Nonprofit Organizations and the Combatting of Terrorism Financing: A Proportionate Response

Nonprofit Financing and the Combatting of Terrorism Financing is part of the World Bank World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion.

One of the ways in which terrorist organizations raise and transfer funds is by using nonprofit organizations (NPOs); however NPOs are also an important way to deal with the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. In trying to address one problem---terrorism financing---it is important not to diminish the important work of NPOs. This paper discusses the threat and how to address it without tainting the entire NPO sector and concludes that it is inefficient and counterproductive to devise an entirely new regulatory framework. The ultimate objective is to enhance the transparency of the NPO sector---the people in charge of NPOs, NPO funding sources, and how funds are spent. The NPO sector has a stake in being clean and being regarded as such by others, thus NPOs are indispensible partners in drawing up regulatory policies, including self-regulatory policies.

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