March 12, 2010
Following on the last post on grassroots NGOs, here's another post (in Chinese and English) from Yu Fangqiang, who works for Yirenping Center for Anti-Discrimination Law, a Chinese NGO that was in the news last year when its office in Beijing was raided by Chinese authorities, and its publications confiscated. I met Fangqiang and interviewed him a few months prior to that raid when I was in Yunnan interviewing a HIV/AIDS NGO. Fangqiang was working with that NGO to develop a program to provide legal assistance to people who were being discriminated against because they were HIV positive. Not surprisingly for someone who works on the front lines, Fangqiang's observations about the challenges facing grassroots NGOs in China are right on the mark. He also has some interesting criticisms about the way in which international NGOs and foundations deal with grassroots NGOs, giving them funding for projects but ignoring their core funding needs to pay for staff, office equipment, and other expenses that an NGO needs to survive.
This article was taken from an online colloquium on Yazhou Diaocha (Asia Investigation), http://yazhoudiaocha.com/commentary/225.php
2nd Online Colloquium: Challenges for Grassroots NGOs
2009年05月17日 05:01 | 评论(0)
于方强 : 草根组织的挑战
Fangqiang Yu : Challenges for Grassroots NGOs in China
(Scroll down for English text)
在中国大陆组建一个非官方背景的NGO，是相当困难的一件事。这种困难来自：政府政策束缚、官方背景NGO的资源垄断、社会诚信缺失、草根NGO自身能力不足、资金支持方的要求脱离现实。
政府政策束缚
中国大陆《宪法》规定：中华人民共和国公民有言论、出版、集会、结社、游行、示威的自由。但要在大陆结社（组建一个NGO），就必须按照《社会团体登记管理条例》的要求去登记，否则不承认其法律地位。没有合法的地位，公开接受社会捐赠，追究起来是犯罪行为。该法例规定，成立一个组织，除了要有固定的住所、专职工作人员和3万元以上的注册资金外，还必须要有业务主管单位的批准文件。而"业务主管单位"，则是指各级政府部门。这也被称为中国特色的"双重管理制度"----即非政府组织由民政部门和另一行政部门共同管理。而在现实中，很少有行政部门愿意成为"业务主管单位"，因为这会惹来很多"麻烦"。近期，有消息透露，《社会团体登记管理条例》正在修订，不符合注册条件的组织可以采用"备案"的形式获得合法的身份。但根据全国近二十个省市的新规定来看，"备案"令人失望的预期增强。
官方背景NGO的资源垄断
因为大陆严格的非政府组织管理方式，导致一些带有官方背景的NGO才有能力注册。比如一些听起来是NGO的残疾人联合会、妇女联合会、工人委员会等，都是官方背景的NGO，这些组织在中国被称为"GONGO"。甚至现在，还有一些官方NGO的工作人员薪酬由政府拨付。这些"GONGO"曾在很长一段时间内垄断了公益资源，包括资金、人才、社会信任度等。以去年发生的"512汶川大地震"为例，全国的捐款仅能通过中国红十字会、中华慈善总会发放到灾区。其他的机构公布捐赠账号和公开募集捐款，都有违法犯罪的风险。清华大学NGO研究所的一份研究报告也证实了这一点。
社会诚信缺失
从1978年改革开放后，中国大陆在政治、经济上经历了巨大的社会变革。原本的"熟人社会"由于急剧的城市化演变而支离破碎，传统社会价值观也因"金钱至上"的私利主义迅速瓦解。在这种情况下，一个不具有合法地位的草根NGO，需要面临苛刻、甚至无理的质疑和更长时间的社会考验。社会普遍不相信来自民间的个人可以毫无功利目的去做一件对社会有利的事。在由于社会诚信的缺失，商业支持也变得更为功利----他们更愿意将资金投入到令政府满意的领域或者机构。
草根NGO自身能力不足
很多投身NGO的人，都是在试图实现自己的理想。而对于财务、机构管理、对外交流方面则能力较弱。当前大陆很多NGO领袖，不仅没有"公民社会"的概念、不能亲身示范做一个"公民"，还多半是社会的失败者----他们被旧有体制所淘汰，才被迫接触到一个全新的NGO领域，能力视野都有很大的局限。这就会出现财务不透明、人才流失、使命感丧失等"治理危机"，一旦因此而遭受社会质疑时，往往难于招架。
资金支持方的要求脱离现实
现在，中国大陆已经存有很多草根NGO。除了极个别民政注册外，他们或者未注册，或者工商注册。支持这些草根NGO成长的基金会也越来越多，比如：全球基金、亚洲基金会、福特基金会、盖茨基金会等。这些机构对中国草根NGO的成长做出了巨大贡献，但其带来的不良影响也非常深远。他们无视中国大陆草根NGO的现实，而仅仅把草根NGO当成完成项目的工作，往往只支持活动费用，不支持人员工资、行政费用、设备购买、办公室租金。很多草根NGO为了生存而不得不做假账，出现严重的财务问题，资金支持方对这种现象不寻求更好的解决方法反而大加指责，进一步恶化了中国大陆草根NGO的生存环境。这些资金支持方需要明白一个关键道理：在一些特定领域，如IDU人群、MSM人群、HIV感染者、流动人口，草根NGO与社群有着异常紧密的联系，官方或官方NGO没有草根NGO，根本无法完成项目目标。
作者简介：于方强，北京益仁平中心反歧视法律援助事务负责人，关注大陆公民社会发展，涉足领域包括AIDS、HBV、劳工、助学、罕见病等。
Challenges for Grassroots Organizations in China
In mainland China it is extremely hard to start-up a non-governmental organization (NGO) without a background in government. The difficulties are due to restrictive government policies, monopolization of resources by NGOs with government background, a lack of trust throughout the overall society, the lack of capabilities among the grassroots' organizations, and unrealistic expectations from funders.
Restrictive Government Policies
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China requires that all its citizens have the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to peaceably assemble, organize, demonstrate and petition. However, in order to organize in mainland China (i.e., to establish an NGO), one has to register the organization according to the Social Organizations Registration and Administration Act. If the organization does not do this it is not protected under the law. It is criminal for such an organization to publicly accept outside donations without a legal status. In addition, to establish such an NGO, they must have a regular business location, full-time staff, a registration capital of more than thirty thousand yuan and official documents with a stamp of approval from the governmental agencies, which have been designated as "supervising offices."
The fact that one non-governmental organization will be co-administered by a civil affairs governmental office and another public administration office represents the unique "Chinese way" of double administration. However, in reality what happens is that few public administration offices actually are interested in bearing the "troubles" of being a "supervising office." Recently the Social Organizations Registration and Administration Act has been amended. It now states that organizations that are disqualified from registering may still get legal status under a separate filing system. However provisions of the amended Act, enacted in nearly twenty provinces and cities across the country, are expected to still be discouraging.
Monopoly of Resources by NGOs with Government Background
Because of the rigorous administration of NGOs, only those with government background are able to register. Some NGOs - such as Disabled Persons' Federation, Women's Federation, National Labor Union, etc. - all have governmental background. These organizations are called "GONGO" in China. Some of the staff of these NGOs are even on the government payroll. These "GONGOs" have long monopolized the philanthropic resources of China, including their funding, human resources, social trust, etc. Take for example last year's Wenchuan Earthquake. Donations from all over the country were only distributed to the stricken region via the Red Cross Society of China or China Charity Federation. Other organizations that publish bank account numbers to solicit and accept donations run the risk of being charged by the court, according to a research report done by the Center of NGOs, at Tsinghua University.
A Lack of Trust Throughout Society
Since the Reform and Opening Policy of 1978, Mainland China has seen tremendous social changes both politically and economically. The past "society of acquaintances" completely fell apart due to the rapid urbanization process. In addition, its traditional social values were devoured by the "money first" principle driven by self interests. In this context a grassroots NGO with no legal status faces harsh and even irrational doubts and a long road to societal acceptance. In general, the public does not believe that one person, with no government affiliation, would do something beneficial for society without a self-interested motive. Also because of this lack of trust, enterprise sponsorships prefer funding causes or organizations that the government has endorsed.
The Lack of Capabilities Among Grassroots Organizations
Admittedly, many people involved with NGOs are idealists who want to realize their dreams for society. They might not be all that great in dealing with finances, administration and external communication. However, many NGO managers in mainland China are people who were 'failures' in society - they are abandoned by the old system and are forced to this whole new world of NGOs, with enormous limitations in both their capability and their visions. "Administration crises" can easily arise in their organizations because of non-transparent financial records, loss of talent, and an eroding sense of mission. Once these difficulties become public, they are almost always unable to be resolved.
Unrealistic Expectations from Funders
Today, there are already many grassroots NGOs in mainland China. Most of them are unregistered, others are registered as business organizations. Fewer are registered at a civil affairs office. There are increasingly more foundations that support these NGOs, such as the Global Fund, The Asia Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Gates Foundation. Even though these agencies have made tremendous contributions to the growth of NGOs in mainland China, their negative impact can be just as profound. They tend to see these NGOs as tools to accomplish their local projects, so they only fund their own specific activities and ignore the broader reality, which is that these NGOs also need to pay bills, salaries, administration costs, office supplies, rent, etc. Consequently, grassroots NGOs sometimes resort to manipulating their books in order to survive and this leads to very serious financial problems. When this happens, funders tend not to seek better solutions, but instead they severely criticize the NGOs, which creates an even more difficult situation.
One important thing these funders need to know:
In specific areas, these NGOs have critical close connections with vulnerable groups such as Injecting Drug Users (the IDU population), Men who have sex with men (the MSM population), people infected with HIV, and the migrant population. The government or governmental NGOs simply cannot accomplish their projects without the assistance from grassroots NGOs.
About the author:
Fangqiang Yu, Managing Partner of Beijing Yirenping Center for Anti-Discrimination Law. He focuses on the social development of citizens living in mainland China, and specialized in AIDS-, HBV-, labor-, education assistance-, rare disease-related fields.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Shaping the Future of Grassroots NGOs
The following was taken from Asia Catalyst, a blog set up by Meg Davis about human rights and NGOs in Asia.
March 4, 2010 3:54 PM | No Comments
By Christina Lem
At times of change, start-up organizations should ask themselves what they want to become. If you want to remain independent, what is your future plan? Do you eventually want to be absorbed into a larger organization? Will you shut down once the need you're serving is met? NGOs should know how to shape their own future before others make the decision for them.
A few years ago, I visited over 50 non-profit organizations throughout Southern and East Africa on behalf of a foundation. The majority were grassroots groups created by dynamic founders who were determined to provide direct services or advocacy aid to those in terrible circumstances. Often these organizations had tiny staff and relied on community volunteers. They had just enough skills to create a budget and to document metrics that measured outcomes. Some didn't, and were considered to be failing by the international NGOs that were giving them technical advice. Almost all were dedicated to the work, but overwhelmed by weak management skills, low capacity, emotional burnout, limited financial resources, donor fatigue, and lack of infrastructure and trust in government.
This was despite the fact that in 2007 Sub-Saharan Africa received USD 38.7 billion in international aid. Much of the money trickled down to these grassroots organizations via government or large NGOs serving as their intermediaries, where bottlenecks and drip feeds were common. Grassroots NGOs often complained of not receiving the technical skills they needed to become self-sufficient, while their technical advisors, who were either government or large NGOs, frequently felt NGOs were not organized enough to implement what they were being taught. It was a constant, frustrating tug-of-war.
Grassroots NGOs face similar challenges in Asia. In some Asian countries, NGOs also face a difficult legal non-profit registration system. In China, for instance, non-profits without governmental approval must register as business organizations, without tax exemption and non-profit legal protection. Yet these restrictions have not slowed the growth of China's non-profit sector. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of those registered as government-operated non-governmental organizations (GONGOs) jumped from 6,000 nonprofit organizations in the late 1990s to 386,916 in 2007. Most grassroots organizations work without any registration.
For groups like these, private funding is critical for sustainability. But money is only part of the equation. Sooner or later almost all private funders will ask their grantees questions about their plans for long-term sustainability and organizational growth, especially international funders. Most grassroots directors are activists, not business managers. But these two realms may not be as different as they might seem.
In the US, only 30% of start-up businesses still exist after 10 years. According to Scott Shane's "The Illusions of Entrepreneurship," sole proprietorships--such as single-starter non-profits--have the highest rates of failure. One likely reason is that they frequently begin operations without plans for growth. Important questions such as increasing intellectual and resource capacity, succession, and the future growth of the company are often considered too late.
Grassroots NGOs often have to react to too many needs and have little time or energy to think about the long term. But the best approach to gradually increasing capacity? Strategically planning for such growth, in phases. This will require strong management skills and a diverse network of supporters. NGOs should ask themselves:
· Is our organization making a substantial impact? How can we prove this?
· Do we want this organization to grow? In what ways? Do we have the intellectual and management capacity to make this happen?
· How can we involve others--advisors, board members, funders, employees--who might have new and needed skills?
· What will happen if the founder leaves? Is there someone who can effectively take his/her place?
· Since we can't do everything on our own, should we merge with another grassroots organization or larger nonprofit, and share hard-to-find resources?
This kind of long-term organizational planning should be seen as fundamental to the organization's work. Convening, organizing and networking to share resources would further strengthen grassroots organizations as a whole. Knowing the answers to these questions requires an honest evaluation of how the organization functions and can effectively grow - which can be essential to attracting new donors and retaining the ones you have already.
Christina Lem is a consultant to international foundations and non-profit organizations, ranging from start-up groups to large, established entities.
March 4, 2010 3:54 PM | No Comments
By Christina Lem
At times of change, start-up organizations should ask themselves what they want to become. If you want to remain independent, what is your future plan? Do you eventually want to be absorbed into a larger organization? Will you shut down once the need you're serving is met? NGOs should know how to shape their own future before others make the decision for them.
A few years ago, I visited over 50 non-profit organizations throughout Southern and East Africa on behalf of a foundation. The majority were grassroots groups created by dynamic founders who were determined to provide direct services or advocacy aid to those in terrible circumstances. Often these organizations had tiny staff and relied on community volunteers. They had just enough skills to create a budget and to document metrics that measured outcomes. Some didn't, and were considered to be failing by the international NGOs that were giving them technical advice. Almost all were dedicated to the work, but overwhelmed by weak management skills, low capacity, emotional burnout, limited financial resources, donor fatigue, and lack of infrastructure and trust in government.
This was despite the fact that in 2007 Sub-Saharan Africa received USD 38.7 billion in international aid. Much of the money trickled down to these grassroots organizations via government or large NGOs serving as their intermediaries, where bottlenecks and drip feeds were common. Grassroots NGOs often complained of not receiving the technical skills they needed to become self-sufficient, while their technical advisors, who were either government or large NGOs, frequently felt NGOs were not organized enough to implement what they were being taught. It was a constant, frustrating tug-of-war.
Grassroots NGOs face similar challenges in Asia. In some Asian countries, NGOs also face a difficult legal non-profit registration system. In China, for instance, non-profits without governmental approval must register as business organizations, without tax exemption and non-profit legal protection. Yet these restrictions have not slowed the growth of China's non-profit sector. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of those registered as government-operated non-governmental organizations (GONGOs) jumped from 6,000 nonprofit organizations in the late 1990s to 386,916 in 2007. Most grassroots organizations work without any registration.
For groups like these, private funding is critical for sustainability. But money is only part of the equation. Sooner or later almost all private funders will ask their grantees questions about their plans for long-term sustainability and organizational growth, especially international funders. Most grassroots directors are activists, not business managers. But these two realms may not be as different as they might seem.
In the US, only 30% of start-up businesses still exist after 10 years. According to Scott Shane's "The Illusions of Entrepreneurship," sole proprietorships--such as single-starter non-profits--have the highest rates of failure. One likely reason is that they frequently begin operations without plans for growth. Important questions such as increasing intellectual and resource capacity, succession, and the future growth of the company are often considered too late.
Grassroots NGOs often have to react to too many needs and have little time or energy to think about the long term. But the best approach to gradually increasing capacity? Strategically planning for such growth, in phases. This will require strong management skills and a diverse network of supporters. NGOs should ask themselves:
· Is our organization making a substantial impact? How can we prove this?
· Do we want this organization to grow? In what ways? Do we have the intellectual and management capacity to make this happen?
· How can we involve others--advisors, board members, funders, employees--who might have new and needed skills?
· What will happen if the founder leaves? Is there someone who can effectively take his/her place?
· Since we can't do everything on our own, should we merge with another grassroots organization or larger nonprofit, and share hard-to-find resources?
This kind of long-term organizational planning should be seen as fundamental to the organization's work. Convening, organizing and networking to share resources would further strengthen grassroots organizations as a whole. Knowing the answers to these questions requires an honest evaluation of how the organization functions and can effectively grow - which can be essential to attracting new donors and retaining the ones you have already.
Christina Lem is a consultant to international foundations and non-profit organizations, ranging from start-up groups to large, established entities.
Xu Yongguang's talk at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China
Below is my translation of Mr. Xu Yongguang's remarks (along with the original Chinese text) at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China on February 24, 2010.
非公募基金会：改变中国民间公益生态
徐永光
Nonpublic Fundraising (private) Foundations: Changing China’s Nongovernmental, Public Welfare Environment
Xu Yongguang
春节期间，我做了一个梦，梦见财政部和国家税务总局修改了关于非营利组织免税问题的两个政策性文件。这两个文件收紧了国家对非营利组织的税收优惠政策。为此，在2009年12月，24家基金会负责人致函财政部和国家税务总局，要求与财政部长谢旭人和国家税务总局局长肖捷直接对话，并请求国务院对两个文件的合法性进行审查。
During the Spring Festival, I had a dream to modify the two policy documents of the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation regarding non-profit organization tax exemption. These two documents restrict the state's preferential taxation policies toward nonprofits (NPOs). To this end, in December 2009, 24 Foundations wrote to the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, asking for a direct dialogue with Mr. Xie, the Minister of Finance and State Administration of Taxation director, Mr Xiao Jie, and to request the State Council to carry out a review on the two documents.
这个事件，一方面反映了中国非营利组织发展的政策环境还不尽人意，一方面也反映在非营利组织认为自己的权益受到损害时，哪怕这种损害是来自政府部门，也懂得依据法律程序，来维护自己的权力。
This event, on the one hand shows that China's policy environment for NPOs is unsatisfactory. But it also shows that NPOs know how to protect their own rights in accordance with legal procedures when their rights are being infringed, even by government departments.
去年10月，我率中国非公募基金会赴美访问团，在哈佛大学的一次会议上说：“中国经济体制改革30年来，经济迅猛发展，已经成为世界第三大经济体，令世界感到意外。我相信，未来30年，中国的基金会的发展也会让世界感到意外，有可能是美国老大，中国老二”。中国的同行都以为然。
Last year in October, I led a delegation of China's non-public offering foundations to the United States to a meeting at Harvard University, where I said: "China's economic reforms 30 years ago, rapid economic development has become the world's third largest economy, and surprised the world . I believe that over the next 30 years, China's development of its foundations will surprise the world, and even become second only to the U.S. Chinese foundations all believe this.
2004年中国《基金会管理条例》的出台，使中国非公募基金会得以破茧而出。到2009年短短5年间，非公募从无到有，已经注册成立846家，数量直逼已经发展了30年的公募基金会会（991家）。更令人兴奋的是，因为私人财富的迅速增长，中国的巨型私人基金会已经出现。去年，有两位福建籍企业家相继亮相：上半年，福耀玻璃董事长曹德旺宣布要捐出价值40亿人民币的福耀玻璃股票成立以他父亲名字命名的“河仁基金会”，因此引发了捐股能否成立基金会的争论，促使财政部在当年发出了《关于企业公益性捐赠股权有关财务问题的通知》，明确捐股可以捐赠给基金会。下半年，福建富豪陈发树给刚刚成立的新华都基金会捐股票83亿，使这家基金会一夜之间成为中国资产规模最大的基金会。
非公募基金会作为中国“民间慈善崛起的新生代”（人民日报语），对于改变中国民间公益的生态环境具有重要意义。
China’s "Foundation Management Regulations" passed in 2004 was a breakthrough for China's non-public fundraising foundations. By 2009, just five years later, the number of non-public fundraising foundations have gone from 0 to 846, and nearly matched the number of public fundraising foundations that have developed over the last 30-years (991). Even more exciting is that because of the rapid growth of private wealth, large private foundations have emerged in China. Last year, two Fujian entrepreneurs emerged: in the first half of 2009, Fuyao Chairman Cao Dewang announced he would donate 4 billion yuan in Fuyao shares in his father's name to set up the "Heren Foundation," which led to a controversy over whether you could use company shares to establish a foundation. This prompted the Ministry of Finance to issue this year a "Notice on Financial Issues regarding Equity-linked Corporate Charitable Donations", to clarify that shares could be donated to foundations. In the second half of 2009, Fujian Regal Chen Fa Shu donated 8.3 billion yuan in stock to the newly established Xinhuadu Foundation, making that foundation’s assets the largest in China. Non-public fundraising foundations represent the "rise of a new generation of non-governmental charitable initiatives in China" (People's Daily), and is of great significance to changing the environment for China's nongovernmental public welfare sector.
一、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织登记难的制度瓶颈
长期以来，根据民间组织双重管理体制的规定，我国的基金会和慈善组织都带有很强“官办”色彩，只有政府或者其授权的部门才有设立慈善组织的可能。非公募基金会的设立，民政部门既可以做业务管理部门，又是登记注册部门，为企业和企业家回报社会、实现企业社会责任和参与公共事务提供了渠道。换句话说，过去，个人、企业参与公益，只有捐钱的权力，现在有权自己办公益组织了。
我国非公募基金会的发展正处于起飞的初期阶段，可以预期在接下来的10到20年期间还将是设立非公募基金会发展的高潮期。这与世界上各国基金会的发展规律基本吻合。
1. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the systemic bottleneck for civil society organization registration.
For a long time, due to the provisions of the dual management system for non-governmental organizations, China's foundations and philanthropic organizations have had a strong government background. Only the government or its authorized departments had the possibility of setting up charitable organizations. For non-public fundraising foundations, the Ministry of Civil Affairs can serve as both the professional supervising agency and the registration agency, in order for enterprises and entrepreneurs to give back to society, and realize corporate social responsibility and provide a channel for participation in public affairs. In other words, in the past, individuals and enterprises only had the power to donate money to participate in public service, now they can establish their own public welfare organizations.
The development of China's non-public fundraising foundations is in the early stages of take-off, and we can expect the next 10 to 20-year period to be the high tide. This will be in line with development of foundations in other countries.
二、 非公募基金会突破了民间慈善资源配置不合理的瓶颈
我国的公募基金会已经有20多年的发展历史。这些基金会的资金筹集、善款使用和日常管理等方方面面，难以脱离政府的控制和影响，民间捐赠的使用往往是从民间流向政府，弥补政府公共财政投入的不足。这既与政府职能转变的改革大势不符，也抑制了民间慈善力量的生长发育。中国非营利组织的增加值和就业人数，在服务业中所占比例大约都只占0.3%，与世界平均水平相差甚远，民间公益服务机构获取资源难是一个重要原因。这是中国民间组织继登记注册难之后的第二个制度瓶颈。
2. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the irrational bottleneck blocking the allocation of resources for nongovernmental charitable foundations.
Public fundraising foundations have a history of more than 20 years in China. The public foundation's fund-raising, donations, daily management, etc., are not easily separated from government control. And the use of private donations often gets diverted from the people to the government, in order to make up shortfalls in the government’s budget. This trend does not conform with the reform of government functions, and inhibits the growth and development of non-governmental charitable efforts. Chinese non-profit organizations represent only about 0.3% of the service industry in terms of value-added and employment. This is a far cry from the world average. Non-governmental public welfare organizations’ difficulty in getting access to resources is an important reason. But the most important reason has to do with the difficulty of registering non-governmental organizations.
非公募基金会可以自主地确定自己的公益项目和资助方向，慈善资源可以流向政府系统之外的民间公益服务领域，成为民间公益服务机构（俗称草根组织）的重要资源提供者，再造公益产业链，这将从根本上改善民间公益发展的生态环境。
在2008年汶川地震发生后，非公募基金会反映迅速，成为草根组织迅速投入抗震救灾和灾后重建的重要资金提供者。如我所在的南都基金会，就资助了60多家草根组织的灾后重建项目。
Non-public fundraising foundations have the autonomy to determine the direction of their public welfare projects and funding. Charitable resources can flow towards public service areas outside of the government system, and turn into an important resource provider for non-governmental public welfare organizations (commonly known as grass-roots organizations). This will fundamentally improve the environment for the development of non-governmental public welfare.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, non-public fundraising foundations rapid response became a major provider of funds for grassroots organizations’ rapid involvement in the earthquake relief and reconstruction. For example, Nandu Foundation which I work for, has funded more than 60 grass-roots organizations engaged in post-disaster reconstruction projects.
三、非公募基金会突破了民间组织独立性和治理难的制度瓶颈
非公募基金会出现之前，从政府部门脱胎出来的公募基金会因其与政府之间存在千丝万缕的联系，难以保持其自身的独立性。非公募基金会与政府之间没有财产上的纠葛，也无人事上的交错，具有独立于政府的人格，为确保其独立性并实现以理事会为决策核心的有效治理提供了制度保证。
3. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken the systemic bottleneck restricting the independence and governance of civil society organizations.
Before the advent of non-public fundraising foundations, public fundraising foundations that emerged out of government departments, had a hard time asserting their own independence because of the inextricable link that exists the government and these foundations. Nonpublic fundraising foundations do not share property or personnel with the government and thus are more independent of government.
四、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织人才严重匮乏的瓶颈
以往中国非营利组织从业者主要是两部分人，一是原来的政府工作人员或退休干部，二是追求社会理想的知识分子，缺少有经营管理能力的专业人才。非公募基金会使大量熟谙现代公司治理和市场管理专业的人士投身公益领域，同时，非公募基金会可以以接近于市场的薪酬待遇吸引年轻专业人才，对改善非营利部门的人才结构产生了重大影响。
非公募基金会的成长对于中国公民社会的培育和发展具有举足轻重的影响。在大发展中要避免大混乱，这是业内同仁的共识。为此，2009年中国非公募基金会发展论坛发布了《非公募基金会自律宣言》。今年1月，30多家非公募基金会和公募基金会联合发起创建中国基金会中心，让基金会自律从信息透明开始，通过提高基金会的透明度、公信力，通过提升基金会行业的自律、自治、自我规范和自我服务的能力，来引领中国整个民间公益行业的健康发展。
4. Nonpublic fundraising foundations are breaking through the bottleneck of lack of capable practitioners in civil society organizations.
In the past, practitioners in China’s non-profit organizations were mainly of two kinds. One was former government staff or retired cadres. The second was intellectuals in the the pursuit of social ideals. What was lacking was professionals with management capacity. Nonpublic fundraising foundations have brought into the public arena a large number of such professionals who are well versed in modern corporate governance and market regulation. At the same time, non-public fundraising foundations can offer salaries that come closer to compensation packages that attract young professionals, and can have a major impact on improving the personnel structure of the non-profit sector.
The growth of nonpublic fundraising foundations has had a significant impact in fostering China’s civil society. In the large-scale development to avoid chaos, this is the consensus of colleagues in the industry. To this end, in 2009, China's non-public fundraising foundations Development Forum issued the "Declaration of self-discipline for non-public fundraising foundation." In January of this year, more than 30 non-public fundraising foundations and public fundraising foundations joined together to found the China Foundation Center, to encourage foundations to start disciplining themselves through information transparency, thereby improving the transparency and credibility of foundations, and improving the discipline, governance, standardization and service of foundations, so that we can look forward to the healthy development of China’s nongovernmental public welfare sector.
非公募基金会：改变中国民间公益生态
徐永光
Nonpublic Fundraising (private) Foundations: Changing China’s Nongovernmental, Public Welfare Environment
Xu Yongguang
春节期间，我做了一个梦，梦见财政部和国家税务总局修改了关于非营利组织免税问题的两个政策性文件。这两个文件收紧了国家对非营利组织的税收优惠政策。为此，在2009年12月，24家基金会负责人致函财政部和国家税务总局，要求与财政部长谢旭人和国家税务总局局长肖捷直接对话，并请求国务院对两个文件的合法性进行审查。
During the Spring Festival, I had a dream to modify the two policy documents of the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation regarding non-profit organization tax exemption. These two documents restrict the state's preferential taxation policies toward nonprofits (NPOs). To this end, in December 2009, 24 Foundations wrote to the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, asking for a direct dialogue with Mr. Xie, the Minister of Finance and State Administration of Taxation director, Mr Xiao Jie, and to request the State Council to carry out a review on the two documents.
这个事件，一方面反映了中国非营利组织发展的政策环境还不尽人意，一方面也反映在非营利组织认为自己的权益受到损害时，哪怕这种损害是来自政府部门，也懂得依据法律程序，来维护自己的权力。
This event, on the one hand shows that China's policy environment for NPOs is unsatisfactory. But it also shows that NPOs know how to protect their own rights in accordance with legal procedures when their rights are being infringed, even by government departments.
去年10月，我率中国非公募基金会赴美访问团，在哈佛大学的一次会议上说：“中国经济体制改革30年来，经济迅猛发展，已经成为世界第三大经济体，令世界感到意外。我相信，未来30年，中国的基金会的发展也会让世界感到意外，有可能是美国老大，中国老二”。中国的同行都以为然。
Last year in October, I led a delegation of China's non-public offering foundations to the United States to a meeting at Harvard University, where I said: "China's economic reforms 30 years ago, rapid economic development has become the world's third largest economy, and surprised the world . I believe that over the next 30 years, China's development of its foundations will surprise the world, and even become second only to the U.S. Chinese foundations all believe this.
2004年中国《基金会管理条例》的出台，使中国非公募基金会得以破茧而出。到2009年短短5年间，非公募从无到有，已经注册成立846家，数量直逼已经发展了30年的公募基金会会（991家）。更令人兴奋的是，因为私人财富的迅速增长，中国的巨型私人基金会已经出现。去年，有两位福建籍企业家相继亮相：上半年，福耀玻璃董事长曹德旺宣布要捐出价值40亿人民币的福耀玻璃股票成立以他父亲名字命名的“河仁基金会”，因此引发了捐股能否成立基金会的争论，促使财政部在当年发出了《关于企业公益性捐赠股权有关财务问题的通知》，明确捐股可以捐赠给基金会。下半年，福建富豪陈发树给刚刚成立的新华都基金会捐股票83亿，使这家基金会一夜之间成为中国资产规模最大的基金会。
非公募基金会作为中国“民间慈善崛起的新生代”（人民日报语），对于改变中国民间公益的生态环境具有重要意义。
China’s "Foundation Management Regulations" passed in 2004 was a breakthrough for China's non-public fundraising foundations. By 2009, just five years later, the number of non-public fundraising foundations have gone from 0 to 846, and nearly matched the number of public fundraising foundations that have developed over the last 30-years (991). Even more exciting is that because of the rapid growth of private wealth, large private foundations have emerged in China. Last year, two Fujian entrepreneurs emerged: in the first half of 2009, Fuyao Chairman Cao Dewang announced he would donate 4 billion yuan in Fuyao shares in his father's name to set up the "Heren Foundation," which led to a controversy over whether you could use company shares to establish a foundation. This prompted the Ministry of Finance to issue this year a "Notice on Financial Issues regarding Equity-linked Corporate Charitable Donations", to clarify that shares could be donated to foundations. In the second half of 2009, Fujian Regal Chen Fa Shu donated 8.3 billion yuan in stock to the newly established Xinhuadu Foundation, making that foundation’s assets the largest in China. Non-public fundraising foundations represent the "rise of a new generation of non-governmental charitable initiatives in China" (People's Daily), and is of great significance to changing the environment for China's nongovernmental public welfare sector.
一、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织登记难的制度瓶颈
长期以来，根据民间组织双重管理体制的规定，我国的基金会和慈善组织都带有很强“官办”色彩，只有政府或者其授权的部门才有设立慈善组织的可能。非公募基金会的设立，民政部门既可以做业务管理部门，又是登记注册部门，为企业和企业家回报社会、实现企业社会责任和参与公共事务提供了渠道。换句话说，过去，个人、企业参与公益，只有捐钱的权力，现在有权自己办公益组织了。
我国非公募基金会的发展正处于起飞的初期阶段，可以预期在接下来的10到20年期间还将是设立非公募基金会发展的高潮期。这与世界上各国基金会的发展规律基本吻合。
1. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the systemic bottleneck for civil society organization registration.
For a long time, due to the provisions of the dual management system for non-governmental organizations, China's foundations and philanthropic organizations have had a strong government background. Only the government or its authorized departments had the possibility of setting up charitable organizations. For non-public fundraising foundations, the Ministry of Civil Affairs can serve as both the professional supervising agency and the registration agency, in order for enterprises and entrepreneurs to give back to society, and realize corporate social responsibility and provide a channel for participation in public affairs. In other words, in the past, individuals and enterprises only had the power to donate money to participate in public service, now they can establish their own public welfare organizations.
The development of China's non-public fundraising foundations is in the early stages of take-off, and we can expect the next 10 to 20-year period to be the high tide. This will be in line with development of foundations in other countries.
二、 非公募基金会突破了民间慈善资源配置不合理的瓶颈
我国的公募基金会已经有20多年的发展历史。这些基金会的资金筹集、善款使用和日常管理等方方面面，难以脱离政府的控制和影响，民间捐赠的使用往往是从民间流向政府，弥补政府公共财政投入的不足。这既与政府职能转变的改革大势不符，也抑制了民间慈善力量的生长发育。中国非营利组织的增加值和就业人数，在服务业中所占比例大约都只占0.3%，与世界平均水平相差甚远，民间公益服务机构获取资源难是一个重要原因。这是中国民间组织继登记注册难之后的第二个制度瓶颈。
2. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the irrational bottleneck blocking the allocation of resources for nongovernmental charitable foundations.
Public fundraising foundations have a history of more than 20 years in China. The public foundation's fund-raising, donations, daily management, etc., are not easily separated from government control. And the use of private donations often gets diverted from the people to the government, in order to make up shortfalls in the government’s budget. This trend does not conform with the reform of government functions, and inhibits the growth and development of non-governmental charitable efforts. Chinese non-profit organizations represent only about 0.3% of the service industry in terms of value-added and employment. This is a far cry from the world average. Non-governmental public welfare organizations’ difficulty in getting access to resources is an important reason. But the most important reason has to do with the difficulty of registering non-governmental organizations.
非公募基金会可以自主地确定自己的公益项目和资助方向，慈善资源可以流向政府系统之外的民间公益服务领域，成为民间公益服务机构（俗称草根组织）的重要资源提供者，再造公益产业链，这将从根本上改善民间公益发展的生态环境。
在2008年汶川地震发生后，非公募基金会反映迅速，成为草根组织迅速投入抗震救灾和灾后重建的重要资金提供者。如我所在的南都基金会，就资助了60多家草根组织的灾后重建项目。
Non-public fundraising foundations have the autonomy to determine the direction of their public welfare projects and funding. Charitable resources can flow towards public service areas outside of the government system, and turn into an important resource provider for non-governmental public welfare organizations (commonly known as grass-roots organizations). This will fundamentally improve the environment for the development of non-governmental public welfare.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, non-public fundraising foundations rapid response became a major provider of funds for grassroots organizations’ rapid involvement in the earthquake relief and reconstruction. For example, Nandu Foundation which I work for, has funded more than 60 grass-roots organizations engaged in post-disaster reconstruction projects.
三、非公募基金会突破了民间组织独立性和治理难的制度瓶颈
非公募基金会出现之前，从政府部门脱胎出来的公募基金会因其与政府之间存在千丝万缕的联系，难以保持其自身的独立性。非公募基金会与政府之间没有财产上的纠葛，也无人事上的交错，具有独立于政府的人格，为确保其独立性并实现以理事会为决策核心的有效治理提供了制度保证。
3. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken the systemic bottleneck restricting the independence and governance of civil society organizations.
Before the advent of non-public fundraising foundations, public fundraising foundations that emerged out of government departments, had a hard time asserting their own independence because of the inextricable link that exists the government and these foundations. Nonpublic fundraising foundations do not share property or personnel with the government and thus are more independent of government.
四、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织人才严重匮乏的瓶颈
以往中国非营利组织从业者主要是两部分人，一是原来的政府工作人员或退休干部，二是追求社会理想的知识分子，缺少有经营管理能力的专业人才。非公募基金会使大量熟谙现代公司治理和市场管理专业的人士投身公益领域，同时，非公募基金会可以以接近于市场的薪酬待遇吸引年轻专业人才，对改善非营利部门的人才结构产生了重大影响。
非公募基金会的成长对于中国公民社会的培育和发展具有举足轻重的影响。在大发展中要避免大混乱，这是业内同仁的共识。为此，2009年中国非公募基金会发展论坛发布了《非公募基金会自律宣言》。今年1月，30多家非公募基金会和公募基金会联合发起创建中国基金会中心，让基金会自律从信息透明开始，通过提高基金会的透明度、公信力，通过提升基金会行业的自律、自治、自我规范和自我服务的能力，来引领中国整个民间公益行业的健康发展。
4. Nonpublic fundraising foundations are breaking through the bottleneck of lack of capable practitioners in civil society organizations.
In the past, practitioners in China’s non-profit organizations were mainly of two kinds. One was former government staff or retired cadres. The second was intellectuals in the the pursuit of social ideals. What was lacking was professionals with management capacity. Nonpublic fundraising foundations have brought into the public arena a large number of such professionals who are well versed in modern corporate governance and market regulation. At the same time, non-public fundraising foundations can offer salaries that come closer to compensation packages that attract young professionals, and can have a major impact on improving the personnel structure of the non-profit sector.
The growth of nonpublic fundraising foundations has had a significant impact in fostering China’s civil society. In the large-scale development to avoid chaos, this is the consensus of colleagues in the industry. To this end, in 2009, China's non-public fundraising foundations Development Forum issued the "Declaration of self-discipline for non-public fundraising foundation." In January of this year, more than 30 non-public fundraising foundations and public fundraising foundations joined together to found the China Foundation Center, to encourage foundations to start disciplining themselves through information transparency, thereby improving the transparency and credibility of foundations, and improving the discipline, governance, standardization and service of foundations, so that we can look forward to the healthy development of China’s nongovernmental public welfare sector.
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