China Philanthropy

The Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge Comes to China

Tonight in Beijing, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are officially bringing their giving pledge plea to China and are asking the country’s billionaires to consider giving half of their wealth to charity with a much-anticipated dinner. Since they announced their visit, there has been endless speculation on how China’s wealthy will respond. Recent media reports of only two confirmed attendees are now debunked, but many in the public and media have either harangued Buffett and Gates as being out of touch with Asian philanthropy sensibilities or condemned the wealthy in China as stingy and corrupt. But what is the real picture?

Charitable giving, the wealthy, and the government’s role make for a complicated situation here in China. Here we want to address some of those issues.

Deviant Philanthropy

We recently saw this post by Sean Stannard-Stockton on the Tactical Philanthropy blog written and thought it brought up some great points concerning cultural norms in the social sector.

Sean Stannard-Stockton is CEO of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, a philanthropy advisory firm that serves individual and family philanthropists. Sean is the author of the Tactical Philanthropy blog and writes a monthly column for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Council on Philanthropy & Social Investing and has been quoted or referenced in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times and many other media outlets.

The word deviant is such a strong cultural label that many people interpret it to mean something similar to evil. Calling someone “deviant” calls up images of illicit or extreme criminal behavior.

But that’s not what deviance really means.

Within sociology, the phrase deviance describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms. Since cultural norms are not objective or even necessarily logical, they require deviant behavior to define them. When cultural norms are positive and healthy, deviant behavior is systematically curtailed. But not all norms are positive and healthy.

Links That Make You Go Hmmm…for the week ending September 24

Professionalizing Asian Philanthropy: Dien Yuen at the Asian Philanthropy Forum gives her thoughts on the state of philanthropic advising in Asia.

The Goodest Samaritans: The World Giving Index conducted a study of giving trends worldwide and found that one third of the world’s population donated money in the past month. The study also showed which countries donate the most. The study showed that China continues to be at the low end of both giving and volunteering.

Mooncakes for Charity: One columnist has a great idea for how mooncakes (from the recently passed Mid-Autumn festival’s) could make a great impact on charity—you won’t believe how much money is spent on those little hockey pucks every season.

Job Opening--Managing Director of Global Philanthropy: The Council on Foundations, a membership organization located in Arlington, VA, seeks a Managing Director of Global Philanthropy who will be responsible for designing the global leadership role of the Council and overseeing implementation of the global philanthropy strategic plan, including identifying trends in international grantmaking to design programs that address needs and interests of international grantmakers; overseeing workshops and briefings on philanthropy for foundations, corporations, nonprofit organizations and government entities inside and outside of the U.S.; identifying topics, formats and resources for development of publications, webinars, sessions and workshops on international grantmaking; and supporting fundraising efforts and cultivation of new international members. Position will have supervisory and budgetary responsibilities. For more info, click the link above.

A Dialogue Between NGOs, Social Enterprises, and the Chinese Government

In August, Nora and Zoey (from the SVG team) attended a seminar sponsored by the nonprofit Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) on the topic of “How Social Enterprises Can Have Better Partnerships with the Government and Corporations.” (Nora was also part of a panel during the seminar.) SOE is an international organization that promotes entrepreneurship in NGOs and social enterprises, as well as, communication among entrepreneurs, NGOs, and the general public. In addition to social enterprises and NGOs, SOE invited people from a variety of disciplines to the seminar including university professors, government officials, and foundation representatives.

Links That Make You Go Hmmm…for the week ending September 10

Update on the Asian MBA Conference: A few weeks ago, Grace spoke at the 2^nd Annual Asian MBA Conference. Check out an overview of the event  complete with take-aways on Vault’s CSR blog.

Social Networking Spurs Philanthropy: Since Facebook is currently unavailable in China, Jet Li’s One Foundation has taken their cause to local social networking site kaixin001.com. Li said, “The website now has more than 40 million registered users, and if only 10 percent of them could become a member of One Family, they would generate big changes.”

Are Chinese Billionaires Shunning Gates/Buffet or Just Busy: There has been much speculation on how China’s wealthy entrepreneurs will approach Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s call for billionaires to give away half of their money. Rumors about stingy misers declining an upcoming meal with the pair in Beijing have lead many to criticize (again) China’s high wealth citizens, but this article brings up a good point--maybe they just have previous engagements.

Lu Zhao and the Non-profit Incubator: Xinhua recently featured a story on NPI, an organization that helps nonprofits get their start. (They're also good friends of SVG.)

New Research and Recommendations for Microfinance: The folks at Give Well have a new post about recent research concerning microfinance, in particular their assessment of a handful of MFIs.

China's Elderly Population: 167 Million and Counting

When you think of population growth in China, one phrase may come to your mind: one child policy. But, the number of babies joining China’s citizenry is not the only population figure the country is concerned about. The elderly population is seeing a boom in longevity and their numbers are set to rise exponentially over the next four decades.

Population
Chinese over sixty make up 12.5% of China’s population--that’s 167 million people, and the number isn’t set to peak until 2050 when it will reach an estimated 400 million. In 2009, the elderly population grew at its fastest pace ever, adding 7.25 million to its number (Office of the China National Committee on Aging). While the current life expectancy is 73 years, the number of octogenarians is also on the rise. According to the government, this age category will also grow by 1 million annually, ultimately raising the country’s life expectancy rate as China’s poverty decreases and quality of healthcare increases.