Development & the Impact of Faith-Based Organizations

• In Event: The Domestic and International Political Economy of Aid

Abstract

Today’s world offers an array of sources for development assistance beyond the traditional DAC. In the academic world, one source that is often overlooked is aid provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). However, FBOs have consistently been a major source of funding and influence in the development sector for decades. For instance, according to annual reports, World Vision provided $907 million of program services in 2018, which would rank it twentieth among DAC aid donors, just behind Ireland and Finland. Given the prolific nature and financial resources of FBOs, more research is needed to both understand the impact of their development activities, as well as their interactions with other development actors. This paper makes three main contributions toward this end. First, it introduces a new dataset documenting the financial activities of ten of the most prominent FBOs. Second, it compares the activities of these FBOs to other major donor states and agencies. Third, it asks whether FBOs provide funding to “easy targets”, or if they instead serve a unique purpose in providing funds to areas that are otherwise relatively neglected by the international community. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for future research, centering on questions of FBOs and development.

Author

• Katherine Vera Bryant, Westmont College