Giving Thoughts

The Role for Giving Circles in Asian Corporate Philanthropy

By Dr Rob John, Visiting Senior Fellow, National University of Singapore Business School, and Advisory Board Member, The Conference Board Initiative on Corporate Philanthropy

During our research study to understand how philanthropy in Asia is innovating, we were particularly intrigued by the arrival of giving circles—people or groups getting together to give. In a previous post, I reported some exciting examples of new giving circles in Asia, all with strong connections to individuals from the corporate sector. In the U.S., giving circles are popular on the philanthropy landscape, attracting a wide range of individuals who witness the pleasure and impact of pooling their gifts for the common good. Some employee giving circles exist as hardship funds for members of the firm’s extended community such as that run by Boston-based Suffolk Construction.

In Asia, collaborative giving is still in its infancy and in our current study on new models of corporate giving we were keen to explore the relationships between giving circles and the corporation.

Live crowdfunding in Australia

In our first example, corporate partnership has been key to the rapid development of The Funding Network Australia (TFN). TFN is a variation of the giving circle model based on public events where selected nonprofits “pitch” in front of an audience of donors. These “live crowdfunding” events were first pioneered by TFN in London and gradually spread to other countries and adapted to local circumstances.

When TFN set up in Australia in 2013 it recognized businesses as key partners for hosting events and engaging employees. Many of the people participating in TFN’s pilot events in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne worked for large corporations, joining others to listen to the nonprofit pitches and make pledges.

Tom Hull, TFN’s managing director, believes that hosting events has helped some corporations see the potential for staff engagement in corporate philanthropy. “A company is very likely distributing grants to nonprofits and community groups but these efforts often don’t get exposure beyond the foundation or CSR team,” says Hull, considering the TFN platform an opportunity to draw a greater number of executives into community engagement.

TFN is now experimenting with “packaging” its crowdfunding model to be flexibly tailored to meet the specific needs of a company’s community investment and staff engagement programs. Corporate-focused events give the company an opportunity to match funds pledged by staff or offer gifts in kind to early stage nonprofits. The professional services company PwC pledged US$11,000 during one pitching session, and other companies have offered desk space or volunteers to young nonprofits.

Mark Barnaba is chairman of Macquarie Group in Western Australia and a keen supporter of TFN’s unique fundraising events. He says: “The feeling in the room is palpable, and certainly different to mainstream giving.” He believes that the “magic of TFN is both the choice of entrepreneurs and the dynamic of people giving on the night. You really feel that if you pick a cause you are passionate about and give on the night you know it will make a discernable difference.” You can read the case study of TFN Australia on my new website portal about giving circles in Asia.

A hybrid giving circle in Japan

My second example is a giving circle within Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting (MURC), the research arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s largest financial corporation. In 2013, MURC was exploring new ways to engage employees as corporate citizens when one of its staff suggested adapting the model of SVP Tokyo, a giving circle in which he was actively involved.

SVP Tokyo is one of the international chapters of Social Venture Partners Network, one of the best-known giving circle networks in the U.S. In MURC’s adaptation, the company (rather than individual staff) donates a sum that is distributed amongst six nonprofits chosen by polling the employees. More than 10 percent of the company’s 700 staff have been engaged in the screening of candidate nonprofits. Once six nonprofits are selected, MURC’s employees volunteer their time and skills with each organization receiving between five and ten staffers. The volunteers are drawn from across all parts of the company. This hybrid initiative incorporates elements of skills-based volunteering and a more traditional giving circle. Over the past year, nonprofits have received assistance in fundraising strategy and policy development, utilizing the core skills of MURC staff and grants from the company. Following a two-year pilot, the giving circle has been adopted as an official company CSR activity, and there are plans to roll out similar initiatives in other parts of the group.

There is little doubt that giving circles are an important innovation in contemporary Asian philanthropy, and that many circle members will come from a corporate background. There is real scope to embed collaborative giving into the CSR practices of Asian corporations, engaging employees to give and volunteer as a team to the benefit of individuals, the company and wider society.

In my next and final post in this series I’ll be looking at corporations that take an ecosystem approach to supporting social enterprises.

About the author:

Rob John is a visiting senior fellow at the Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy, NUS Business School, Singapore. From 2004 – 11 he helped build the European Venture Philanthropy Association and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network. Philanthropy is his third career, having started out as a research chemist before moving to international aid and development. Rob splits his time between UK and Singapore.