporations in Israel, administering them as far as general reporting, proper management recognition and other matters. This is the most important and relevant institution of the Third Sector. On their website much information is available, including instructions re various process, details on organizations, manuals and forms.

• Guidestar Israel - the comprehensive database, affiliated with Guidestar International and operated by the Ministry of Justice, this user-friendly website provides information on all the registered nonprofits in Israel, and presents their public files and documents, as well as position-holders and other general information. Guidestar is an important tool for researching specific nonprofits and the NGO sector at large.

• Income Tax Authority Department for Nonprofits and Public Institutions - this unit is the government financial body overseeing nonprofits, while the Ministry of Justice oversees the legal aspects of NGO corporations. The webpage is a portal for financial and tax oriented information, documents and manuals re tax registration, auditing, tax benefits, namely the clause 46 public institution recognition process.

• The Israeli Center for Third Sector Research at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev - the prime academic research body for the Third Sector as such, established in 1997 but the famous Professor Benny Gidron, who led it until 2009, provides important papers on the Third Sector, and has directly influenced government policy.

• Intersectorial Roundtable - a forum of the Prime Minister’s Office under the Division for Public Policy Planning, following a government resolution in 2008 to enhance and utilize cooperation between the public, private and social sectors, producing influential reports and policy papers with the participation and help of leaders and organizations, including a booklet and program to significantly improve the regulatory and bureaucratic challenges for nonprofits.

• JDC Israel - The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the affiliated Myers Joint Brockdale, is the largest Jewish humanitarian organization, with over a hundred years of history helping Jews all over the world, and in Israel is a central figure in welfare research. Its headquarters lay in Jerusalem adjacent to the Knesset and other government buildings, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Givat Ram campus. Many of Israel’s academic, welfare and health institutions were born out of the research and funding of the Joint.

• Shatil - a subsidiary of the New Israel Fund, this project is a veteran player in the social sector in Israel assisting hundreds of organizations to enhance their capacity as organizations and agents of social impact, motivated by social-democratic worldview and values. They operate consultants across the country for organizational development, fundraising and advocacy, as well as managing a website with tips and resources, and a popular platform for job openings in social organizations and projects.

• Civic Leadership - or, The Israeli Civic Leadership Association, is an important nonprofit organization assuming an otherwise vacant role of serving the social sector as a sort of union of nonprofit organizations. Their board itself if comprised of many high profile leaders of the sector. Some of their main activities include an exhaustive source of information and tools to manage nonprofits, taking an active role in influencing government policy regarding nonprofits, namely improving regulations and reducing bureaucracy to the benefit of the organizations, and organizing forums of organizational leaders and training seminars.

• Sheatufim - is an important relatively new organization made up of leading social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and professionals, geared to generating social impact and focusing primarily on inter-sectorial advocacy, that is, promoting the involvement of the private sector in the third sector, and directing government policy to facilitate as much, besides training and research.

• Israel Gives - a widely used website established by nonprofit professionals with computer engineers to provide a comfortable platform to donate online to nonprofit organizations, while incorporating measures of due diligence and transparency.

• Nova Project - a relatively new player in the Third Sector, this nonprofit organization is a consulting firm to nonprofit organizations and social projects, consisting of business and industry strategy consultants, leading teams of student volunteers to help develop organizations and enhance their impact.

• Midot - a small relatively new organization producing training programs, research, consulting services and its flagship project of analyzing organizational effectiveness, to show philanthropists where they would be wiser to invest. Their approach is based on the notion only a fraction of the Third Sector actually consists of social impact organizations, therefore reports and analysis based on alternative criteria is necessary.

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