Paper Title
The Social Economic Impact of Philanthropic Aid to Small Businesses in Israel during the Covid 19 Crisis – Evaluation Research

Abstract
The Covid 19 pandemic adversely affected the economic activity of companies and businesses across the globe. The Israeli government decided to provide support to businesses that were adversely impacted by the crisis, provided they could demonstrate that their operations were affected. The WE19 Project is a philanthropic initiative established by the House for Social Solidarity in October 2020, with the aim of providing assistance to small and newly established businesses in Israel that were ineligible for government aid. The project had two primary objectives: an economic objective –to provide grants to enable businesses to resume their growth trajectory; and a social objective – to foster social solidarity and ensure mutual responsibility among the project’s business owners. This study evaluated the economic and social impact of the project, examining the extent to which the grant contributed to the businesses and improved their economic situation, as well as what effect the project had on the feeling of solidarity among the businesses that participated. The research method employed both quantitative and qualitative tools: an online questionnaire was sent to all the businesses in the project, to which 744 responded. Ultimately, 105 businesses were sampled, submitting VAT reports that showed their income for the years 2020 and 2021. In addition, interviews were conducted with business owners, project team members and volunteers, and minutes of management meetings and follow-up reports collected by the organization on the businesses of the grant recipients were received.The results revealed that the majority of businesses that received a grant experienced an improvement in their financial situation (75% of the sample and 66% of the questionnaire respondents). Notably, businesses with a low annual revenue saw a greater improvement than larger businesses. About 90% of the grant recipients believed that the grant would have a beneficial impact on their future situation, and 75% of the participants stated that the project significantly increased their appreciation for the contributions of private philanthropists to society, and that it strengthened their own motivation to volunteer in the community.