Co-authors: Xueling Lee, Denise Chew
3 minutes read
Philanthropy in Asia is on the rise, powered by a surge in wealth on the continent. Today, Asia is home to nearly 900 billionaires, more than any other part of the world, with combined assets of an estimated USD 3.4 trillion. Whilst Asian societies have a long history of charitable giving, today’s wealth holders have begun to give in a more formal way exemplified by the growth in institutional philanthropies.
Half of the 20 largest Asian philanthropies were established over the past 20 years. Seventeen of the 20 are based in three countries: China (including Hong Kong), India, and Singapore.
Half of the 20 are corporate or state-linked but independently operated. In Asia, many high-net-worth individuals or families continue to retain control over their businesses and often choose to give through corporate entities. The prominence of corporate and state-linked philanthropies set Asia apart from the top 20 global funders, 70% of which are private foundations not linked to corporate or government entities.
These are among the findings of a research by The Bridgespan Group, with support of the Institute of Philanthropy. We chose to focus on institutional philanthropies because of their large and growing role in addressing chronic issues in education, health, economic development, and climate change. Our research set out to identify the 20 largest global and Asian institutional philanthropies and to spotlight the practices they employ to produce lasting results. Five practices surfaced again and again in institutions that achieve meaningful and enduring positive change with their philanthropy:
- Put impact first. These funders deploy resources to initiatives with clearly defined goals and paths to impact.
- Set ambitious goals. This approach spurs philanthropies to think beyond symptoms to root causes of social or environmental problems.
- Appropriately resource your giving. Funders make long-term commitments and fully cover their nonprofit grantees’ overhead and organisational development costs in addition to programme expenses.
- Embed data-driven learning. Data is more than just a tool for reporting or auditing. It is a tool for learning and decision-making to maximise the impact of philanthropic investments.
- Engage other actors. The problems philanthropies are addressing are too big and complex for one organisation to solve, a driving force for cross-sector, multi-stakeholder collaboration.
These practices may appear simple and obvious, but we have found that embodying them over time is an uncommon discipline. The problems funders strive to address are always complicated; solving them requires patient progress and willingness to correct course over long periods.
Our research also found that global and Asian funders place top priority on the same three issue areas: education, health, and poverty alleviation. Despite these similarities, we observed distinct differences between global and Asian funders. Among them:
- Asian funders prioritise designing and implementing their own programmes whilst global funders prioritise field building.
- Asia’s largest funders give to an average of seven issue areas; the largest global funders give to an average of five issue areas.
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment receive less attention in Asia than globally.
These differences tell a story of the many paths that funders pursue to achieve their goals. Fortunately, the five high-impact practices are sufficiently flexible to adapt to the specific values and priorities of organisations regardless of where they are located.
Wherever it is pursued, an impact-focused approach to giving has demonstrated its value in helping to create sustainable results. For Asian institutional philanthropies in particular, the five high-impact practices may inspire leaders to do more and do it better. By giving more, better, and faster, Asian institutional philanthropies can help foster more equitable societies and ensure that the remarkable economic growth seen across Asia translates into inclusive and sustainable development for all.
