First steps for an emerging Chinese community foundation field

Although there are over 2,000 private and corporate foundations in China (and the number continues to grow), the emergence of multi-stakeholder types of philanthropies is a more recent development. In September, the first China Community Foundation Development Forum was held at the country’s fifth Annual Charity Fair in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Packed room of Chinese community foundation practitioners, Sept 2016

The meeting was significant for several reasons. Not only was it the first time that such a meeting had been convened – and as part of China’s leading “trade fair” for the philanthropy and NGO sector – but key leaders from China’s philanthropic sector were among the speakers, emphasizing the importance for philanthropy to engage communities. These included Xu Yongguang, Chairman of the Narada Foundation. The Narada Foundation is one of China’s few grantmaking foundations and and Xu Yongguang is widely considered to be one of the leading thinkers and practitioners on civil society development in China. Also speaking was Cheng Gang, until recently the President and founder of the China Foundation Center and another important leader in the sector. Contributions from Maria Chertok, Director of CAF Russia – a long-term supporter of the community foundation movement in Russia – and Jenny Hodgson, Executive Director of the GFCF, as well as from a variety of shapes and sizes of Chinese community foundations meant that the conversations touched on global, national and very local issues.

As Xiaojun Hu, director of the Guangdong Harmony Foundation, one of the organizers of the event (along with other Shenzhen and Shanghai based civil society support organizations) observed:

“The seminar was an important and remarkable event for Chinese community foundations, and brought together most of China’s community foundations. These community foundations have different origins and missions but they all work to provide support for communities. Participants included grassroots foundations providing funds for NGOs, like the Guangdong Harmony Foundation, as well as community foundations based around different models, supported by enterprises and government etc.

The development of community foundations in China is still at an incipient stage. These organizations are still exploring their ways in governance, service, and operations etc. With the rapid development of economy and society, as the important link between citizens and society, the role of community foundation in community development, integrating resources to serve for community and establishing a harmonious and sound environment are being deeply realized and emphasized. Currently the community foundation sector in China is flourishing and we expect a significant growth in the future.”

A variety of speakers presented research and case studies, including a mapping of the emerging community foundation field in China conducted by Guandong Harmony Foundation, with support from the GFCF. Some of the key points that emerged were: 

• The exact number of things-that-look-like-or-might-be-usefully-called community foundations is still not clear and more work needs to be done on this front. According to one presenter, the number is around 34; another put the number at closer to 80.
• Community foundations are being established by a different actors, including government and corporations. However, there are also strong examples of such organizations being established by local residents (such as one in Shenzhen that was established through contributions from 90 local residents).
• A number of factors point to the relevance and possibility of creating community foundations in China. These include new conversations around local self-governance, concerns over a weakened sense of community in many parts of the country, and a sense that new ways are required to engage people in their local communities: although the legal and regulatory framework is still hard to navigate, there is also a sense of new opportunities for local fundraising and for building assets.
• Community foundations face a number of challenges too – small resource bases, lack of professionalism and professional development opportunities for staff were among those cited;
• The critical role of trust as an essential component of success if community foundations will be able to engage local citizens and encourage local donations. As one speaker observed, while Myanmar was at the top of the CAF’s World Giving Index, China languished down at 128.

In laying out its vision for community development and the spaces that community foundations might occupy in China, a paper by the Lujiazui Community Foundation (LCF, Shanghai) describes its plans for local community development:

“The LCF wants to set up an organization, which tackles the regeneration of city public spaces. It recruits members with professional backgrounds in public policy, engineering, finance, media and communication. This organization is named as ‘Luogazi Friends’, which is a combination of Shanghai dialect ‘Lujiazui’ and the word ‘Friends.’ We want it to be local as well as international. Ideally, to raise funds, we will take the strategy of ‘three in one.’ The ‘three’ refers to the government, the public (crowdfunding), plus the foundation itself. The LCF will always be here for our community members. We look forward to a better Pudong.”