[33rd Edition] APPC 1st Family Philanthropy Workshop hailed as "bold, modest and timely"/ May 2007

Priscylla Shaw

The Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium has successfully concluded its first-ever Family Philanthropy Workshop, the inaugural event of its Family Philanthropy Program, last May 13, 2007.

At the Welcome Reception hosted by Singapore's Shaw Foundation, one of the Workshop's sponsors, Priscylla Shaw lauded APPC's pioneering efforts to provide support for philanthropic work in the region. "This event is bold, because it is the first of such in the region; timely, because the face of family philanthropy is changing to include younger, more hands-on and increasingly creative members; and modest, because it involves a small, intimate group, which will help to achieve honest and meaningful conversations."

The workshop brought together twenty-three individuals representing twenty family-based philanthropic organizations from eleven different societies to share their experiences, exchange ideas, and pose solutions to various challenges. It was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore and co-convened by The Myer Foundation and the Shaw Foundation. The National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, under the leadership of APPC Board Member Tan Chee Koon, was our local host. Susan Price, of the Council of Foundation's Family Philanthropy Program and author of The Giving Family: Raising Your Children to Help Others, was the event's main facilitator.

During the workshop, participants were engaged in panel presentations and small group discussions on family values, succession issues, program development and management, and institutionalization and governance. Presenters were chosen from among the participant group itself, allowing participants to benefit from the real life experiences of their colleagues.

Social events, including a visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum and dinners at the IndoChine Waterfront Restaurant and the Au Jardin Restaurant, gave participants a chance to experience Singaporean culture, cuisine and hospitality, while meeting key players in Singapore's philanthropy scene.

Gaining a global perspective, meeting like-minded persons, and gaining access to resources for family-based philanthropic organizations were some of the major benefits that participants cited at the end of the three-day affair.

For more information on APPC's Family Philanthropy Program, please email Julia@asiapacificphilanthropy.org.

Tracing developments in non-profit and philanthropy regulation in South Asia
The Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium has received a grant from The Asia Foundation to convene an eminent group of scholars and non-profit executives to update Philanthropy and Law in South Asia (PALISA), the leading work on non-profit and philanthropic law in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka originally published by APPC in 2004. Since first publication, however, significant changes have occurred in the legal and policy landscape for non-profits and philanthropy in each of the five countries then surveyed. For example, political strife has significantly affected the sectors in Nepal and Bangladesh. In India, the central government has proposed significant changes to the foreign contribution regulatory scheme, and state governments have taken steps to enhance philanthropic and non-profit regulation. New laws have been adopted and new institutions founded in Pakistan that were not fully reflected in the original PALISA work. Finally, after a period of relative calm, new hostilities in Sri Lanka have influenced the development of the sector there as well.

The work of updating will be led by Mark Sidel, Professor of Law at the University of Iowa and one of the original PALISA editors, and will document the combined experiences of these countries in response to recent developments in their respective legal and policy contexts. Professor Sidel will chair the sessions alongside Iftekhar Zaman of Transparency International Bangladesh, an APPC Board Member. Results from the update will be published in this newsletter, the APPC website, and on other websites on non-profit law and regulation.

For more on the project, contact Rory Tolentino at roryappc@pldtdsl.net or Mark Sidel at mark-sidel@uiowa.edu. To download the 2004 PALISA publication, go to www.asiapacificphilanthropy.org.

APPC holds first board meeting of the year
In a meeting via teleconference last May 10, 2007, the APPC Board agreed to proceed with the Diaspora Philanthropy Program's regional and national research component. APPC Chair Darwin Chen emphasized that in pursuing the research on diaspora philanthropy, APPC will be able to exercise a leadership role in philanthropy in the region and it may continue to attract support as a philanthropy promoting organization.

APPC's diaspora philanthropy program employs a two-pronged approach: a regional and national research initiative on diaspora philanthropy to the Asia-Pacific, with key countries of China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia; and a 2-day conference bringing together different players in the field of diaspora philanthropy.

The board agreed that even without the conference, the research on diaspora philanthropy will be valuable to the region, especially with its focus on strategic philanthropy by migrants for social change and development in communities of origin. The research will include best practice cases, analysis for enabling environment for diaspora philanthropy and action recommendations for further promote strategic philanthropy by migrants. This research is also aligned with APPC's mandate to become the premiere resource for philanthropy in the region.

The national and regional research initiative on diaspora philanthropy will commence in July 2007. The APPC conference on diaspora philanthropy is still set on March 2008.

For more information about APPC's Diaspora Philanthropy Program, contact alexie@asiapacificphilanthropy.org.

Embattled Hyundai Motor Chairman renews vow to give US$ 1 billion to charity
Appealing an embezzlement conviction and prison sentence, Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Mong-koo on Tuesday reaffirmed his promise to donate 1 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of personal assets to society.

Chung, who made the pledge last year as part of a public apology and attempt to earn leniency amid a slush fund scandal, said the money will be donated to the public through an independent committee over the next seven years.

A report by the Associated Press said that Chung made the comments during questioning by his attorney at the Seoul High Court during his appeal hearing over a February conviction for embezzling company funds to set up a slush fund. He also answered questions about the donation plan from the presiding judge.

According to the AP report, the donated money will be used to build an opera house in Seoul and 12 other cultural complexes across the country. It also quoted Chung as saying that said he hopes that the funds will be used in projects that can help prevent global warming.

Chung, one of South Korea's richest men, was sentenced to three years in jail for embezzling the equivalent of more than $100 million in company funds and breach of trust. He remains free during the appeal and continues to run the company, the world's sixth-largest automaker.

AP also noted that Chung was not the only one to offer public donations last year aimed at improving corporate image. The Samsung Group, which includes Samsung Electronics Co., said it would donate 800 billion won ($860 million) in corporate and private assets to charity as part of an apology over several scandals.

Removal of 80:20 spending rule in Singapore to encourage international grantmaking
The removal of the 80:20 spending rule announced in Singapore's Budget statement earlier this year will encourage more international grantmaking, say experts at a luncheon panel hosted by the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium in Singapore last May 11.

The panel included Ng Nam Sin, Executive Director of the Financial Centre Development Division of the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Kevin Lee, Director for Sector Development of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) in Singapore; and Terry Alan Farris, Head of Philanthropy Services, Asia-Pacific at UBS AG. Tan Chee Koon, NVPC's Chief Executive Officer, moderated the panel.

Panelists noted that helping Singapore grow into a philanthropy hub, attracting even foreign foundations, is one of the major advantages of this change. Abolishing the 80:20 rule, they say, will help make the policy environment more conducive for international trusts who would like to invest in Singapore.

In addition, a report from Channel News Asia notes that the move will also only allow charities to better plan big projects over the long term, encouraging more grant makers to surface, and fund meaningful charitable programs.

The 80:20 spending rule ties the hands of charities who may want to accumulate more money to run bigger, more meaningful social projects, as the rule dictates that charities have to use up 80 percent of the donations by the following year, trapping them in a cycle of constant fundraising.

In addition, the removal of the 80:20 spending rule will allow grant makers more time to scrutinize charities' applications for funding, encouraging charities to come up with better programs, and more persuasive proposals to get funding support.

Social networking site offers new options for promoting social causes

Facebook users can now highlight their favorite social and political causes in the hopes of raising money and awareness. Called "Project Agape," this new feature hopes to enable large-scale political and social activism on the Internet via the popular social network site.

The service allows Facebook members to start a cause, nurture it through e-mail invitations and raise money from their networks of online friends to support any one of the more than 1.5 million registered nonprofits in the United States, from the American Heart Association to the Heritage Foundation. A "scorecard" on their profile page will track how many people they have recruited and how much money they have raised for their cause.

Project Agape is generating excitement among nonprofits, which long have struggled to reach young people. Nonprofits spend significant chunks of their budgets in direct marketing campaigns to attract members. In some ways, this represents a return to the historic roots of relying on social networking through charity marathons or auctions or local chapters. But, a report from the San Francisco Chronicle says, the power and reach of online networking could transform how these nonprofits raise money and awareness in much the same way the Howard Dean presidential bid showed how the Internet could change the balance of power in political fundraising.

Already, Facebook users have formed groups to address nearly every imaginable cause. For example, Facebook has hundreds of groups campaigning to end genocide in Darfur, the largest of which numbers 410,000 users.

The growing role of social networking in the 2008 election cycle makes this experiment potentially very important for the future of American politics, the Chronicle report continues. Not only might young people become more engaged in the political process, politicians will be able to connect with them on a more personal level and focus on the issues that motivate them.

APEC holds counter terrorism financing workshop
Kuala Lumpur was the venue for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Counter Terrorism Financing Workshop, held from 11-13 April 2007. The Workshop, which was organised by AUSTRAC (the Austalian Transaction Report and Analysis Centre), focused particularly on NPOs and Alternative Remittence Systems. Delegates from over twenty countries across the Pacific region heard presentations from experts from the Charity Commission, FATF, World Bank, Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, Islamic Relief and others. A second workshop is planned for July 17th - 19th. AUSTRAC is producing a DVD including contributions from all the speakers and many delegates. Details on how to obtain a copy of this DVD will be uploaded at a later time on www.ngoregnet.org.

European Foundation Centre, Council on Foundations release Principles of Accountability for International Philanthropy

The joint Principles of Accountability are testimony to a new age that is being ushered in of greater accountability and responsiveness on the part of foundations, said Gerry Salole, Chief Executive of the European Foundation Centre (EFC). "The era of 'trust us, we do good stuff' is rightly drawing to a close, and an era of greater scrutiny and coordinated self-governance is emerging. It is very significant that this sea change is occurring on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time and that the foundation sector at large, through its membership associations, are taking a pivotal first step in a joint response to an increasingly globalised environment in which we all operate."

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