FOCA Accomplishments

Since its inception in 2004 the Friends of Charities Association (FOCA) has made great progress in advancing the interests of Islamic charities; educating lawmakers, opinion leaders and the public about Muslim charities; and promoting policies that advance its member charities’ rights. Six years after FOCA was born, it is appropriate to examine where we are, what we have accomplished and where we should go next.

The Past Six Years

Since its inception FOCA has:

• Established itself as a leading source of information on Islamic charities in the Middle East. At its inception in 2004, there was a lack of accurate information about Islamic philanthropy in general and specific Muslim charities in particular. This posed a great challenge to us and we set out to provide information to establish the true facts about Muslim charities that were members of FOCA. Through a great deal of research and analysis of material from and about our members, we have been able to rise to the challenge and dispel such beliefs
• Created a body of work that has emerged as one of the best-informed and most effective means to silence the critics and opponents of Islamic charities.

Opponents of Islamic charities had relied on the widespread lack of information about Muslim charities to spread false and misleading information about them. By the time FOCA was created, these opponents had already succeeded in firmly implanting false assumptions that enjoyed widespread acceptance among Western governments, journalists and the general public. These false assumptions went largely unchallenged. To counter these assumptions, we researched the work of the opponents and investigated the sources of the allegations. Over time, we were faced with a lack of cooperation from the Bush administration and – in the early days – the US Congress. We developed strategies to indirectly educate these policy-makers and engaged in careful planning to execute these strategies.

• Established strong relationships with journalists, lawmakers, scholars and other opinion leaders. Using the information we had attained and our access to charity leaders, we became a valued source for providing credible information on charities. As other organizations produced material that supported our positions, we were able to serve as a conduit between these organizations and opinion leaders.
• Promoted joint efforts for better awareness of Islamic charities and the need for changes in laws and policies that impact them. As time passed, a number of groups came to share our concerns about the impact of national security policies on charities and our concerns about the assumptions behind these policies. FOCA has now joined many other groups to lobby the Congress and both the Bush and Obama administrations for reforms in the laws and policies impacting charities.
• Assisted in the creation of the Charity and Security Network and aided in its growth. FOCA is a key member of the CSN advisory committee.

Thus, at the end of six years, FOCA has emerged as a unique force in the community that advocates for the rights of charities. In particular, we are the only organization in the Western world that has advocated for Islamic charities located in the Middle East.

Building on this strong foundation, we hope to move from our beginnings as an informal association of member charities to a more formal advocacy group with global reach. As we consider change in our organizational structure, we will also evaluate what we have done in the past and what needs to be done in the future. Much of what we have done we will continue to do. In some areas we have accomplished important goals and can move on to other objectives. Surely new challenges will arise and FOCA is ready to embrace new strategies and new alliances to overcome them.

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