How it works.  A panel of eight judges will evaluate proposals based on a set of Judging Criteria, looking for those that demonstrate the most innovation, efficacy, practicability and sustainability. 

Benefits of winning proposals.  Eight competitors will be awarded $5,000 fellowships, seven by the judges, and one through a public rating process that will allow people to cast votes on final projects.

2010 JusticeMakers Fellows will be flown to the Singapore Criminal Justice Training Center (SJTC) to receive initial training from the JusticeMaker panel of judges prior to the beginning of their project. In addition, during the implementation of their project, IBJ will provide Fellows with documentary photojournalists to record and raise the profile of their efforts.

Timeline.  The 2010 JusticeMakers Competition is tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2010 and conclude in May 2010.

Stay tuned and we will provide you with more info on how you can get involved or let others know about the competition!

This month's digest is focused on donors in the media.  An interesting pattern can be seen with three of these donors - they are immigrants and support both domestic and international causes.  The other two donors live abroad but are supporting programs in the U.S.  Predicting donor behavior is becoming more and more complex.  The lines between domestic and international giving are blurring.  There are patterns emerging though and we hope to document some of them in the future.

* Kai-Fu Lee introduced his new venture in China, Innovation Works, at the annual conference of the Asian American MultiTechnology Association (AAMA) in Silicon Valley.  Lee spoke about the Chinese internet market and explained why he left Google China to create Innovation Works.  Kai Fu Lee gives to the community by fostering the professional growth of Chinese technology students in China. He supports an online resource and virtual community for young people to support their career and personal development.  The site, called Wo Xue Wang (I learn) includes contributions and advice from Mr. Lee.

* Shiv Nadar, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of HCL Technology, was interviewed by Forbes India.  He speaks about involving his family in philanthropy.  The SSN Trust has a $30 million endowment and supports affordable higher education, offering $1 million in scholarships each year.  Mr. Nadar recently started the Shiv Nadar Foundation to build the Shiv Nadar University in North India and to set up eight public secondary schools for rural children in Uttar Pradesh.  He was recently featured in the 48 Heroes of Philanthropy.

* Indian American brothers recognized for their philanthropy and commitment to the community by local community foundation and member of Congress.  The Northern Virgina Community Foundation presented its Community Leadership Award for outstanding service and commitment to the Northern Virginia community to Sudhakar Shenoy (Founder, Chairman and CEO of IMC) and his brother Suresh Shenoy (EVP of IMC) last month.  In addition, they were recognized on the floor of the House by Democratic member Gerald E. Connolly.  The brothers were born in India and are both graduates of IIT Bombay (Indian Institute of Technology).

* Indian and Chinese donors abroad give a total of $3 million to Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.  The $1.5 million gift from the Wadhawan family will support the Rajesh Wadhawan Professorship Fund.  The Fund will be used to support a full-time faculty member who plays a leading role in advancing the standing of the Simon School and management education through service and teaching contributions with a preference for a professor making an impact in India.  Another $1.5 million gift came from Evans Lam, a native of Hong Kong. It will be used to attract global business scholars from around the world to the University.

Photo courtesy of autan

Charity Shop Adviser, Beijing, China, Volunteer Services Overseas.  Help The I Do Kids Fund to set up and run the first charity shop in Beijing, China.  The Fund was set up to help improve the living standards of disadvantaged children in China and to promote volunteerism. 

Asia Regional Director, New Delhi, India, Room to Read.  Provides leadership and support to seven country teams engaged in all aspects of Room to Read's operations in India.

I do not consider myself a very creative person but sometimes, I have to be creative and innovative on how I approach my work in attracting new clients that use our international philanthropic services.  During these tight budget times, we all have to innovate with the resources that we have.  We also have to create our own opportunities so we can continue delivering high impact services that exceed our client and donor expectations.  As a leader, how do you lead and manage creative people?  How do you create an environment that encourages them to excel?

Harvard Business Review has a series of articles on Leading Creative People.  In their research, they found that a "handful of creative people whose inventiveness leads to innovation are the ones that bankroll the organization for years to come."  The authors found these creative people:

1.  Do not want to be led.  I have realized that the most creative people I have worked with in the nonprofit field march to their own drummers.  They do not like being micro-managed and certainly do not want someone constantly "checking" in with them on their work.

2.  Do not care about titles and promotions.  Titles and financial gain are not the reasons creative people want as rewards.  In fact, many of those that go into the nonprofit field see these as secondary rewards.

During my undergraduate studies a few years ago at UC Berkeley, I distinctly recall a fellow student explaining to me she wanted to use her degree to work in the nonprofit field. Nonprofit? Nonprofit. How will she pay her rent and bills? I remember thinking to myself as I gave an enthusiastic, unknowing nod in response. Originally coming to Give2Asia in September 2008 as a part-time programs intern, I am taking my leave as an in-house, full-time philanthropic initiatives consultant to begin law school this fall. As my transformation in title suggests, Give2Asia over the past eleven months has solidified for me into a place (and an experience) of exceptional entrepreneurship and opportunity interlaced with diversity, friendship, fun and profound personal growth.

On my first day at Give2Asia, I was immediately surprised. A moment after walking through the door I found myself in an important roundtable client meeting regarding corporate philanthropy with senior staff. Was I qualified for this? What should I say? Should I even be here? What surprised me most after that meeting, and as the weeks went by, was the immediate confidence and trust that Give2Asia’s staff placed in me (perhaps more than I had towards myself); and that even as an intern, I was treated as an equal. Indeed, there was not a single aspect of the organization that was denied to me—marketing, programs, finance, business development, fundraising and human resources—I excelled in some while giving diligent energy towards them all. Often, I would need to be pushed and encouraged towards certain roles due to my own uncertainties.

Early on it took our Director of Philanthropy, Dien Yuen, a full two weeks of prodding before I consented to a single project from Business Development—an area I now dedicate at least half my time to. Regarding Business Development, one of the greatest phenomena I have experienced at Give2Asia is being given a task or project I have never before attempted, assigned full ownership, and then being allowed to run with it. The results have always been successful; however, attributing this success solely to my skills would be a misappropriation of another shade. As I completed projects at Give2Asia, I perceived a ubiquitous and fundamental camaraderie that permeates our offices, allowing each staff member a simultaneous independence and core connection to other staff. It was a delight to see individual accomplishments praised in group celebrations and group accomplishments receive individual praise. Further, I have yet to witness a failure in my time here at Give2Asia with anything wobbling or clanking reanalyzed, learned from, recycled and tweaked back into something that performs. What began as an organization exposing my personal hesitations and uncertainties has transformed me into someone more knowledgeable, confident and capable and through this, Give2Asia has become a model for any future place of employment. 

Cross-posted on

Part 1 can be found here.

Philanthropy during the Sichuan (Wenchuan) Earthquake

Even before the Sichuan Earthquake, charitable giving was becoming a trend in China. Social needs, shifts in government policies and the existence of new private wealth contributed to the growing trend. During disasters, the outpouring of assistance from individuals and corporations were beginning to increase and the number of donors making large donations was rising. Newspapers report that more than 11 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) was collected for philanthropic purposes during the Yangtze River’s catastrophic flood in 1998. In addition to domestic giving, Chinese donors were also interested in supporting disaster relief overseas. US$18.11 million was raised from individuals and corporations in China to support the Asian tsunami relief efforts.

In a report prepared by the China Charity & Donation Center for Give2Asia’s Beijing Philanthropy Forum, the amount of China’s charitable donations had sustained an annual growth rate above 65%. In 2007, the top 50 donations from individuals totaled RMB2.58 billion (US$377 million), representing 62% of total donations by individuals. Contributions that year supported education (37%); poverty alleviation (14%); disaster relief (12%); medical treatment and public health (9%); culture, sports and the arts (6%); and environmental protection, women and children (22%).

On May 12, 2008, the Sichuan Earthquake dramatically changed the philanthropic and CSR landscape in China. The earthquake claimed 70,000 lives and left five million homeless. That year, China experienced unprecedented giving due to the earthquake and Olympic Games. The total charitable donations in China reached RMB107 billion (US$15.7 billion), three times what it was in 2007. 72% of donations from the top 100 corporations and top 50 individual donors went to support disaster relief, including the snow storm disaster relief in January 2008 and the Sichuan Earthquake relief later in the year.

While the amount of donations is staggering, several trends also emerged. First, the Chinese are beginning to use innovative ways to raise the funds. China Mobile organized a donation hotline linking five charities to subscribers who can donate one or two yuan by simply sending a text message. Ten days after the earthquake, mobile users donated nearly 100 million yuan (US$14 million) using this method. Since there are 641 million Chinese cell phone users, text messaging has proven to be a very effective fundraising tool.

Second, philanthropy is now fashionable. Movie-star Jet Li was able to leverage his stardom and is bringing media attention to charitable giving and volunteerism in China. Dubbed “China’s Philanthropy Champion,” Jet Li is encouraging more people to give – even if it is just a small amount. Jet Li’s One Foundation has raised $13.7 million since July of this year.

Third, the Chinese government learned that it was easier to raise funds than to spend them efficiently. Working with private funds and being transparent about how the organization spends it, is still a new concept for many NGOs in China. During the earthquake, China’s NGOs jointly made a statement of self-discipline in disaster relief efforts. However, the NGO sector is still growing and faces many challenges, including restrictive laws, weak internal management and governance structure, lack of full-time professional staff and unstable funding sources. While the Chinese people responded generously to the appeal for aid, they are also worried about misappropriation of their donations. 95% of Chinese participated in donations of various forms during the disaster and over 50% of them were worried about the misuse of funds.

Fourth, corporate citizenship and accountability are taken very seriously in China. Many foreign corporations announced gifts in line with their CSR policy to support disaster relief efforts. Unfortunately, the popular perception was that the international firms’ contributions were small in terms of scale or they did not respond in a timely manner compared to the responses of the local Chinese companies. Chinese consumers quickly organized or threatened to boycott their products and a list of “iron roosters” appeared. The U.S. – China Business Council began recording donations of its member companies and published them on its website to encourage transparency. One year later, there was a threat to publish a “black list” of all the corporations that had not fulfilled their pledges.

Philanthropy Post-Sichuan (Wenchuan) Earthquake

The earthquake fast forwarded China’s charitable sector development and activated ideas of how and what Chinese philanthropy could become. The 2009 First Half –Year Report on Charitable Donations in China was released recently. It is not surprising to see that giving is down by 78.4% compared to the same time frame last year as disaster giving is usually a one-off event.

At Give2Asia’s Beijing event last year, Dr. Wang Zhengyao, Director General of Social Affairs & Charity Promotion at China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said that while some believe that disaster giving is an unsustainable spike, he believes that the disaster has helped leapfrog philanthropic development forward in the country to a new level of permanent growth. Prior to the quake, volunteerism was a foreign concept for many Chinese. However, there are now 100 million volunteers in China.

Those of us in the field are fascinated. We watch, wait and anticipate to see how Chinese philanthropy will evolve in the next wave.

Cross-posted on Tactical Philanthropy

China’s influence and power is undisputable and with its tremendous economic growth, millionaires are made daily. According to the 2009 Cap Gemini World Wealth Report, China’s high-net worth individual population became the fourth largest in world in 2008, surpassing the U.K. By 2018, this population is expected to more than triple in size. In addition to making money, many are also giving it away – and in significant amounts.

Those in the philanthropy field are fascinated by what is taking place in China. In a country where the government takes care of the social needs of its people, how did such an explosive number of social organizations come into being? Will a new group of Chinese philanthropy leaders soon shape the global philanthropy and social development field? Will the next wave of philanthropy flow from China to the U.S. – or has it already started? It is an exciting time for many of us in the field as we watch Chinese leaders search for philanthropic models around the world and adapt it to suit its own cultural and social context.

This is part one of a two part post on a brief overview of philanthropy in China. It is structured in three phases: pre-Sichuan earthquake, the response during the disaster, and post-Sichuan earthquake. The purpose is to provide an overview of the rapidly changing philanthropic landscape in China.

- by Dien S Yuen

I was chatting with a donor the other day and he asked me what philanthropic advisors do.  As I started explaining to him about the different roles and positions, I realized that somewhere in our field - we have truly confused donors.  Everything is labeled with "philanthropy" these days - from the for-profit to the non-profit world.  There is the field of philanthropyitself that promotes the work of individuals and corporations to give and volunteer.  Then there are those working in philanthropy, these are program officers, fundraisers, non-profit philanthropic advisors, etc.  Then there are those working in the professional advisory sector that advise clients in philanthropy as an ancillary service - such as wealth advisors, CPAs, attorneys, and the for-profit philanthropic advisors.

I started my non-profit career at the American Cancer Society in Ohio as the "Director of Planned Giving".  I helped our donors there support ACS with gifts that were provided from assets - and these were usually larger gifts and mostly from the donor's estate.  I had a dollar goal and also a required number of folks I had to make contact with.  I was a "convener, educator and a fixer" then.  Charles W. Collier, Harvard's Senior Philanthropic Advisor, changed the planned giving or gift planning field and made us look at giving from a holistic point of view.

Now, my official title is "Director of Philanthropy" and my job description says I am: the chief advocate of Give2Asia's services among individuals and communities new to Give2Asia.  I am primarily responsible for reaching out to individuals and families, and to corporations and foundations where advantageous, with an interest in utilizing Give2Asia's US-Asia philanthropic solutions.  The metrics for success of my position are growth in Give2Asia's giving and an expansion of contacts and sales channels and partnerships.  In other words, I promote our work and and support the work of new donors.  Some may say I am in sales - which is not a bad thing if there are buyers.  In reality, I feel as if my job is "convener, educator and fixer".  I bring people together and I figure out how donors can support charitable causes they care about in the most efficient and cost-effective way while still meeting their needs and as part of their overall philanthropic plan.  Give2Asia is a non-profit but we have fee for service model so I see myself in business development too.

In the community foundation world, there are "Philanthropic Advisors".  These folks basically do the same thing I do but they probably don't like using the words "sales" or "sales channels" in any of their literature.  In reality, everyone has a quantifiable goal and they also need to either bring in new clients or provide services that encourage their existing donors to increase their giving.  Afterall, how can hey account for their "impact" to both the donors and the foundation, i.e., how do they justify their salary?

In the for-profit world, we have folks like Sean at Tactical Philanthropy Advisors that help donors look at their giving from a very high level to the tactics required for implementation.  The philanthropic advising business is a "business".  Like all businesses, Sean has to think about his sales channels, bottom lines, ROIs, etc.  In essence, Sean's main job is also a "convener, education and fixer".

Naturally, the donor then asked - how does one become a professional in the field?  I looked at him and wondered... where do I start?  So I told him about Professor Phil Cubeta's movement and the CAP (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy) program.  If we attorneys get JD designations and accountants get CPA designations, then shouldn't philanthropic advisors get CAP designations?

Photo courtesy of James Jordan

* The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP) launched its first multi-donor giving circle, the "Hasanah Fund". The Fund will secure $100 million from donors in the next five years to fund long-term hunger eradication and poverty alleviation in 20 countries facing the ongoing food crisis. 

* Omidyar Network announced the launch of a new office that will work to expand the organization's investments in India; Omidyar Network India Advisors. Omidyar Network has invested more than $43 million in India already. 

* Jet Li shares his views about philanthropy as China celebrates its 60th anniversary. Jet Li states: "(A)s I see communities improve through charitable work, I envision even more positive change in China in the next 10 years. China's growing wealth and people's increased access to education and knowledge will create an ever-growing capacity for giving. By fostering better standards of efficiency and ease of exchange among nonprofit organizations around the world, globalization should nurture the accountable and meaningful use of funds here in China." 

* Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations hosted a gathering of guests from different sectors of the Chinese philanthropic world. Chinese social organizations are divided into three categories: social organizations, civic non-profit enterprises, and foundations. Between 1999-2008, the total number of social organizations in China increased by an astounding 290%, from 142,665 to 413,660. 

Photo courtesy of James Jordan

There are also philanthropic groups such as Tides, Give2Asia, Geneva Global and others that work with individuals, foundations and corporations to support projects in Bangladesh. In 2008, Tides Foundation made 14 grants to various organizations in Bangladesh totaling $706,609. The funds supported groups like the Rakhaing Women's Union, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and Action on Disability and Development.

Bangladesh Freedom Foundation and Drishtipat are working on a research project to build a database on diaspora philanthropic organizations and select case studies with the long term objective of increasing the flow of information, resources, knowledge, and expertise.  We look forward to hearing about their research and learning more about Bangladeshi American diaspora philanthropy.

Bangladeshi American diaspora philanthropy, part 1

Photo courtesy of Charles Jennings