Leading a social organisation?
We are here to support and facilitate your work. Since 1986, we have been representing the third sector, comprehensively dealing with issues that affect civil society organizations – broader legislation, regulation, proper administration and more.
As the umbrella organization of the third sector in Israel, we centralize many diverse voices into clear, sectoral statements and strategies, representing you to government officials.
Umbrella Organisation
Each NPO was established in order to achieve its own specific purpose. However, they all have common goals and needs. We are here to focus these common needs into a single, sectoral voice; supporting them by promoting their common interests at the appropriate levels of government and regulation.
We Believe
We at Civic Leadership, believe that cooperation on the basis of common interest will increase NPO’s probability of success. We believe in establishing the third sector as an influential actor in creating and leading social, environmental and economic policy, alongside the public and the business sectors.
Our Contribution
We operate on three main tracks:
Representing social organizations
at government, Knesset and regulatory levels:
- Mapping and coordinating common needs
- Establishing channels of communication and encouraging information sharing
- Removing bureaucratic and budgetary obstacles
Promoting policy that supports the entire third sector and sector-wide issues, including advocating for common interests with government authorities, and
Enhancing positive civic action through:
- Promoting communication within the sector
- Forging and leading common, third sector agendas
- Encouraging cooperation within the sector
The Role of Civic Leadership
Outlined here is Civic Leadership’s 5-pronged approach to strengthening Israel’s NPO’s and improving the lives of millions of citizens through their work:
Strengthening Third Sector Representation to Government Offices and State Regulators.
This is Civic Leadership’s core business — representing the entire sector to the Israeli government, Knesset and regulatory authorities, and working to promote policy and legislative initiatives which support third sector activities. These activities include the use of public relations and social media tools to strengthen a positive image of the third sector in Israeli society.
Provide Individualized, NPO Capacity-Building Services and Digitalized Information.
Through the NPO hotline, initially developed to support NPOs during the COVID-19 pandemic, our staff give individually tailored professional answers to inquiries about government subsidies, NGO tax law, bureaucratic stumbling blocks and regulations. As our advocacy with the government develops positive third-sector policy, and the bureaucracy improves over time, Civic Leadership will become the entity non-profits turn to for answers about new regulations.
Additionally, Civic Leadership’s growing work in digital solutions offers easy and up-to-date answers on a variety of non-profit questions. For this purpose, we have developed two tools:
Ha’Ogdan – a one-stop database for all NPO-relevant legal, tax and bureaucratic information;
Ha'Kol Kore – an online database of the latest government calls for project proposals and funding opportunities.
Professionalization of the NPO Sector.
Managing NPOs in today’s dynamic and complex environment increasingly requires professional and management expertise. Civic Leadership offers ongoing courses, workshops and trainings to increase the capacities and knowledge of NPO staff and boards on issues of good governance.
NPO Community Development.
We have worked tirelessly to grow the number of member organizations joining the Civic Leadership family every year, knowing each additional member strengthens the sector’s greater knowledge and advocacy efforts. By establishing and encouraging networks, forums, coalitions and working groups around joint agendas, the NPO community continues to develop its legitimacy and influence under Civic Leadership’s representation.
Research and Development.
As Civic Leadership successfully executes the above strategies, we are well positioned to recognize NPO trends, identify organizational needs, and develop new models and tools. Our latest initiative incorporates information on all Israeli NPOs’ into an accessible database.
How Civic Leadership Operates
We represent the third sector, interfacing with government ministries, the Knesset and regulating authorities — promoting policies which support non-profit organizations.
- Initiating legislation and third sector representation on Knesset committees
- Strengthening the connection of non-profit organizations with relevant regulators
- Leading the representation of the third sector in the "Government-Civil Society Initiative"
- Establishing the Caucus for Civil Society Organizations in the Knesset
- Leading professional project teams on sectoral issues
- Including civil society organizations in decision-making processes and listening to needs from the field
- Participating as a permanent member on the "interface roundtable" at the Prime Minister's Office
- Leading intra-sectorial processes to strengthen civil society through:
- Leading participatory dialogue among civil society organizations and promoting a common agenda for driving clear, sectoral, joint action.
- Strengthening representation mechanisms in the third sector: As NPO’s umbrella organization, we see great importance in building trust, improving cooperation and fostering communication with non-profits, in order to represent them faithfully. We want to provide broad-spectrum outlets for expression and representation of the diverse voices in civil society – both within the sector, and at local and national decision-making centers.
- Creating Coalitions – These outlets provide a logistic and professional home for non-profits: leading the sector in common ideas, enhancing the influence of each forum and encouraging joint action.
- Organizing Professional Forums – Forums allow NPOs to collaborate and to be more effective, building long-term, supportive communities to strengthen and professionalize the third sector (e.g. CEO forum, CFO forum, Legal Advisors forum).
- Managing of "Beit HaAmutot" (NPO Homes) – The NPO Home is a collaborative workspace that promotes social innovation, while encouraging budgetary savings for non-profit organizations. It is a place where associations can work, meet, become acquainted, and connect with other social organizations in civil society.
Civic Leadership’s Achievements in regulatory reforms over the past decade
- The historic revocation of the employers’ tax, a 4% tax levied on NPO staff salaries (2008). This change saved the non-profit sector more than 2 billion shekels annually.
- Improvement to bureaucratic procedures for receiving state subsidies, including the breakthrough cancellation of personal liability clauses (2013-2014).
- Representing the third sector before the Frisch Commission – Representation resulted in an amendment to the Section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance in favor of non-profits (2014-2015).
- Expansion in Municipal Tax Exemption Regulations for NPOs – An annual savings of tens of thousands of shekels on an ongoing basis for these organizations (2016).
- “Ask Once” Bureaucratic Easement on NPOs – This was the result of a community engagement process with the government to ease the bureaucratic burden on the third sector. It has resulted in a substantial saving of time and resources across third sector organizations (2018).
- “Corona Crisis Third Sector War Room” – With foresight for impending damage to the sector, Civic Leadership’s “War Room” was established at the first signs of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Israeli NPOs. It was successful in securing government action protecting civil society during the crisis (2020-2021).
We believe that together, we have the power to: Represent the third sector, Foster cooperation in similar and complementary fields, Engage in significant joint action – instead of competition – among various organizations, and Promote a positive image of the third sector in Israeli society.
Every organization has its own mission.
Your success is ours.
