Charity in search of elusive glasnost

But each year, about 2,000 charity organizations' registration is cancelled for not filing their returns. And only less than half of them re-apply to be registered. Seventy-seven percent of Canadian charities employ one to five people or no one at all. The majority of the charities are small organizations run by volunteers. And only 1 percent of Canada's 161,000 incorporated nonprofit and voluntary organizations has annual revenue of $10 million or more.

In China, to mark the second anniversary of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, kits containing school material were sold for 100 yuan each at post offices last year. Donors could choose a child's name on a list and receive a personal postcard as expression of gratitude for the gift. The plastic kits and their contents would cost 40 yuan each at the most. So where did the extra 60 yuan go? This is what I call "wastage on wrapping".

China has not yet reached developed countries' organizational level in charity, and corruption is still serious in the country, though the phenomenon is not exclusive to China. Since Chinese people are aware of the needs and willing to help, several donors choose to support unregistered groups/individuals that collect funds for charity if they find them to be honest and committed.

I've been helping some people in Qinghai province with Chinese and non-Chinese donors' funds for three years. Some people often say that if I get an NGO registered, more people would donate. To begin with it's not easy to register an NGO. Several rules have to be followed and expenses would increase. NGOs must pay to get their accounts audited and hire at least a couple of people. But I prefer to use the entire amount I receive for charity, without keeping a single penny as administration fees.

Besides, why would more people donate if I run a registered charity? They possibly would have if they got tax exemptions for the money they donated. But now only enterprises - not individuals - enjoy that facility in China. It's still a difficult world out there.

Gates and Buffett said that more than half of those invited to the dinner had their own ideas on how to strengthen philanthropy in China. Perhaps they also have the answer to the question: How can China's charity organizations be made more transparent and easy to monitor?

Once the answers to the basic questions are known, charity can prosper in China.

Since honesty cannot be imposed on organizations, they can be controlled only if it becomes mandatory for them to make their annual budgets public. People have the right to know where their money goes.

The author is a Canadian scholar living in Beijing.

(China Daily 07/05/2011 page9)

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