Asian Philanthropy Forum

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 10/10/2011

* Think Change India has a very interesting blog post written by Melissa Richer, Executive Director of Ayllu, and Juli Huang, Manager of the Ayllu India Map. The map lays out the nine major scaling constraints and innovations that enterprises across sectors in India face. The map is a good resource for investors/funders that are interested in impact investing ($400 billion opportunity now and $1 trillion by 2015).

* Mercy Corps China released the September Global Philanthropy Information Exchange Newsletter. This is a compilation of articles that have been translated into English. Some highlights: Shenzhen was named the most generous city in China and NGO Incubator in Dongguan will be launched soon.

* Social Venture Group's latest newsletter, Doing Good, was released today. Of note is the article on Yunnan, a province in China with many challenges. Extreme poverty, scarce educational opportunities, insufficient access to healthcare, HIV/AIDS, drug smuggling and lack of clean water are only some the issues the province faces.

 

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 10/06/2011

This news digest includes the stories of three U.S. based, philanthropic advisory groups focused on India. Is there a market need for U.S. groups to be exporting philanthropic service to India? Check out the catchy phrases that they are using (highlighted for readers).

* FSG Advisors will be publishing a report on catalytic philanthropy practices in India with the Center for Emerging Market Solutions at the Indian School of Business. FSG opened their Mumbai offices a year ago. Lalitha Vaidyanathan, FSG's Mumbai Managing Director writes in a blog post....Indian philanthropy needs to be laser-focused on those key interventions that can effect large-scale change at the systems level – in other words, they need to be highly Catalytic. 

* TPI's blog has a post featuring Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Founder and President of the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). Dr. Tandon spoke at "Philanthropy and Social Change in India," an event sponsored by New England International Donors and TPI's Center for Global Philanthropy. He writes about how significant impacts in social transformation in India have been achieved through transformative philanthropy.

* Global Philanthropy Forum and American India Foundation have teamed up to introduce 10-15 donors and social investors to a range of philanthropic strategies and well vetted non-profits and social enterprises, or in other words, a donor trip in January 2012. The India: Philanthropy and Social Change trip costs $9,750. Download the agenda here. 

Photo: FriskoDude, Creative Commons, Flickr

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 08/24/2011

* In India, charity begins - and stays at home. An opinion piece suggesting that deep insecurity may be one of the reasons why the rich do not give to charity. 

* Sri Lanka Revises NGO Tax Rule. NGOs are now eligible for tax remissions. They no longer have to be taxed on their "profits," which "the regulation defined as 3% of the money received as grants and other forms of contributions."

* Global Fund Lifts China Grant Freeze. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria froze disbursements of its AIDS grant to China due to suspected misuse of the funds. $283 million of the AIDS grant was frozen in November. 

* Singapore tops in philanthropy. UBS and INSEAD released a study that found that philanthropic groups in Singapore has the highlest proportion of international donors. Singapore also has the highest percentage of family philanthropies that rely on professionals to manage their philanthropy (74%). 

New Indian Donor Association

In June, the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Samhita organized the Philanthropy Leadership Confluence in Mumbai to explore setting up a network or association of donors. The meeting included grantmakers, private wealth individuals and philanthropy support organizations.

Priya Viswanath of DanaAsia, a philanthropic advising firm, provided Alliance Magazine with an article on the day long event. Below is abbreviated version of the event from her article.

* Rohini Nilekani delivered the keynote address and reflected on the potential for collaborative philanthropy. Talking about the power of aggregation, she referred to some of the new initiatives that focus on successful collaborative engagement – the Public Health Foundation, Indian School of Business and Pratham.

* Vijay Mahajan, chairman of BASIX and president of the Micro Finance Institutions Network, spoke about ‘co-creation’ in his keynote address. He reflected on the ecosystem of symbiotic entities and the current need to adapt and change, in order to leverage the power of giving. He urged participants to focus on identifying key issues of our times, pooling knowledge with humility and honesty to learn mutually and develop supportive legislation and to act to co-create between donors and grantees.

* Paula Johnson, VP and director of the Center for Global Philanthropy, The Philanthropic Initiative Inc, shared her insight on global trends in philanthropic giving and networking while emphasizing that support networks are essential to assist foundations to create more impact. WINGS reported 200 foundations in India, and estimated grantmaking in India at about US$5-7 billion.

* Noshir Dadrawala of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy reflected on the growth of wealth and the development of the sector in India and the importance of having a learning-sharing network to enhance the growth of philanthropy.

So what would such a network focus on?  The network would be "an information provider, knowledge builder, adviser, collaborative facilitator and advocate for the sector." 

According to Priya, "the day ended with pledges to fund such an initiative, establish a taskforce to follow through on suggestions and develop a road map for the network’s development."

For more information, please visit: www.philanthropyconference.com

Photo from Samhita's Facebook page

Enabling Indian Diaspora Philanthropy

Give2Asia released a new report that looks at the challenges and trends of diaspora donors giving to India. Here are some of the highlights from the report, Enabling Indian Diaspora Philanthropy:

* Nearly 2.7 million people of Indian origin reside in the US, making it the third largest Asian American population. 

* Over $2.3 billion was received by some 12,400 non- governmental organizations in India from overseas sources in 2008-09, an increase of nearly 12% over the previous year. Of this, nearly $740 million came from the United States alone, making it the single largest contributor. Diaspora remittances to India are the highest in the world at an estimated $49.3 billion in 2009.

* The Indian government has also recognized the financial and intellectual power of its diaspora, and has been actively seeking to encourage its business and philanthropic investments.

* There are challenges to giving to India though. They include: (1) lack of information about good organizations; (2) lack of trust in intermediaries and grantees; (3) India has a complicated legal process for non-profits wishing to accept foreign funds; and (4) and many of the funds to India are concentrated in certain parts of the country.

* Give2Asia has seen some recent trends in private giving: (1) public-private partnerships in India are increasing, an example is the creation of the Public Health Foundation of India; (2) donors are focusing on localized high-impact philanthropy; (3) donors are not only giving annually but they are making endowment gifts; and (4) social investments are on the rise.

To read the full report, you can download it here. 

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 07/05/2011

* An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of State Charities. The Chinese Red Cross is scrutinized and scandals increase the distrust of charities. Perhaps a positive outcome is that public pressure will encourage charities to be more transparent - even government affiliated ones.

* UBS Enlists Chimp Expert Goodall to Teach Wealthy Children. Goodall spoke to children of UBS's private banking clients in Singapore about conservation and philanthropy. The wealth of high-net worth individuals in the Asia Pacific region is increasing and banks are competing for their services with events like these. An interesting quote from the head of Credit Suisse Private Banking in Asia: "Philanthropy habits in APAC are slowly mirroring Western trends. Geographic beneficiaries of Asian philanthropy are shifting and are now often global." 

* Nilekanis Donate Rs. 50 Crore to Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). Nandan and Rohini Nilekani donated the funds because it was a "convergence of both of our interests in education, urbanization and sustainability."

Opportunities in Asia 04/25/2011

* The International Women's Media Foundation is offering two women entrepreneurs in the new media sector to join an upcoming class of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in India. Through 10,000 Women, participants receive a world class education focused on helping entrepreneurs to think big and grow their businesses. Participation of new media women entrepreneurs is an effort to diversify the emerging digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs.  Limited access to credit and training, coupled with cultural stereotypes and outdated perceptions, threaten women’s full participation as entrepreneurs in the digital news media. Deadline for applications is June 1, 2011.

* Applications to participate in Impact Shanghai 2011 is open for entrepreneurs with great ideas on how to solve social or environmental problems. Impact is a business incubator for young, sustainable entrepreneurs dedicated to improving the lives of communities and the environment in developing countries. Impact offers existing and nascent entrepreneurs the opportunity to incubate, refine and enhance their business models with guidance from expert mentors and exposure to seed capital. Impact will take place in Shanghai in September 2011, where the 7-week programme will award entrepreneurs from around the world with the opportunity to live, work, and collaborate in a live-in idea incubation setting.  A guidebook detailing the entire schedule of Impact and the events leading up to the programme are available to download as a PDF.

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 03/19/2011

* $2M to support women and children in Vietnam. Atlantic Philanthropies, a US private foundation, is providing $2 million grant for improving health for ethnic minority women and children in Vietnam's provinces of Dien Bien, Dak Lak and Yen Bai. The work will be carried out by the Vietnam Centre for Community Health Research and Development. The project includes training health workers on beahviour changes in care and treatment for mothers and children, and help 1,600 women gain more knowledge on mothering and care skills for children.

* Alumnus donates $2m to IIT Kharagpur. Prabhakant Sinha, a cofounder of ZS Associates in Chicago, has donated $2 million to his alma mater for a bioenergy centre of excellence. 

* Massive disasters spur Kiwis' generosity. A good overview of the different ways of giving in New Zealand and some of the favorable tax consequences.  New Zealand has one charity for every 172 people.

* China Charity Federation raises 6 billion yuan ($912m) in 2010. This is an increase of 29.3% from the 4.64 billion yuan collected in 2009. CCF was founded in 1994 with 273 member units in China.

Gates & Buffett Shine Spotlight on Indian Philanthropy

I wrote the following piece for Give2Asia's blog today. What do you think will be the outcome of the Gates and Buffett visit to India?

The Giving Pledge has generated much enthusiasm in the philanthropic field. In August 2010, forty families pledged to return a majority of their wealth to charitable causes. In December 2010, seventeen additional families joined the Giving Pledge community in the U.S. Since then, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have traveled to China and Europe, listening, sharing and learning about philanthropic approaches and the different contexts in which philanthropy exists.

In March, the spotlight is on Asia once again as Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett travel to India to meet with some of India’s leading business leaders and philanthropists. In a letter published in The Times of India, they write, “[w]e do not come as preachers, but more like cheerleaders. And first and foremost, listeners. It will be an honor to meet with those families who will be able to join us next month in Delhi, to hear about their own thinking and to speak of the deep satisfaction we have derived from our work in philanthropy.”

The media in India are already covering the upcoming trip from various angles. Many in the philanthropic field are looking forward to the excitement that the visit will generate. However, like the China trip, crucial questions are being raised. Will Indian philanthropists publicly announce their philanthropic intentions? Is there an Indian context to philanthropy that is shaped by their own history and traditions? Despite the growth and professional development of the non-profit sector in India, why are we not seeing a significant growth in individual and corporate donors?

Last spring, Bain & Co., released their report titled “State of Philanthropy in India” and estimated that philanthropic donations amount to 0.6% of India’s GDP. While this is better than Brazil (0.3%) and China (0.1%), it is low compared to the U.S. (2.2%) and U.K. (1.3%). The report also stated that individual and corporate donations in India make up only 10% of charitable giving, while in the U.S., they are responsible for 75%.

It takes time for philanthropic markets to mature, and India still has a long way to go. The number of wealthy in India has been growing manifold after the economic reforms in the early 1990s. Many with new wealth have not until recently begun letting go of their hard-earned wealth. However, this does not mean that Indians do not give. Families such as the Tatas, Birlas, and Bajajs are a part of India’s rich history of philanthropy. In addition, an abundant collection of stories exists but many Indians prefer to be silent benefactors.

As we at Give2Asia look at the research and practices of Indian philanthropy, we are excited about the potential and opportunities for its growth. Those of us working to promote philanthropy welcome the diverse reactions the upcoming visit to India is generating. We believe that everyone wins when there is increased attention, discussion, and focus on the field of philanthropy – ultimately, it does provide solutions to many of society’s problems.

Photo: mckaysavage, Creative Commons, Flickr

Asian Philanthropy News Digest 01/07/2011

Google to Give $5 Million to Bharti Foundation. The funds will be used to support 50 elementary schools run by the Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic unit of Bharti Enterprises Ltd. The grant is part of Google's global philanthropic program.

Japanese Companies Continue to Spend More Than 400 Million Yen Each for Philanthropy. Despite economic pressures, Japanese companies continue to support philanthropic initiatives. The companies reported "education/social education," "sciences/studies," "health care/medicine and sports" and the "environment" as high priorities in their giving. 67% of the expenditures were donations and 28% were for independent programs implemented by individual companies or collaboration with nonprofit organizations.