Asian American Giving

Give2Asia Seeking Intern for Programs Unit

Give2Asia is an independent venture founded by The Asia Foundation to promote philanthropy to Asia. In its first seven years Give2Asia has facilitated approximately $85 million in grants to organizations and causes throughout Asia. Our grants are derived not from an endowment, but from contributions and recommendations made by donors using our personalized US-Asia giving services.

The Programs Unit is responsible for managing donor relationships and accounts, conducting efficient and effective grantmaking to organizations in Asia, developing new programs in collaboration with donors and grantees, and generating program related informational and educational communication. The Intern will work with members of the Programs Unit to support these goals.

$110 Million for China earthquake and Burma Cyclone Relief and Recovery

Last week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that nonprofit groups in the U.S. have raised more than $110 million for both, the Burma and China disasters.  Many of these are cash donations but some are also in-kind donations such as food, equipment, etc.  While the list is impressive, I believe many smaller charitable donations are not reflected in the accounting.  It may be awhile before we receive the final total.  Even then, it will still be much smaller compared to the $597 million raised for the tsunami.

Amounts raised in the US for Buma relief and reconstruction:

According to the article, organizations that work in Burma such as CARE, Save the Children, and World Vision have raised the most funds.  World Vision, with nearly 600 employees in the country, raised $10.5 million for Burma.  Roughly half were from large donors.  Below is a list of organizations and the amounts raised for relief in Burma:

CARE: $6.6 million

Catholic Relief Services: $3.5 million

Foundation for the People of Burma: $1.39 million

Friends of the World Food Program: $2 million

Mercy Corps: $2 million

Save the Children: $7.16 million

Amounts raised in the US for China earthquake relief and reconstruction:

The American Red Cross has committed $14 million of the funds raised to the China earthquake relief efforts.  Below is a list of organizations and the amounts raised for China relief and rebuilding efforts: 

Give2Asia: $7.5 million

Mercy Corps: $7 million

Save the Children: $1.6 million

World Vision: $6.3 million

This photo was taken in Shanghai; four weeks after the earthquake.

Vid Prabhakaran and his New Role as President, Board of Directors, Kearny Street Workshop (KSW)

Vid Prabhakaran is the new president of the board of Kearny Street Workshop (KSW), the oldest non-profit Asian American interdisciplinary arts organzation.   Vid's vision for KSW and how his community experiences have led him to this new role is the subject of this post.

I have been a supporter of KSW's for several years now and when I received an email from Vid, personally asking for a meeting so I could share my thoughts on where the organization should be heading, I was curious.  Now, here was someone that understood community relations and donor stewardship.  I am sure Vid was a little surprised when I asked if I could interview him instead for Asian American Giving. 

Vid is an attorney in the regulatory practice group of the law firm, Goodin, MacBride, et.al.  He practices before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and other regulatory agencies, with a special emphasis on energy and telecommunications matters.  He earned his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his B.A. in Political Science from Yale University.

1. Dien: Vid, please share with us what KSW does and why should donors and volunteers support it?

Vid: KSW’s mission is to produce, present, and promote art that empowers Asian Pacific American communities. We truly believe that by accomplishing that mission together, we can create a more just society that fully incorporates Asian Pacific American voices informed by our cultural values, historical roots, and contemporary issues.

2. Dien: How did you get involved in KSW?

Vid: I have always been involved with organizations that try to make the world a better place by strengthening the Asian American community within it. And I’ve always considered myself a supporter of the arts more generally. When I heard that KSW was looking for board members, I jumped at the chance to become a part of a dynamic organization that was untapping the creative potential of my community.

3. Dien: Are you also an artist?

Vid: I guess you can call me an emerging artist like so many of the individual artists who are a part of the KSW community. I dabble in some writing/blogging and some painting from time to time. But as I mentioned, I consider myself more of a supporter of the arts—someone who appreciates the creative exploits of a talented artist and understands the obstacles they face as they emerge as artists.

4. Dien: Please share with us your goals for KSW as chair.

Vid: First and foremost, I hope to ensure that we continue to have high quality programming. We are very lucky to have a new Executive Director who is committed to that pursuit and has already started to put together some great workshops, presentations, and galleries. Secondly, I hope to place Kearny Street on a financial footing that ensures its long term stability and continued growth so that generations of new artists and their communities can continue to rely on KSW. Third, as an Indian-American, my goal is to have all Asian Pacific American communities, including those who may not have engaged with KSW as much in the past, come to think of KSW as their organization and an important part of their community.

Asian Diaspora in the U.S. Responding in Times of Disaster

New collaborations of the Asian diaspora community in the U.S. and how they are responding to natural disasters in Asia is the subject of a post on Give2Asia Forum this week.  Below is an excerpt of the post, Diaspora Responding in Times of Disaster.

In the past several months, Asia has had more than its share of natural disasters. Coverage on the disasters by the media and informal blog sites have provided on the ground details and cries for assistance. Foundations, organizations, associations, corporations, and even for-profit philanthropic advisory groups have created greater awareness on how to support relief and reconstruction efforts. In particular, I am amazed at the response from the diaspora community in the U.S. and the growing movement to collaboratively raise funds for relief and reconstruction efforts or to exchange information and share best practices. From these successes, I wonder how we can encourage and support more collaborative networks and research on this new role of community philanthropy.

Bangladesh cyclone: global diaspora response

In November 2007, Cyclone Sidr struck the southwestern coast of Bangladesh triggering a 5-metre (15 foot) storm surge. Flooding and high winds killed nearly 4,500 people and destroyed at least 1.5 million homes, causing millions of dollars of damage to livestock and crops. Over 7 million people were affected by this tragedy.

$3 million Challenge Grant from Vietnamese American Philanthropist

In May, Doan L. Phung, a 68-year old Vietnamese-American philanthropist, gave a keynote speech at the fourth annual Asian Pacific Philanthropy Consortium (APPC) conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. The theme of the conference was "Diaspora Giving: An Agent of Social Change?" and Mr. Phung spoke about his reasons for giving back to Vietnam. At the end of his speech, Mr. Phung announced a $3 million USD challenge grant to the Vietnamese-American NGO (VA-NGO) network, which represents and supports U.S.-based Vietnamese American NGOs conducting humanitarian and development work in Vietnam.

Mr. Phung has been a long-time supporter of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American causes. He and his wife established the Vietnamese American Scholarship Fund (VASF) and the Fund for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance (FESR). He is a founder of the VA NGO Network and has supported projects in Vietnam through established groups such as Social Assistance Program for Vietnam, Nom Preservation Foundation, Room to Read and East Meets West Foundation.

Mr. Phung's recent gift is just another example of his tremendous generosity and faith in an ability to make a difference. We wondered what life events formed the philosophy and activities behind his philanthropy. You can read more about Mr. Phung's story at our sister site, Asian Philanthropy Forum.

Asian American Federation awards $230,000 in Grants

Grants totaling $230,000 were awarded to twenty-five Asian American nonprofits in New York by the Asian American Federation.  Implemented through a competitive application process, the Asian American Community Fund provides financial resources to address needs that are often inadequately met by mainstream funders.  A group of leaders helped review the applications including board member, Sunil Wadhwa, and community leaders Alan Okada of Citi Foundation, Lisa Philip of JP Morgan Private Bank and Alison Yu of the Hearst Foundation.   

Many nonprofit organizations are struggling to raise funds to cover their programs and general operating support during these difficult economic times.  Therefore, funds like these help continue or expand the services that are needed most.  There are only a few organizations like the Asian American Federation across the U.S. that concentrate only on supporting Asian American nonprofits and their programs.  We are excited to see that they are able to raise such a large amount of funds this year to support the community.

Wokai and Youth in Microfinance

Wokai, a new capital - contributing microfinance intermediary is raising loan capital for microfinance institutions in China.  This is the first P2P of its kind to support microfinance in China from the US.  My instincts tell me that this new venture is going to be bigger and better than Kiva.  If you want to join a group of women who are passionate, smart, and entrepreneurial - this is it.

Wokai has created an internet platform that empowers individual contributors to provide Chinese microentrepreneurs with loan capital.  Wokai then partners with local MFIs that are responsible for dispersing the funds and monitoring the microentrepreneurs.  Wokai has an office in Beijing but all the work done in the US is by volunteers.  You can learn more about their new venture by visiting their blog - you will be amazed with co-founder, Courtney McColgan's knowledge in this field.

While Wokai will officially launch this fall, they will be hosting a happy hour to celebrate the importance of youth in the microfinance community with MicroBike USA and One Hen's Katie Smith Milway, on August 12th, 2008 from 6 pm to 9 pm at 111 Minna in San Francisco.

Microbike USA is a group of six graduates from Bentley, Bucknell, and Fordham biking cross country to raise awareness about microfinance.  The team will speak about their intentions and experiences on the trip.  One Hen is a children's book about microfinance.  The author will share with the audience the significance of including youth in the microfinance movement.

Photo courtesy of Praziquantel

Foundation and Nonprofit Performance Conference: Discount for Readers

Donors and stakeholders in the foundation and nonprofit sector have been asking how to measure the impact of their work for years now.  In order to fulfill their mission and strategy objectives, foundations and nonprofits must be able to analyze their progress and evaluate their successes and sometimes, even failures.  We hear of new models and platforms being developed to measure foundation and nonprofit performance.  But how many groups are actually adopting and implementing these models?  How successful are they and how open are they willing to test new methods in times of new paradigms and shifts in the third sector?  Most important, is the end result used to drive new strategies and resource allocation in the future? 

These questions, and more are the heart of the the 2008 Foundation and Nonprofit Performance Conference hosted by the Council on Nonprofit Innovation on September 22-24, 2008 in Washington, DC.  The conference features best-in-class practices, strategies and methodologies on improving performance and accountability in the nonprofit sector. 

* Robert Egger, Founder and President of DC Central Kitchen will deliver the keynote: Defining, Measuring and Sustaining Performance in the Nonprofit World. 

* Sessions include: Communicating effectively with donors and external stakeholders; Implementing a performance based grants system and Reporting performance and outcomes. 

* Workshops include: Performance Management: Utilizing the logic model for establishing goals and measures and Using performance measures for effective grant application and evaluation.

Asian American Giving is a strategic partner of the 2008 Foundation and Nonprofit Performance Conference and is pleased to offer readers a 20% discount when registering for the event (use priority code: N400-PRTOT).

New York to Accept Students From Sichuan

The State University of New York (SUNY) will be hosting 150 undergraduate students from the Sichuan province in 22 of its statewide campuses.  The students will study at the college for two semesters and then return to China to help re-build the earthquake affected region.  SUNY describes the effort as a way to ensure that the student's college studies are not interrupted. 

With the collapse of schools in the Sichuan area and worries that students would fall behind in their studies, schools like SUNY are playing an innovative role in supporting the earthquake relief efforts.  The initiative will grow educational exchanges between the school and the Sichuan province.  It will also contribute to the SUNY's presence in the global community and secure other economic and commerical relations between New York and China.

SUNY announced that it has undertaken a fundraising drive for the effort so that taxpayers will not bear the costs.   They have not announced the amount needed to cover the initative.  Likely donors are those in the Asian American community and also corporations doing business in China.

It seems natural that SUNY would initiative a program like this since it has exchange agreements between 15 SUNY campuses and more than 30 Chinese universities.  42% of the overall Chinese student population (5,532) in New York State are at SUNY schools (2,316 Chinese students). 

Photo courtesy of randy son of robert