NGO's, or non-governmental organizations, have received a lot of attention in the wake of the investigation by Elon Musk and his DOGE team on governmental inefficiency and waste.
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an entity that operates independently from government control, often focusing on humanitarian, social, environmental, or developmental issues. In that they are typically involved in "charitable" activities they are not subject to income taxes as non-profits.
However, as we are finding out with the DOGE audit, while it can be argued that these NGO's are operating independently from government control, many are heavily dependent on government funding to operate.
Does that really make them independent of government control and influence?
A recent study estimated that 35,000 nonprofits—about a third of government grantees—rely on grants for more than 50% of their total revenue.
That study also found that larger NGO's are more likely to be reliant on government grants than smaller non-profits. 55% of organizations with budgets of $5 million or more receive at least one government grant annually.
Let's look at a couple examples of NGO's that have been in the spotlight recently.
The Democrats and media have been attempting to create a narrative that the pause in funding to USAID resulted in a woman dying because of Trump and Musk.
She supposedly died after she was discharged from a healthcare facility in Myanmar that was operated by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which is a U.S. based NGO.
In fiscal year 2023, IRC had $1.4 billion in revenues. However, almost $1 billion of those revenues were in the form of government grants and contracts (72% of the total).
Only $251 million of IRC's revenues came from contributions. Even then, contributions were down over 40% from the prior year.
If you can rely on government money to fund your organization why work hard at raising your own charitable contributions?
This is a screenshot from the 2023 annual report (the most recent available) of the International Rescue Committee.
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| Source: https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/PO2404_Annual%20Report%202023_No%20Donors-DIGITAL-Spreads.pdf |
You can also see how the annual revenues of the IRC increased by over $500 million in the Biden years as summarized by Charity Navigator.
The IRC also reported having over $230 million in cash and savings investments and over $125 million in security investments as of its last Form 990 filing with the federal government.
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| Source: https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/IRC%20Inc.%20Form%20990-FY2022_0.pdf |
The executives of IRC also appear to be well compensated as a result of that government money.
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| Source: https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/PO2404_Annual%20Report%202023_No%20Donors-DIGITAL-Spreads.pdf |
The CEO is earning almost $1.2 million annually.
The Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee are Timothy Geithner, Former U.S. Secretary of Treasury under Barack Obama and Sally Susman who is Executive VIce President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Pfizer. She leads Pfizer's lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. and is also a major Democrat fundraiser and donor.
The IRC fails to supply oxygen to a 71-year woman in Myanmar and the Democrats and media want to blame Trump and Musk despite the fact that the IRC has hundreds of millions of dollars of liquid assets and its CEO is making $1+ million?
Is all the hysteria about a woman not getting the oxygen she needs in Myanmar really about concern about that woman or is it really about NGO's being cut off from the government money (oxygen) which is keeping their livelihoods intact?
Sir Walter Scott described what is going on here rather accurately a long time ago.
Another NGO that DOGE has highlighted is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
This is how the NED describes its mission on its website.
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| Source: https://www.ned.org/about/ |
The NED is even more reliant on government funding than the IRC.
According to its most recent published financial statements, 99.7% of its revenue comes from the U.S. government.
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| Source: https://www.ned.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/National-Endowment-for-Democracy_23-FS_Final.pdf |
How can this be considered a non-governmental organization?
Many, including journalist Glenn Greenwald, see NED as a CIA front to meddle in foreign elections.
Elon Musk is asking the $3+ billion question (the amount that the U.S. had poured into NED over the last decade).
I don't know many who would say that it is not a worthwhile endeavor to help fund healthcare facilities in Myanmar or promote democracy around the world.
However, the fact is that the United States has over $36 billion in federal debt and the annual deficit is running at over $2 trillion per year.
For the first four months of the fiscal year that began October 1, 2024, the federal deficit was $840 billion compared to $530 billion for the same period a year ago.
This appears to have been driven in part by the Biden administration throwing federal money at almost everything they could in their waning days.
As an example, newly Trump appointed EPA administrator Lee Zeldin found that Biden's EPA had sent $20 billion to be parked at external financial institutions in January with the intent of later distributing the money to left wing climate change NGO's.
Zeldin compared it as being akin to throwing gold bars overboard as the Titanic sunk.
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| Link: https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1889850987520696554 |
We are at a point that tough financial decisions have to be made.
Perhaps none of what has been uncovered by DOGE is outright fraud, money laundering or payoffs to political friends.
Maybe all of it was well-intentioned and not intended to support a leftist or globalist point of view.
However, are we going to attempt to save the rest of the world or is it more important to save ourselves?
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