On June 1, 2023, the hybrid “Melodious Deers’ Call — CBCGDF Expert Dialogue” Seminar on “Universal Service and Fairness of Fundraising Platforms” was successfully held, hosted by the Internet Fund of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (referred to as CBCGDF Internet Fund) and co-organized by the Public Welfare Committee of the China Computer Society. Experts from various fields such as the Internet, law, environment, anti-unfair competition, arbitration, and trade participated in the discussion from multiple perspectives. The seminar aimed to learn and explore theories and practices related to universal service and fair competition in online public fundraising platforms, how to avoid market manipulation by large corporations, and how to utilize Tech for Good. It also addressed the current status and issues of online fundraising platforms in China and proposed relevant strategies and recommendations.
"Melodious Deers' Call — CBCGDF Expert Dialogue" is a series of dialogues aimed at discussing hot topics related to the ecological environment through the sharing of viewpoints and debates. The program is broadcasted live on various platforms of the matrix of "CBCGDF Media". Since the first episode in March 2022, a total of 10 episodes have been held, attracting more than 30 million viewers to date.
The following is the speech by Prof. Haoming Huang, Executive Director of the Hainan Asian Public Welfare Research Institute and Distinguished Professor at the China Institute of Philanthropy of Beijing Normal University:
Respected Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, distinguished guests, friends, good morning,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Zhou for inviting me to participate in the ""Melodious Deers' Call on Fundraising Platform: Universal Service and Fairness" seminar.
Firstly, I believe that this conference is of great value and reflects the significant progress of China's philanthropy and charity sector in terms of democracy and civilization. With the rapid development of the economy and society, the philanthropy and charity sector is an important symbol of human civilization and progress. It advocates for everyone to engage in philanthropy and charity, mobilizes various forces in society, and provides more opportunities for people to participate in charitable and philanthropic activities. It also enables more people in need to benefit from the professional services provided by the philanthropy and charity sector. In 2021, China's poverty alleviation task has been accomplished, as announced by China. Over the past decade, philanthropic and charitable organizations have actively participated in targeted poverty alleviation, providing opportunities for rural farmers in poverty to escape poverty and become prosperous.
The second important significance of this seminar is that it helps popularize and disseminate legal knowledge related to philanthropy. Last year, the National People's Congress of China proposed a report on the amendment to the "Charity Law," which specifically mentioned that internet public fundraising platforms are a key issue that needs to be addressed. The report also stated that the responsibilities of internet public fundraising service platforms should be further clarified, and the activities of internet public fundraising service platforms should be regulated.
The third important significance of this seminar is that it helps more experts from outside the philanthropy and charity sector to participate in and pay attention to philanthropy and charity work. I refer to this as "cross-sector collaboration in the philanthropy and charity sector." It is well known that the high-quality development of the philanthropy and charity sector relies on "technology for good," commercial civilization, and legal construction. Therefore, cross-sector collaboration has significant practical and long-term strategic implications for the sector's development.
Today's seminar focuses on the theme of "Universal Service and Fairness of Fundraising Platforms." Essentially, it explores the development issues of internet philanthropy. Internet philanthropy has promoted the healthy development of China's philanthropy and charity sector. The 30 fundraising platforms recognized by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs have provided an opportunity for rapid development for philanthropic and charitable organizations, playing a positive role. For example, China's "99 Charity Day" and "95 Philanthropy Week" each year are like a "charity market."
According to a report published by Tencent Charity Foundation, in 2022, there were 58.16 million participants and 3.3 billion yuan in funds raised on the 99 Charity Day, demonstrating the mobilization of society for philanthropy and charity. During the operation of the "charity market," it is not just about simple donation and matching. It involves how much you donate, whether it is a few cents, a few hundred yuan, or a few thousand yuan, and how much matching you receive. Most importantly, various philanthropic and charitable organizations mobilize society as a whole to engage in philanthropy within a short period of 72 hours (from September 7th to 9th). This is a significant achievement and progress. However, typically, when a new thing emerges, various problems inevitably arise. We should not evade these problems but work together to actively seek solutions.
"Universal Service and Fairness of Fundraising Platforms" is primarily a matter of multiple stakeholders fulfilling their social responsibilities. Among the stakeholders in internet philanthropic fundraising platforms, there are at least six main parties: the government, fundraising platforms, independent agencies, charitable organizations, donors, and beneficiaries. Therefore, I believe that "internet philanthropy" is a game between multiple stakeholders with different functions and responsibilities. A specific analysis is as follows:
The first stakeholder is the government. By issuing licenses, the government provides internet platforms with a standard "entry permit." This is not just a simple license; when the government issues licenses to the 30 fundraising platforms in China, it becomes responsible for supervising whether these platforms operate in a manner that is public, charitable, inclusive, and professional. Therefore, the government's responsibility lies in formulating rules, assessing the compliance and legality of fundraising platform operations, and supervising their activities to ensure they do not harm the public interest.
The second stakeholder is the 30 organizations accredited by the Ministry of Civil Affairs as "Internet Public Fundraising Platforms." While they appear as platform organizations, they essentially serve as supportive entities with a public nature. Although different platforms may be backed by corporations or charitable organizations, their operational mechanisms should exhibit a public nature in academia. Their goal should not be profit-driven (or maximizing profits), but rather to demonstrate social value and prioritize social benefits. From this perspective, fundraising platforms have a dual role of "charitable" and "public" nature, and they also need to fulfill their social responsibilities.
The third stakeholder is independent professional institutions such as law firms, accounting firms, and auditing firms. These independent professional entities play a supervisory and evaluative role in monitoring fundraising platforms. How can third-party independent institutions provide professional guidance? This is an important question and a means to address the various risks faced by charitable organizations during the rapid development of internet philanthropy. Their role is to help fundraising platforms navigate the path and ensure the professional and healthy development of charitable organizations.
The fourth stakeholder includes foundations, social organizations, and private non-enterprise units (referred to as "non-enterprise units") with public fundraising qualifications, as well as foundations, social organizations, and non-enterprise units without public fundraising qualifications. Taking Chinese foundations as an example, there are currently 9,446 foundations in the country, of which 7,738 are recognized as charitable organizations, accounting for 81.9%. There are 1,060 foundations with public fundraising qualifications, accounting for 11.2%. According to the integrated government service platform for philanthropy in China, as of May 31, 2023, there are 12,231 charitable organizations nationwide, accounting for only 1.35% of the entire social organization sector. When compared to countries with well-developed philanthropy, our number of charitable organizations is relatively small. According to data published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, there are over 168,000 charitable organizations in the UK. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has identified 2,811 charitable organizations with public fundraising qualifications, accounting for 22.98% of all charitable organizations in China. This indicates that only one out of every four charitable organizations has public fundraising qualifications. For public welfare and charitable organizations with public fundraising qualifications, how to choose an internet fundraising platform is a strategic question. One can choose the most influential fundraising platform, but fundraising platforms also bear legal risks.
The fifth stakeholder is the donors. Donations come from institutions and individuals, with institutional donations including those from governments, corporations, foundations, and public institutions, while individual donations come from people of different social strata—regardless of their wealth, anyone can participate in donations. Therefore, it is particularly important to "respect the donors' intentions." Violating the will of donors will undoubtedly affect the sustainable development of social donations.
The sixth stakeholder is the beneficiaries. The goal of public welfare and charitable organizations is to help those in need, and feedback from the beneficiaries is crucial. This is what we usually refer to as the effectiveness of charity. As the clients of public welfare and charitable work, the rights of beneficiaries are often overlooked. Our society needs to advocate for respecting and protecting the rights and privacy of beneficiaries, fostering a new trend of equality between donors and beneficiaries.
In summary, the interactions and negotiations among the six stakeholders involved in fundraising platforms revolve around managing the relationships between the platforms, the government, independent entities, public welfare and charitable organizations, donors, and beneficiaries. The operation of this integrated model advocates that all six stakeholders fulfill their social responsibilities. Both the government and fundraising platforms, as well as public welfare and charitable organizations and independent entities, must fulfill their social responsibilities. Donors and beneficiaries also have a responsibility to society.
The second viewpoint is that internet public fundraising platforms can promote the professional development of social organizations, especially public welfare and charitable organizations, through integrated governance, execution, and supervision. With the development of internet technology, public welfare and charitable organizations need to be more transparent, open, accountable, and timely in their reporting and disclosure. From this perspective, high transparency, strong openness, timely reporting, and professionalism of public welfare and charitable organizations are what attract more people and institutions to donate. If the transparency, openness, and disclosure rate of these organizations are low, donations may decrease.
The third viewpoint is that I believe discussions can improve the social status of professionals in the public welfare and charitable industry. Doing charity is not simply about giving or receiving money. It is a process of mobilizing social resources and realizing universal charity. It is also about ensuring that every member of society has the right to engage in charity, thereby achieving social fairness and equality.
My final viewpoint is that we need to respect the operating rules of the public welfare and charitable industry and promote society towards a more civilized direction. Through calm and rational discussions, we can study the social responsibilities fulfilled by public welfare and charitable organizations and ensure that they respect the rights and obligations of their operations. This will make society more harmonious and civilized. General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed four common advocacies for the "Global Initiative on Civilization" during the High-Level Dialogue Between the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties on March 15, 2023: advocating respect for the diversity of world civilizations, promoting common human values, emphasizing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation in humanities. I believe that respect in public welfare and charity should also adhere to these four common advocacies, guiding and leading the whole society to engage in civilized charity and philanthropy.
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated the need to "guide and support willing and capable enterprises, social organizations, and individuals to actively participate in public welfare and charitable undertakings." In today's discussion, I suggest the formation of an expert recommendation report to be submitted to the Party Central Committee's Department of Social Work, the National People's Congress, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as other relevant departments such as the Press and Publication Administration and the Internet Office. At the same time, I hope that the lawyers present in today's discussion can provide legal definitions of the rights and responsibilities of internet fundraising platforms from a legal perspective.
Once again, I would like to thank CBCGDF Internet Fund for organizing today's discussion, which is meaningful and valuable. I hope that more people will participate in the discussion. The viewpoints expressed above are just my personal opinions. I welcome criticism and correction from everyone. Thank you all.
Original post in Chinese see:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xSJ1c290q0dmuP74OBiVLQ
Expert: Haoming Huang
Written report: Cao Meijuan
Translator: Wendy
Editor: YJ
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
Contribution
Do you know? CBCGDF is a non-profit organization. We rely on crowd-funding and donations. You have the opportunity to help us to advance biodiversity conservation. Donate TODAY to power up the movement to make it a better world for all life.
https://www.paypal.me/CBCGDFChina
http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/ConfirmDonaTion/0.html