There are 30,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Latvia, of which only 1% receive funding through the Society Integration Fund (SIF). Of these 300 organizations, less than half, or 128 associations or foundations, have received more than 50,000 euros in SIF funding over three years. For 55 organizations, SIF funding has exceeded 100,000 euros. These are 55 NGOs that simply would not exist without support from the state and various European Union (EU) funds.
Without members and donations, driven only by ideology
The compiled information suggests that some associations have neither members nor supporters and are entirely dependent on grants which, judging by project titles, are ideological or aimed at a very specific goal. This means that if these particular projects did not exist, these associations would not be able to survive either. In a sense, this is even logical. For example, the EU considers it its goal to make the economy and environment greener, as well as to receive and integrate immigrants to address labor force and aging problems. These are ideological goals for which money is allocated and which one must know how to “take.” This has nothing to do with social integration, togetherness, strengthening of language or culture, charitable aims, non-profit ideas, or the like. Of the 55 organizations compiled, almost half, or 24 organizations, received zero in membership fees. Information on how many members an association has is not publicly available; only the number of employees is known. For 18 associations, the amount of donations received is 0, and for 11 associations both membership fees and donations are zero, and they are completely dependent on grants.
The year 2023 differed significantly from others in that a large part of SIF funds was allocated for supporting refugees from the war in Ukraine, to help them learn the Latvian language and ease their lives in Latvia. However, here too there were associations which previously had not dealt with language training or integration, but suddenly “requalified” into the program where money was being distributed at that moment.
The investigation committee is at work
Interest in promoting ideology and its funding is not limited to us; it has also been noticed in the corridors of the European Parliament (EP). In June last year, an Investigation Committee was set up in the EP which, similarly to parliamentary investigation committees in Latvia, worked for six months to investigate the illegal financing of NGOs from the EP budget. It was established after the German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag published an article accusing the European Commission of a secret transfer of 700,000 euros to NGOs to promote climate policy, i.e., the Green Deal.
Well-paid work
Although the Civic Alliance, which unites several non-governmental organizations, indicated in its previous years’ review of the NGO sector that the majority of NGO representatives work without remuneration (only 15% receive pay), it is clear that the gap between paid and unpaid labor is not merely a divide, but an abyss. Just like in a canteen where three people eat meatballs and seven eat cabbage, so “on average” everyone eats stuffed cabbage rolls, the list shows that among the NGOs included and which can, with strong confidence, be considered “professional absorbers of funds,” the average employee pay exceeds both public sector remuneration and private sector wages, and for some associations the “profit” is significantly higher than that of companies. Of course, profit in associations is not called profit, but the difference between income and expenses. The leader in this field is the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence, which is engaged in training, research and events and in 2024 employed 7 people, paying each an average of 4,354 euros per month. It is not excluded that the management earned more and the employees minimum wages, but this is not indicated in the report. For the TOP 55 organizations, the average employee salary exceeds 1,500 euros per month, while for some organizations the number of employees is listed as zero, yet remuneration still reaches several tens of thousands of euros per year, making it impossible to calculate an average salary.
How were they selected?
First, we compiled information on SIF-supported projects in all programs since 2023. One of the programs – the Co-financing Program – showed which organizations receive most of their funds from EU or other foreign funds, but which are co-financed by the Latvian state because few funds cover 100% of project costs. In business, co-financing is usually sought by the companies themselves, either from their own resources or by attracting financing, for example, from a bank. In Latvia there are dozens of NGOs that cover their share of co-financing from membership fees or donations, i.e., from the association’s own funds. However, there is a group of NGOs that do not even have this portion of funding, which generally does not exceed even 15% of costs, and therefore it is co-financed by SIF. We set the lower “threshold” for the three-year total at 100,000 euros, which is neither very much nor very little. A basic criterion was needed, given that different programs also have different conditions, but to create a unified ranking table, common criteria are required. For example, in some SIF programs where funding was granted in 2024, projects last two years, while in others only one. Many NGOs, having obtained higher funding in one year, do not apply the following year. Accordingly, organizations that have received larger amounts of funding can only be objectively identified over a multi-year period.
This produced a basic list of 58 organizations that had reached the threshold of 100,000 euros in SIF and EU fund financing. Then information was gathered from these associations’ annual reports, analyzing the sources of funding; therefore, membership fees and donations are highlighted separately in the table. The law stipulates that NGOs obtain funding from membership fee contributions as well as donations. Associations are also allowed to engage in economic activity (for example, selling their souvenirs or books at events), but after reaching a certain threshold, they must start paying income tax. There are also the following income lines: “Grants and subsidies,” “Funding received from EU funds, EEA funds and other foreign funds,” as well as “Other income.” When compiling these data, it became clear that of the 58 organizations, 41 associations are completely dependent on grants, with grants exceeding 95% of their annual income. For a few others, grants exceed 90%. However, for 55 organizations out of 58, this threshold is above 50%, and since the next association on the list had immediately 67% in grants, the number 55 was used in the headline for euphony.
The circle of insiders
Finally, it is worth noting that the wealthiest associations are, in one way or another, close to those in power – some of the people involved are even Saeima deputies (mostly from Vienotība, but also from other parties). Likewise, people associated with the mentioned associations take part in advisory councils of ministries, effectively also taking part in decision-making or in drafting competition regulations. Interestingly, most of the people who sit on the boards of these “insider” associations also bring inexplicable good fortune to the organizations. For example, such a grey eminence as Miks Muižarājs has been a real money magnet for the association Ar pasaules pieredzi Latvijā (“With World Experience in Latvia”), whose income before Muižarājs joined the association’s board was only 15,000 euros, then for a while it tripled, but after he left the association it decreased fourfold (in 2024 just 11,000 euros). A similar story applies to the son of Vienotība Saeima deputy Uģis Rotbergs, Roberts Rotbergs. He worked in the foundation Vides risinājumu institūts (“Institute for Environmental Solutions”), where he was on the board from March 2017 to 2022. Quite incredibly, in 2017 this foundation’s income was 392,000 euros per year, but already the next year it more than doubled to 853,000 euros, and in 2021 it even reached 1.134 million euros. Meanwhile, after Rotbergs left the organization’s board, income in 2023 fell to 550,000 euros. Now, however, a certain Madara Rotberga is on the board of the aforementioned NGO Ar pasaules pieredzi Latvijā… Time will tell whether she too will be able to become the foundation’s talisman.
Originally published at https://inc-baltics.com/55-virs-55-kuras-nvo-ir-lielakas-algas-un-atkariba-no-fondiem/
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