Giving Thoughts

The China Challenge: Is It Worth the Effort?

By Jenny Bowen, Founder and CEO, Half the Sky Foundation

When we began our work in China fifteen years ago, I don’t think a term like “social enterprise” even existed. In fact most of the healthy NGOs were actually GONGOs, or government-operated non-governmental organizations. Most ordinary people I met in the early days were just struggling to get by and provide for their families. I work in state-run children’s welfare institutions; most people didn’t even know such places existed.

What philanthropy occurred was of the traditional variety—family first, and once future generations were secure, the rare wealthy entrepreneur (usually overseas Chinese) might endow a school or hospital in his ancestral home. But the massive outpouring of public donations, volunteerism, and all-around goodwill that followed the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake seemed to bring about a new social awareness and national empathy. At the same time, China was beginning to prosper; a middle class was rising, and for a few heady months it seemed that the New China might have a strong social conscience.

Although much has changed since 1998, those who aspire to create enterprise for social good in China today, especially if those efforts are directed toward stimulating any sort of systemic change, face some pretty substantial challenges. What feels like a never-ebbing flood of charity scandals has shaken the public trust. The new social consciousness that has been fueled by Weibo (micro blog) and the fast-growing WeChat sometimes feels like a bash-the-do-gooder-free-for-all. Just about everyone who tries to raise philanthropic funds is suspect—frequently for good reason. The idea of any sort of revenue-generating social enterprise is often met with skepticism. And although the government has declared its commitment to facilitating the work of NGOs and social enterprises, there has been little actual progress.

Still, Half the Sky’s experience has taught us that once a true decision to act has been made, no place can move faster than China.

• In 1999, when we arrived in-country, foreigners weren’t allowed inside state-run orphanages. When we first approached the Chinese government with a proposal to bring nurturing, family-like care inside institutional walls in order to give orphaned and abandoned children a second chance at childhood, we were told, “Impossible.”

• Six years later, even though we still lacked legal registration, Half the Sky’s four programs serving children from birth through adolescence in 25 cities had proved their success and so we were invited to consult with the government to create national guidelines for child welfare.

• Six years after that, legally registered, with programs in over 50 cities and growing, Half the Sky launched a five-year partnership with government to train every child welfare worker in the nation.

• And in 2012, we helped establish our sister organization, ChunHui Bo’Ai Children’s Foundation. A 100% Chinese, fully transparent, accountable and legal foundation, ChunHui will carry Half the Sky’s work for China’s marginalized children into the future.

I recount our progress not to trumpet our own achievements, but only as proof that, even in an “impossible” place like China, all things are possible.

So what works? Probably all sorts of approaches. Here’s what’s working for us:

• The government partnership. For Half the Sky it was necessary because our programs were designed to help children who are dependent on the welfare system, but I believe that, at least at this time, finding a way to cooperate with government at some level is essential in China. There are a number of fine NGOs that have operated quietly in the margins for many years; they make a steady social contribution, but likely they will never be allowed to scale the models they have developed because their existence has never been legally recognized. This is, of course, not always by choice.

• Offering scalable solutions to address an urgent and real social need. Even though the need we addressed didn’t seem particularly urgent or real to most government bureaucrats when we first began to tell our story, over time that changed dramatically. Today we are not only a trusted government partner, but also one that is relied upon to help establish and maintain quality care standards nationwide.

• Investment in organizational capacity. Half the Sky is fortunate to have found a few forward-thinking corporations and philanthropists who understand that to be effective, an organization must have much more than cash in its pockets. Thanks to our philanthropic partners, we’ve invested time and resources into developing effective policies and governance, skilled management and field teams, rich training curricula, etc. Now we are trying to do the same for our Chinese sister organization, ChunHui. It is a rare Chinese NGO that has such assets. Social investors who want to make a real difference in China would be wise to offer capacity-building support, both financially and through arranged mentorships.

• A model that, at least in its early iterations, has no revenue-generating component as part of its sustainability plan. This has been true for us, at any rate. The profit motive, even if those profits are dedicated to social good, seems to generate suspicion in China. Over the years we’ve explored various business models to sustain our programs but, in the end, felt it only confused would-be social investors. Only now, after several years of concentrating on purely social return, are we beginning to hear ideas about how our partners in the field might use revenue-producing ideas to help sustain their programs. The key is, I think, that the ideas are born in the field.

• A willingness to educate a budding philanthropic sector. Social investment is entirely new in China. CSR is new in China. But there is tremendous wealth and, especially among the successful young business entrepreneurs, an eagerness to learn, to give back, and to be on the cutting edge. There are a few exciting movements afoot to educate Chinese philanthropists about social impact investing. International philanthropists with an interest in China would do well to investigate and support such efforts.

The challenges are never small in China, but the opportunities have never been greater.

This piece was first published on the Skoll World Forum.

About the author:

A former screenwriter and filmmaker, Jenny Bowen founded Half the Sky in 1998 in order to give something back to her adopted daughter’s many sisters living in China’s welfare institutions. She was convinced that training caregivers, teachers and foster parents to provide the nurturing care that neuroscientists say is crucial for healthy development, could transform the lives of institutionalized children. Half the Sky’s 5 innovative programs now provide nurturing family-like care for thousands of children of all ages living in Chinese orphanages.