“Study the past 2000 years… year 1 to the year 1820 the two largest economies in the world were consistently China and India. So what you are seeing in the 21st century is a return to the old historical normal.” Kishore Mabhubani, one of the leading thinkers of modern times.
I was in San Diego, USA, in early April, speaking at the 50th International Conference of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. My session on ‘Resurgent Asia- fundraising & philanthropy’ was very well received.
The session covered:
- ‘Made for Asia’ fundraising and advocacy methodologies – indigenous and ingenious ways of raising funds have emerged in Asia, with methodologies tailored to suit and leverage ground realities in specific markets. One such example is the ‘missed –call’ phenomenon in India that is used for pledge campaigns, raising advocacy petitions and donor referrals.
- The giving behaviours and motivations of Asian high net worth individuals – where I shared information on studies done on their giving motivations, the active role played by the young scions of wealthy Asian families as well as the strong linkage between corporate and family philanthropy.
- While the Asian middle-class is the subject of many commercial market analysis, the rise in ‘middle-class’ donors is equally exciting. Fundraising investment made in key Asian markets by International and some national NGOs has contributed to the rapid growth of middle-class donors in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Korea and Indonesia, to name a few.
Here are my slides presented at this session. I would love to hear your thoughts.
The other highlight of my visit was the launch of a one-of-its-kind book Global Fundraising: How the world is changing the rules of philanthropy wherein I have collaborated with co-editors Bernard Ross, Penelope Cagney and fundraising experts from around the world., It has substantial information on Asia covering China, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore. It is a Wiley publication under the AFP Fund Development Series.
