Asian American Giving

Enabling Indian Diaspora Philanthropy

Give2Asia released a new report that looks at the challenges and trends of diaspora donors giving to India. Here are some of the highlights from the report, Enabling Indian Diaspora Philanthropy:

* Nearly 2.7 million people of Indian origin reside in the US, making it the third largest Asian American population. 

* Over $2.3 billion was received by some 12,400 non- governmental organizations in India from overseas sources in 2008-09, an increase of nearly 12% over the previous year. Of this, nearly $740 million came from the United States alone, making it the single largest contributor. Diaspora remittances to India are the highest in the world at an estimated $49.3 billion in 2009.

* The Indian government has also recognized the financial and intellectual power of its diaspora, and has been actively seeking to encourage its business and philanthropic investments.

* There are challenges to giving to India though. They include: (1) lack of information about good organizations; (2) lack of trust in intermediaries and grantees; (3) India has a complicated legal process for non-profits wishing to accept foreign funds; and (4) and many of the funds to India are concentrated in certain parts of the country.

* Give2Asia has seen some recent trends in private giving: (1) public-private partnerships in India are increasing, an example is the creation of the Public Health Foundation of India; (2) donors are focusing on localized high-impact philanthropy; (3) donors are not only giving annually but they are making endowment gifts; and (4) social investments are on the rise.

To read the full report, you can download it here. 

 

Understanding the Giving Preferences of the Chinese American Diaspora

    

From Give2Asia's blog, post written by Ann Hoang

Over the last 25 years, the Chinese economy has grown at breakneck speed, creating enormous wealth as well as opportunity. The effects of this growth extend far beyond the country itself; today’s global Chinese diaspora has consequently risen in influence across a wide variety of industries, from the arts to finance and technology. In America alone, this group’s prominence has demanded the attention of nearly all sectors of society.

The philanthropy field, in particular, has much to gain from today’s influential Chinese Americans. Vital to effective engagement, however, is a solid understanding of why, where, and how this unique group approaches its philanthropy. Unfortunately, little research currently exists. To lay a foundation for further study on this topic, Dien Yuen, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Give2Asia, and Andy Ho, Manager of Global Philanthropy at the Council on Foundations, have released a study exploring the history, emerging trends, and projections of Chinese-American giving.

The study, titled “Chinese-American Diaspora Philanthropy: A Perspective on History, Characteristics and Potential,” can be found in the latest issue of the Journal of Asian Business (University of Michigan Press). It offers the insights of two experts within the philanthropic advisory industry on this significant, and yet little-understood, phenomenon.

The report’s key findings include the following:

• Chinese Americans are rooted in a desire to support their communities—particularly in Asia, where they give most.
• First-generation immigrants tend to give to the country with which they most closely identify, in some cases even to specific home towns. Ethnic Chinese who settled in different Asian countries before emigrating tend to have multiple country interests.
• Most Chinese-American donors value the opportunity for hands-on involvement with recipient organizations, whether through research, site visits, or other forms of engagement. Further, they tend to be interested in straight-forward projects with a defined set of beneficiaries, immediate impacts, and measurable results.
• Because most Chinese Americans have close ties to Asia through their personal and business networks, they tend to be well-informed about issues on the ground. Accordingly, they often have very specific project or program interests.
• They most consistently give to disaster relief; education and livelihood; women’s empowerment; healthcare; and economic development.

An executive summary version of the article can be downloaded here. The full report can be purchased through the University of Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/~cibe/faculty/jab.html

 

Global Diaspora Forum in D.C.

The Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships is organizing a Global Diaspora Forum  in Washington D.C. from May 17-19th.  The theme is "Diaspora, Diplomacy and Development." I am very excited to see that philanthropy will be one of the major topics at the conference. I hope that Asian American diaspora philanthropy will be featured prominently as we have a great story to tell.

The website states that the Forum's goals are to:

• Recognize and celebrate the contribution of Diaspora communities to America’s relationship with their countries of origin or ancestry;
• Foster Diaspora-centric partnership models;
• Encourage intra-Diaspora collaboration and learning.

The Forum is by invitation only but the organizers are making efforts to "deploy social media and online tools to make the Forum accessible to as wide an audience as possible." Live-streaming the event or at least bringing together a team of bloggers and tweeters to cover the conference would be exciting - especially since many of the latest contributions from the diaspora are related to the technology sector.

I hope they will be bringing speakers that are leaders in the communities and can share tangible examples of contributions instead of the typical stuffy, academic or policy related researchers that are usually present at these events. Maybe even being mindful of the diversity in the "by-invitation" event would be a good start.

Some interesting facts from the website:

2 Million: Number of first- and second-generation Diasporas in America; almost all Americans have immigrant roots further back.

$48 Billion: Amount of recorded remittances sent from the United States by Diaspora communities in 2009.

#1: America ranks first as a host of the largest number of international migrants in the world.

Photo courtesy of centinel, Creative Commons, Flickr

Adding to the Confusion of "Minority Donors"

I have been in the philanthropy field for over 14 years and have worked mostly with Asian American and Asia-based donors. When I see articles or hear about those covering the philanthropic giving of Asian American donors, I get excited that people are sharing their knowledge. Until, of course, I find that the article or speech is horribly confusing, inaccurate, or a regurgitation of previous research. Some pieces just make me sigh and say, really? 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy covered the Association of Fundraising Professionals conference in Chicago last week. Of all the sessions covered, it was great to see an article on philanthropy titled, Why Charities Need to Pay More Attention to Minority Donors. The article highlights the differences in working with Blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. The reason for why charities need to pay attention to them? Changing demographics - minorities will outnuber the whites in 2050 and will become more relevant donors. But, what about now? Is no one paying attention to Asian Americans as donors now? We've seen some large gifts from the Asian American community - five figure gifts to six figures and sometimes even seven figure gifts. To me, it is not about a larger group of donors and the odds that they will give more. It is about the wealth, generosity, opportunity and cultural and societal influences that encourages Asian Americans and other "minority" groups to give.

Fundraising topics like this is difficult to present and it usually takes someone with lots of experience and sensitivity. One hope is that they have worked in the communities or have in-depth interviews with those that do. Collectively, the "minority" communities have many labels but "minority donors" is not on the  most popular list for Asian Americans. The more embraced description is "cultures of caring" as found in the Council on Foundations report.

One important distinction is between the people considered "Asian Americans" and "Asians." While there are many definitions of "Asian Americans," the general understanding is that they live in the U.S. Asians, on the other hand, live in Asia. Even Asian Americans are a general term. Most people identify as Chinese American, Japanese American, Korean American, etc., before they identify as "Asian Americans." In the Chronicle article, the presenter at the conference states:

Talk of money and wealth may be taboo in some Asian cultures. In Japan, for example, family wealth is kept hushed. There may be a gender gap in the giving process, too; some Asian male donors may feel uncomfortable talking about philanthropy with a woman, Ms. Gasman said. “They also tend to give to someone who is Asian and respected by their community,” she added. “That relationship is deeply important.” Asians also value prestige and give money to institutions with good reputations. Education and services for elderly people are important causes for Asian donors.

It seems as if the quote is referring to those living in Asia. Japan is brought up and the donors are described as "Asians." But wait, I thought the topic was about Asian Americans and not Asians? Or was it the other way around?

Is there a difference between the giving patterns of Asian Americans and Asians? Yes. In addition to differences in societal and environmental influences that each individual faces, the enabling environment of each Asian country also creates different methods of giving.  

To put together a session and lump several "minority" communities (with significant histories) together in a conference in an effort to explain the depth of their philanthropic patterns seems a bit superficial. Let's hope next time, someone will actually spend the time to treat each group individually and properly. Yes, we really do have enough info to fill an hour long session at a conference.

Report Says Korean American Philanthropy on the Rise

Many readers know that the field of Asian American philanthropy is sparsely dotted with research here and there. Good research takes time, money, effort, and a good team. As most practitioners know, the biggest barrier to a strong research paper in the area of philanthropy is access to qualified donors that are willing to share their philanthropic experiences and stories.

Last summer, all these pieces fell in place and I was able to lead the efforts of this new report. I am thrilled with this report because it is the first of its kind - we have never had a report that was based on the research of various generations of Korean American philanthropists.

Give2Asia's new report, "Korean American Philanthropy: Traditions, Trends, and Potential," shares encouraging findings and calls for future research on the subject of Korean American philanthropy. The report looks at the immigration patterns and how it affects the accumulation of wealth for Korean Americans. We then provided some cultural and traditional context to philanthropy in the Korean culture. Finally, we tried to categorize the different giving characteristics and motivations of wealthy Korean American philanthropists. 

KEY FINDINGS

* Korean Americans’ potential for mainstream (i.e. institutional) philanthropy is growing as the Korean American diaspora includes more upwardly mobile American-born members and accumulates wealth. American-born Korean Americans, in addition to being more affluent than Korean immigrants, are also more likely to prefer an institutional model of philanthropy.

* Korean Americans, particularly immigrants, possess various ‘indigenous’ traditions of philanthropy. These include practices of informal giving to extended family and other close relations, such as friends or fellow church members; and church-based giving and volunteering, which are social norms among the 70-80 percent of Korean Americans who identify as Christian. Though the popularity of western-style philanthropy is growing throughout the diaspora, a good deal of giving, particularly among immigrants, takes these forms.

* Personal relationships/connections (or gwangye, the Korean equivalent of the Chinese concept of guanxi) are important to Korean Americans and often become the basis of why they direct their giving to particular people or organizations. Korean American donors tend to be most supportive of organizations to which a close relation is a donor, or otherwise affiliated, and they often hear about the organizations they support through word-of-mouth in their social networks.

* Korean American donors’ interests and approaches to philanthropy are truly diverse, but a few broadly defined fields of interest attract greater attention. These include education and research, North Korean issues (famine, human rights abuses, and refugees), and community development for Korean Americans.

You can download the executive summary and the full report on Give2Asia's website by clicking here.

Asian American Giving Circle Updates

We have been keeping tabs on the growth of giving circles in the Asian American community ever since Andy Ho published his research article on the subject. It's great to see several new giving circles and also media coverage about them.

* Three new giving circles were started this year, including the Circle of Change (Los Angeles), Devata/Cambodian American Women Giving Circle (San Francisco Bay Area), and the Jasmine Women Giving Circle (Boston).

* The Cherry Blossom Giving Circle is featured in the Washington Life Magazine article on giving circles.

* Hali Lee, founder of Asian Women's Giving Circle was featured in Vivanista's So You Want to Start a Giving Circle article. The article provides seven essential ingredients in starting a giving circle: (1) Choose your focus; (2) Set the ground rules - time, talent, treasure; (3) Decide on a financial set-up; (4) Educate yourselves; (5) Leadership; (6) Membership: making new friends, but keeping the old; and (7) Keep it fun! 

For more information about giving circles, please visit the following links:

Asian American Giving Circles Study

Listing of giving circles in the Asian Pacific American community

Stories about giving circles on Asian American Giving

What is the OneVietnam Network?

XuanThu Pham at the Picked Radish blog posted an article describing how OneVietnam Network works and how users can use it to learn about pressing issues in the Vietnamese American and Vietnamese community. The unique space creates a community for those that care and take action.

Monday 7/19 marked the day of OneVietnam Network’s launch to the public. By signing up for your free account at www.onevietnam.org will instantly connect you to its community. It continues to attract interest and engagement from its community members, Vietnamese individuals, and others passionate about Vietnam all over the world. As a consultant for OneVietnam Network, I am excited to see how powerful it already is. With its recent round of funding from the Ford Foundation – it will no doubt be in a trajectory of growth and good things to come. 

OneVietnam is not just a Web 2.0 social community platform. It’s a place where you can learn about pressing issues that go far beyond the topics of food or the historic war. The focus is more on the “today” and “what is urgent and needs our attention” to develop a stronger future. What is agent orange and is it still a problem today? What can be done to help eliminate the deplorable act of human trafficking of women and children? How can I make a difference in someone’s life today? These are questions that can be answered, discussed, and debated as you explore the resources provided by OneVietnam. 

While there is a star-cast of board members that have guided and advised them, the founding team is at the heart of creating the vision and making OneVietnam a reality. From countless brainstorming jam sessions, to development and execution of the community – no amount of funding or availability of top notch advisors can force an idea to happen. These talented and dedicated members of the founding team saw an opportunity and seized it.

Giving Pledge: Influencing Others to Give

The philanthropy field is buzzing with stories about the Giving Pledge. Forty billionaires have pledged to give away a majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Michele Chan and Patrick Soon-Shiong are the only Asian Americans on the list. 

According to the article, A Cut Above the Rest, Patrick Soon-Shiong was born in apartheid-era South Africa. He was a son of Chinese immigrants and his father practiced Chinese herbal medicine. Patrick married actress Michele Chan and worked at UCLA School of Medicine. He was involved in developing groundbreaking transplantation techniques to treat diabetes. The technology was used to develop Abraxane, a breast cancer drug made by Abraxis. As Abraxix BioScience Chief Executive, Patrick became a multibillionaire, with the sale of APP Pharmaceuticals (increased networth worth to $5.3 billion). The couple have pledged more than $55 million to Santa Monica's St. John's Health Center. 

Our Philanthropic Pledge: Michele Chan and Patrick Soon-Shiong

Our passion, our mission is to transform health and health care, in America and beyond. Our family foundation was established for that purpose. 

Growing up in South Africa during the time of apartheid, we had direct experience of inequality, including great disparities in health and access to good care. After thirty years living in the United States, we see similar disparities in health care on our doorstep in Los Angeles, and across the nation. What was unconscionable to us in South Africa in the twentieth century is just as unconscionable in the United States in the twenty-first. 

America has been a land of opportunity for us, as it has for so many immigrants. We are proud to be Americans and we want to see our country strong and healthy. We are blessed to have resources and expertise to contribute. 

Our pledge is that, through our family foundation, we will work to erode and eliminate disparities in health care, and to help bring about a system of health care which aims first to keep people healthy, and secondly to ensure that everyone has access to the best quality health care when they need it. We and our children are dedicating our time and our resources to that end.

This quote from Oracle CEO Larry Ellison on Mercury News sums up the reasons of why and now:

Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95 percent of my wealth to charitable causes. "... Until now, I have done this giving quietly -- because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private matter. So why am I going public now? Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be 'setting an example' and 'influencing others' to give. I hope he's right.

Many in the field are calling this the "game-changer" that will shape philanthropy in the US for years to come. I think it is bigger than that - Asia's billionaires are watching also. The question then is - will this campaign encourage more billionaires and even millionaires to step up?

Photo courtesy of Mr. Kris, Flickr, Creative Commons

Philanthropy as Practiced by Asian Chefs

In December, the Asian Chefs Association served more than 2,000 meals to clients of San Francisco's Glide Memorial Church. The non-traditional Chinese meal included sweet and sour pork, egg rolls, stir-fry chicken and vegetable, rise, Asian coleslaw with sesame vinaigrette, fruit and cookies. In this recently released video by Jim Choi, you will see the blending of Chinese and Western culture, language, philanthropy and volunteerism. The annual collaboration between the Asian Chefs Association and the Glide Foundation is a wonderful example of social change that cuts through many barriers - race, culture, language, and social class.

The chefs include Khai Duong from Ana Mandara, Lawrence Chu from Chef Chu's in Los Altos, and Christopher Yeo from Straits in San Francisco and Sino in San Jose. They cooked the meals with woks they had to bring from their own restaurants. ACA has raised funds for tsunami recovery, human-trafficking, and supported livelihood projects related to the culinary field.

Glide Foundation's founding president, Janice Mirikitani, in partnership with her husband, Reverend Cecil Williams, have been recognized worldwide for their groundbreaking organization which empowers San Francisco's poor and marginalized communities to make meaningful changes in their lives to break the cycle of poverty and dependence. In 43 years, they have built 87 comprehensive programs that provide education, recovery support, primary and mental health care, job training, housing and human services.

I am a big fan of ACA and volunteer and attend their events at every opportunity. I encourage you to get involved and volunteer at the event next year. Volunteering doesn't get better than this - doing good and cooking with San Francisco's top chefs!

See also: Great chefs, good hearts: Asian Chefs Association

U.S. - Vietnamese Social Networks

James H. Bao, co-founder of the OneVietnam Network generated a list of US Vietnamese Social Networks on their blog, Vietnam Talking Points. James found five networks and he provides a summary of their work. Please visit their blog to learn more. 

In particular, James writes:

Of the networks I've found, only two came out to be true social network by today's definitions: Viet Circle and Vietmee.com. The rest are better categorizes as community blogs or forums. Of the bunch, Viet Circle offers the most familiar social networking experience. Yet, the site tries to do too much (includes restaurant reviews, event planning), runs an outdated model (think MySpace), and is not actively developed.

The Vietnamese expat community still lacks a true network. With over 3 million people spread across 30 countries, there is a definite need for a network that can bring us together. I have reasons to believe that kind of network will be coming very soon (*wink).

James is talking about the exciting, highly anticipated, OneVietnam Network. The man behind the "network" is Paul Pham.  Paul was part of the team that created the first web-based email service called Hotmail. After the company was acquired by Microsoft Corporation, he went on to work as a server architect for several years, developing the main revenue generating engine for Hotmail called WebCourier.

I can't wait to see the fully functional network because it will be the first of its kind - bringing non-profit groups, volunteers, donors and supporters together on an integrated platform that uses all the tools of social media. This is where the Asian American philanthropy field needs to be headed.  The fact that none of them have a philanthropy background makes it even more impressive. I like the idea of a fresh perspective and a new approach.

Disclosure: I serve as an advisor to OneVietnam Network.