Beyond Giving – The State of Philanthropy in China: Green Initiatives December Forum

Philanthropy is defined as the desire to help improve the life of others. But it is much more than the individual philanthropist’s giving. It is a sector with its own ecosystem, key players, channels of a collaboration, and funding mechanism. The relationship between the NGOs, the public, as well as the intermediaries together with the funders, forms the philanthropy landscape.

Event Overview

The mainstreaming of the 2030 Agenda and achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been popularly accepted within China’s philanthropic sector. Since 2015 there has been continuous growth in the number of foundations and projects. In fact, as of 2018, project expenditures contributing to SDGs have risen by 94%.

Even for the ongoing pandemic, the Chinese philanthropy sector has provided swift response to the most vulnerable groups. For individuals like us, it is a great time to explore opportunities to engage with the local community and create a more equitable, greener world.

Join Green Initiatives, non-profit leaders and corporate enablers as they share ways to be part of the social sector in China. Some of the questions we would be looking to answer are:

• What does the Chinese philanthropy landscape look like? Who are the key players?
• What are their roles and impact? How do these align with SDGs?
• What are the opportunities and challenges of the non-profits? What do they do and how do they make and evaluate their impact?
• What are the primary concerns and issues faced by the donor community, such as companies and regular individuals who want to make a difference? Are there cultural factors that discourage giving? What are common concerns or distrust shared among potential donors?
• Who are the intermediaries? What are the some of the platforms, tools and/or apps that make 'giving' easier and convenient?

Event Itinerary

18:30-19:15 Registrations & networking
19:15-19:30 Event introduction by GI & Speakers
19:30-20:10 Presentation by the Speakers
20:10-20:40 Open Q&A session with the audience
20:40-21:30 Networking / Event ends

To register for the event, scan the QR code below or visit this link (on mobile).

Speakers

Rui Wang, China Representative, GlobalGiving
Background: With over 10 years serving the philanthropic sector, Rui engages governments, charitable organizations, institutes and private businesses in practice, research, and advise on #PhilanthropyInChina. As China Office Rep, Rui leads GlobalGiving’s grantmaking in China, manages partnerships with government agencies, corporates, and nonprofit partners. GlobalGiving is America’s first and largest Crowdfunding community connecting non-profits, individual donors and companies.
Besides her work at GlobalGiving, Rui also works as independent consultant for UNDP China. Prior to this, Rui worked at Chi Heng Foundation, helping AIDs impacted children and their families in rural China. In the past, Rui worked in hospitality consulting firms for several years, and holds an MA from Lanzhou University of China and an MBA from ESSEC, France.

William Lu, Founder & Managing Partner - FuGuan Law Firm, Board Chairman - Legal Center for NGO (“ForNGO”)
Background: William has been practicing as a professional lawyer since 2002, working for Mayer Brown, Shanghai office for 12 years. William has served as a lawyer in non-profits, charities and impact investing. He also has 17 years of experience working as a volunteer and NGO leader. In 2012, he established ForNGO, as a legal center that runs capacity building seminars for NGOs and conducts academic researches on NGO laws in China. He is also the expert of advisory committee of the NGO administration bureau of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In 2018, ForNGO has worked for UNDP and published a book called “China Charity Law Handbook” in bilingual version. His law firm, FuGuan, is also the first certified “B Corp” law firm in China.

Annie Li, Founder, beYoureyeS and Lanjingling
Background: Annie currently works as Regional Business Analysis in the retail and luxury industry. She has 13+ years’ experiences in IT operations and projects. She is a professional who is constantly looking to combine business tools with technology to create larger impact. Annie launched “beYoureyeS” activities with her husband Ken in 2015, to work to with several visually impaired sports enthusiasts with aspirations to participate in running events and races. In the same year, she also founded NGO “Lanjingling”, with the hope to bring positive influence to the society by creating impact in the sports industry, spreading the ideas of "Inclusion, Equality and Diversity", implementing "Disabled Equality" and "Sports Accessibility ", thus eliminating prejudices, changing public opinions, and finally, creating value for all sections of society.