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慈善创新为中美之间架设沟通的桥梁(双语)


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中美两国政府之间的贸易战愈演愈烈,而与之形成鲜明对比的则是中美两国慈善家和社会企业家之间的合作与发展。作者在2018年斯坦福大学慈善公民社会(Philanthropy and Civil Society,简称PACS)与北京的代表团进行交流。

在谈到美国和中国的公民社会行动者如何帮助解决一些全球最紧迫的问题时,作者了解到,双方有很多的相似之处。


2018327日至28日,斯坦福PACS与乐平基金会在北京大学联合举办了第七届研讨会。这场会议由200名中国慈善家、非营利和社会企业领导者、学生以及学者参加,他们听取中美专家关于慈善领域的挑战和机遇。

以下内容是研讨会期间出现的最显著的趋势

意识崛起

新型财富和慈善法案正在推动中国新一轮的慈善浪潮。2004年的中国,亿万富翁只有屈指可数的三个人,但在2016年却猛增到了568全球个人超高净值资产超过5000万美元的人群中,中国也占到了8%。

这些新的中国的百万富翁和亿万富翁用慈善来帮助解决中国贫困农村教育和人口老龄化等社会问题。

中国在2016年通过的首项慈善法也使慈善捐赠变得更加容易,这引起了社会各界的大量慈善捐赠,比如阿里巴巴集团联合创始人马云向中国公立医院捐赠了4400万美元等。

另外,我们看到来自中国富裕家庭的20多岁和30岁出头的年轻人有一种强烈的责任感,他们认识到了回馈社会的重要性,并且开始着手建立和领导家庭基金会。 

资助拓展

美国和中国的慈善家希望提供的不仅仅是资金,他们在寻求机会、付出时间、运用技能和网络支持来放大他们财务捐助的影响力

例如,社会风险合作伙伴组织(Social Venture Partners)给予专业人士机会,让他们利用自己的专业技能来支持非营利组织和社会企业组织。过去十年中,该组织在美国和中国都蓬勃发展。

这种捐赠趋势的目的是利用更多资源去实现更大的社会价值。

 

能力建设

资助者一定要投资非营利和社会企业领导者的能力建设。

美国与中国非营利部门另一个相似之处在于,他们都急需资源和人才,并且这两个国家都面临着非营利组织工作人员薪水极低的挑战,因此很难招到高质量的员工。

例如在美国,只有20%的资金可供组织内部使用,这意味着非营利组织和社会企业领导者无法投资能力培养,从而导致员工缺乏筹款知识、管理能力和战略规划等基本技能。 

社企机遇

对于中国企业而言,创造充满活力的社会企业部门是非常有潜力的。

从历史上看,美国在非营利和营利性部门之间有着根深蒂固的界限,但由于慈善事业在中国还处于萌芽阶段,因此商业和社会公益之间的界限相对模糊,这为中国企业慈善发展创造了巨大的机会。

近几年,中国社会企业运动不断发展,新的社会企业涌现出来,比如First response(一家向当地居民提供心肺复苏等救生技能的共益企业)Kiaterra(一家专注于监测和绘制全球空气地图的初创公司)。其中,Kiaterra的数据来自他们出售给家庭使用的空气质量监测仪。

 

合作向善

在中国,慈善事业的集体主义模式正在蓬勃发展。正如哈佛大学肯尼迪学院教授克里斯托弗·马奎斯(Christopher Marquis)在介绍他的研究时说道,慈善事业的联合行动在中国持续蓬勃发展。

美国的私人慈善基金会通常会以个人名字命名,并完全由其控制资产的分配。但在中国,资助者通常会与同事和朋友共享资源、合作发展。这种做法是美国慈善家可以向中国同行学习的。

事实上,中国慈善文化创建之路并非一条平坦大道。慈善捐赠和非营利性活动仍然受到政府的严格监控,这无疑会让那些可能与政府态度不吻合的声音被迫禁言。

参加北京会议的人们所散发的热情证明了中国在慈善领域的领导地位日益增强,而且有可能在两国慈善团体之间架起一座沟通桥梁,使我们所有人都能发挥潜力最大限度地推动慈善事业。


原题:Philanthropy And Innovation Between China And The United States


来源:Stanford Social Innovation Review

日期:2018年4月17日




Blaring news headlines about a developing trade war between the governments of the United States and China lie in sharp contrast to the emerging partnerships developing between philanthropists and social entrepreneurs from the two countries. As I learned while on a recent delegation from Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS) to Beijing there are far more similarities than differences when it comes to how American and Chinese civil society actors are helping solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

On March 27-28, Stanford PACS co-hosted its seventh annual conference at the Stanford Center at Peking University with the Leping Foundation—one of the largest funders of social entrepreneurs and a leader of philanthropic education in China—bringing together an audience of more than 200 Chinese philanthropists, nonprofit and social enterprise leaders, students and academics, to hear from Chinese and American experts about challenges and opportunities in the field. The following are some of the most prominent trends that emerged from our two days together:

1. New wealth and a new Chinese charity law are powering a new wave of philanthropy in China. With the number of Chinese billionaires soaring from three in 2004 to 568 in 2016, and with 8 percent of the world’s super-high-net-worth individuals (those with more than $50 million in assets), these new Chinese millionaires and billionaires are using philanthropy to try to help solve China’s social ills, such as poor rural education and an aging population. China’s first-ever charity law passed in 2016 has made philanthropic giving easier, unleashing large philanthropic gifts, such as Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma’s $44 million gift to public hospitals in China. In particular, many young people in their 20’s and early-30’s from wealthy Chinese families have a strong sense of the importance of giving back and are building and leading family foundations.

2. Philanthropists in both the United States and China want to give more than just money. Donors in both countries seek opportunities to enhance their financial contributions with donations of time, skills, and access to their networks. For example, Social Venture Partners—an organization that connects professionals with opportunities to use their professional skills to support nonprofits and social enterprises—has been thriving in both the United States and China over the past decade. This trend toward giving more than just money is an opportunity to harness even more resources for the greater good.

3. Funders must invest in capacity building for nonprofit and social enterprise leaders. Another common thread between the United States and China’s nonprofit sectors is that they are starved for resources and talent. Both countries face the challenge that nonprofit staff are severely underpaid, thus making it hard to recruit high-quality employees. In the United States for example, only 20 percent of funding is unrestricted, which means nonprofit and social enterprise leaders are unable to invest in building capacity and are starved for basic skills such as management training, fundraising knowledge, and strategic planning support. To combat this challenge, as Jennifer Wei, organizational effectiveness officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation taught in her workshop, it is critical that foundations lead the way in funding nonprofit capacity building.

4. China has an opportunity to create a vigorous social enterprise sector. Whereas historically the United States has strongly entrenched boundaries between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, because philanthropy is still nascent in China, there is an immense opportunity to blur the lines between business and social good. As a result, there is a growing social enterprise movement in China, with a wave of new social businesses emerging, such as First Respond—a B Corporation empowering local citizens with life-saving skills like CPR—and Kiaterra, a startup focused on monitoring and mapping the world’s air using data from an air quality monitor they sell for home-use.

5. A collectivist model of philanthropy is flourishing in China. Finally, as Harvard Kennedy School visiting professor Christopher Marquis noted in presenting his research, networked models of philanthropy continue to thrive in China. Unlike in the United States where wealthy individuals often create a private foundation with their name on it and take full control over distribution of the assets, in China funders often collaborate with colleagues and friends to pool resources for good. This approach is one that US philanthropists could learn from their Chinese peers.

Indeed, the path toward creating a culture of philanthropy in China isn’t lined with roses. Philanthropic giving and nonprofit activities are still heavily monitored by the government, undoubtedly having a chilling effect on initiatives that could be perceived as misaligned with or critical of the government, such as human rights. But the passion and energy of those who participated in the Beijing conference is evidence of growing leadership in the field of philanthropy in China, and the potential for cross-border bridges between philanthropic communities so that we can all maximize the potential of our philanthropic initiatives.