Icelandic Church Aid - a short overview

The beginning

Icelandic Church Aid (ICA) was founded in 1970 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, the National Church. The idea was born the year before, in 1969, when the Church participated in a very successful nationwide fund-raising march against hunger for the starving population of war-torn Biafra in Africa.

It was certainly not the first contribution the Church had made abroad for people in need, but this particular fund raising sparked ideas of establishing organized relief work on the pattern of that in our neighbouring countries.

So it was in 1969 that the Convocation passed the motion that 1% of the annual income of all the clergy should go to relief work and the foundation of Icelandic Church Aid was established a few months later. From that time on ICA has participated in relief work in many parts of the world.

The organization

ICA is an independent foundation within the National Church of Iceland, governed by a council of 22 representatives. Each Parish has its representative and a deputy, and five are selected by the Church Council. The council meets twice a year. The number of representatives will increase when new regulations are confirmed by the Ministry for Justice later this year. Then each church is encouraged to appoint a contact person with ICA. That person will have the status of representative in council meetings.

At its annual meetings the council of representatives selects a three member board of directors to sit for one year and take responsibility for the daily running of the institution. A general secretary is employed by the board of directors for a four year period to run the institution with additional staff.

The projects

The role of ICA is to initiate and coordinate relief work carried out in the name of the Icelandic Church. Its broad aim is to assist people in need, regardless of its cause and regardless of nationality, race, religion or political ideas.

Many requests for aid are made every year from all over the world, but funds are limited and projects must be chosen carefully, where help seems most likely to be of the greatest use.

Our relief work is organized and carried out in close cooperation with people and institutions we know and trust. ICA participates in the work of two important international organizations; The Lutheran World Federation and The World Council of Churches. It is indeed through these large and experienced organizations that we receive most of our requests for assistance.

ICA also collaborates with its counterparts in the other Nordic countries, which, being larger institutions with greater resources, usually have their own people stationed in the stricken areas, something ICA unfortunately lacks the means and manpower to do. Occasionally all the Nordic Church Aid institutions combine resources and collaborate on a particular project.

Last but not least, we have close ties with individuals and institutions in the developing countries, people with first hand knowledge of conditions. They keep us informed about the work in progress with regular reports and budget analyses.

By these means we can ensure that any aid we offer goes where it is meant to and where it is most needed.

In those cases food, drugs, medical equipment and other basic necessities in a relief situation must be transported free of charge and without delay to the stricken areas.

Development aid

These are long-term projects aimed at improving standards of living in particular areas. There we can concentrate, for example, on increased food production, improved health care and education as well as environmental protection.

There are in all societies groups of people with more pressing needs than others. We have been able to support a few of those, particularly orphans and the handicapped. And not unrelated to the above, we do, when we can, take part in the continuing battle for human rights.

We always encourage the recipients to take an active part in planning and carrying out the projects. In fact, without their participation and feeling of ownership the project is almost bound to fail. We take all possible care to ensure that our projects harmonize with the local environment, its people´s customs, culture and tradition.

ICA does not confine all its work to distant places. Individuals and charitable organizations in Iceland often receive our support and should an emergency arise, needless to say, assistance is there.

Where does the money come from ?

A management institution like ours is costly and ICA depends almost entirely on public contributions for its income. We do have regular supporters, who pay a certain amount every year, and so do the clergy and many of the parishes. Another means of income is the sale of candles, our so called “lights for peace”, every Christmas and New Year. By far the greatest sources of income, however, are organized fund-raising campaigns among the public, the largest being at Christmas.

We keep the management cost at an absolute minimum. Only 8% of the money donated is allowed to go to the running of the institution, but we have not made use of that in years. Another 3% may be used for educational and promotional work. This has not been necessary for years as our quarterly newsletter gets more support from local firms than it costs to publish and mail it to supporters. The surplus is used for further promotional material. This means in fact that all our public gifts go directly to projects. Financial revenue, candle sales and parish contributions go a long way in covering the running costs.