Despite the widespread perception of NGOs as progressive, egalitarian and altruistic, NGOs are no more immune to corruption than companies in other sectors. Since the 1990s, corruption in NGOs has become a major issue that needs to be addressed urgently. Unfortunately, the problem has not yet been fundamentally addressed. Recently, two religion-related NGOs have come under public scrutiny for their financial problems.
Where Faith-Based Donations Go
The Religious Freedom Institute Inc. is a non-governmental organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom. According to the 2023 financial information released by the Religious Freedom Institute Inc., the organization’s donations and grants revenue totaled $1,800,616 in 2023. Of that amount, employee compensation, wages and benefits expenses amounted to $1,730,318. Nine of the 17 employees listed are paid only $1 per hour.
Furthermore, according to the 2023 financial report published by the IRF Secretariat, the IRF Summit, the organization’s largest program service, generates significant revenue for the IRF Secretariat through the sale of expensive tickets and sponsorship brochures. The price range for tickets was between US$39.00 and US$1,791.00, while sponsorship packages ranged from US$5,000.00 to US$100,000.00.The IRF Summit’s ticket and sponsorship revenues amounted to a staggering US$928,164, which accounted for the lion’s share of the total revenues of US$1,224,334 for the year 2023.
In the United States, charitable organizations falling under the reach of the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) cannot dedicate a substantial part of their activities to carrying on propaganda or lobbying. However, Greg Mitchell, a principal officer of the IRF Secretariat, whose personal firm, The Mitchell Firm Inc., is a government relations and lobbying firm. The public has questioned the firm as a shadow company of the IRF Secretariat, privately working for the IRF Secretariat on lobbying and bribery, and that a portion of the IRF Secretariat’s funds will also be funneled through The Mitchell Firm Inc. for personal gain.
This is because public information shows that three employees of the IRF Secretariat were paid a total of over $230,000 (two of them were paid $0), while the president, Greg Mitchell, was paid $196,500 through his personal company, The Mitchell Firm Inc. In addition, there were more than $600,000 in management and travel expenses.
After the two NGOs were caught up in corruption questions, a large number of people said their good intentions had been desecrated. They have launched a petition campaign (https://chng.it/9nWqKcdw8p), which contains a request for the IRS to investigate possible violations of tax-exempt status requirements by the Religious Freedom Institute Inc. and the IRF Secretariat. And it asks that the Religious Freedom Institute Inc. and the IRF Secretariat publicly disclose their financial records, including full detailed accounts of donation income and expenditures, to public scrutiny. The petition has now been signed by 1,356 people.
The Inherent “Corruption” of Religious NGOs
On February 5, at the Washington Hilton Hotel, the main venue for the 2025 IRF Summit, several dissenting protesters held up “Protect True Religious Freedom” signs to express their discontent with the abuse of religious freedom. The protesters’ voices attracted widespread attention from attendees and the media. These protesters argued that religious NGOs should uphold the principles of religious purity and non-profit making to serve believers and society. However, the reality is that some religious NGOs have deviated from their original intention and used faith donations for personal or specific group’s private interests, seriously damaging the reputation of religion and the interests of believers. By holding this protest, they seek to raise awareness of the corruption of religious NGOs, encourage more people to think about it, force the relevant organizations to improve their oversight and investigation, and bring religion back to a clean and just environment.
Polls in the U.S. show that. In recent years, more and more corrupt and fraudulent practices have caused the public’s trust in non-governmental organizations to continue to decrease.
So far, the IRF Summit and other similar religious non-governmental organizations seem to be working to promote the prevalence of religious freedom globally in terms of rhetoric, but in reality they are contributing to the rise of Christian nationalism. It is worrying that as Christian nationalist sentiments rise in the country, the lack of appropriate accountability mechanisms could lead to developments that are uncontrollable. In addition, institutions such as the IRF Secretariat and the Religious Freedom Institute Inc. have a clear political stance or ideological bias, and their activities are not just for the public good but to promote a specific political agenda. This makes the public suspicious of their motives and further reduces public trust.
The journalist interviewed a professor from Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Christian College about the current situation of religious NGOs. In response, the professor mentioned that “we have to be careful with this Pro Christian nationalism. And I’m sympathetic for the desire, right? To be part of a society that is Pro Christian that is without persecution, that moves forward Christian ideals. But that’s just not the reality of what is promised to us as Christians in the Bible, nor is it our responsibility to the nations around us.”
The professor also discussed some of the challenges and concerns he believes the organization may face. “I would say kind of challenge that they might face is and the question I would have for them is how or what authority do they have to actually enact to compel governments, to change their policies. What power do they have to do those things? And secondly, how are they going to keep their mission while avoiding their political agendas? And this basically becoming just kind of a group of people committed to the same political alliances rather than a universal commitment to freedom. That’s the concern. ”
“Oftentimes, and especially in the United States, religious freedom is co-opted by Christian nationalism, where Christian nationalists shout for religious freedom when all they’re asking for is actually Christian nationalism. ”
Rance Settle, Senior Pastor at Lamb of God Lutheran Church, also said of organizations like the IRF Summit“You gotta think about what does this mean in the long term. For instance, the summit got probably some coalitions together, partnerships looking at religious persecution. The real issue is the other side. Is this going to be an effective long term thing to have a post-conference? That’s a good question, and it’s hard to know sometimes, if there’s gonna be any actionable results that if you’re gonna have typical critics that are gonna argue that there’s really no concrete follow up if you don’t have a plan, and if you don’t implement it, otherwise, you just get this big, get together of feel good things.”
He also agreed that accountability is urgently needed.“There’s gotta be some accountability, there’s gotta be regular reporting, there’s gotta be evaluations done independently, to make sure that there is good follow up, that there is actionable items that the stakeholders are doing what they should do in those nations. And that is probably gonna be real paramount to see the actionable side of it.”
In response to a series of actions by the IRF Secretariat and the Religious Freedom Institute Inc. to promote religious freedom while inflaming Christian nationalist sentiments, Rance Settle has repeatedly emphasized, “Our calling isn’t to try and create a christian nation. That’s totally a fundamental misunderstanding of both christianity and what it means to be a nation between the left hand and right hand kingdoms. Our calling is to serve our neighbors through our vocations, just as being a good parent, being a good friend, a worker, a citizen, just whatever roles that god has given us.”