BY LAURENCE LIEN
CHAIRMAN, ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE
I am always asked how Asian philanthropy is different from Western philanthropy. Now, I finally have an answer to hand out! At APC, we recently published a piece called ‘Observations on the Essence of Asia Philanthropy’. It has only 10 short points; so do read it and tell me what you think. These points are distilled from nearly 16 years of full-time philanthropy sector experience!
Some of the points we make are around Asian giving being rooted in deep cultural values and beliefs, and believing in identity-based giving. Many in Asia are influenced by the concept of dana–where gifts are pure and authentic, with the act of giving quiet. This, I believe, is why best practice is so often slow to diffuse across Asia, and where the concept of strategic philanthropy remains nascent.
Learning, never copying
We recently returned from this year’s APC Learning Journey to Washington DC, New York, and Boston. APC members and friends spent 10 intense days visiting philanthropy powerhouses such as Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Brookings Institution, as well as less-renowned but still heavy-hitting family foundations like Bainum Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and Barr Foundation.
A few things hit me during the trip. Most striking was the increased humility among foundations. We heard about yielding and sharing power. We learned about emergence–giving flexibility to the community and listening to “proximity experts” who are close to or in the communities. And we observed how foundations are focusing on building trust on the ground, co-creating solutions with communities.
I studied philanthropy in the US as part of my Masters programme at Harvard Kennedy School some 20 years ago. I summarised my learnings in a 10-point note to the Lien Foundation board in 2004. In that note, I said that “philanthropy needs to be more strategic,” and that “foundations need to be very clear what their Mission and Theory of Change are.”
I credit my US learnings for influencing how the Lien Foundation worked. However, it was never wholesale copying; we evolved our own model. Today, in our letter to each grantee on “How we’d like to work with you,” we emphasize how the relationship is one of equals, how it is based on mutual trust and respect, how mistakes made should be shared early and honestly with each other, and how we dislike bureaucracy and documentation for its own sake.
In a 10-point note to the Lien Foundation board in 2004, I said that “philanthropy needs to be more strategic,” and that “foundations need to be very clear what their Mission and Theory of Change are.”
— Laurence Lien
Becoming bigger and bolder
Similarly, I believe funders in Asia must continue to forge our own path–blending the best of East and West. But we must become bigger and bolder, and be more comfortable funding ecosystem-wide initiatives while being true to our culture, values, and roots.
One key opportunity we see is to expand the scope of collaboration for Asian philanthropists and global funders in Asia. To explore this opportunity, the APC Board has agreed to pilot a new arm to design, more intentionally, collaborations for high-need areas to achieve impact at scale. This effort is being led by Carol Tan, who has stepped back from the majority of her day-to-day management responsibilities from 1 June 2024 in order to build this initiative.
We are dealing increasingly with global problems like climate change that require larger-scale solutions. Members are increasingly interested in scaling up the impact of local work. At the same time, more and more global funders are seeking to learn how to operate in our regional environment, and are keen to share their global learnings and channel resources towards impactful projects in Asia.
The time is ripe for partnerships. Specifically, APC is looking to forge successful collaborations with global partners to support and grow the work of members. We will start by seeking opportunities based on two areas and on members’ interests. This will also be part of an overall review of how APC engages members, as we find new ways for our team to bring new value to you. While APC is carving out some resources for this initial building-up period, we will be raising separate funding and resources for this new arm.
We are dealing increasingly with global problems like climate change that require larger-scale solutions. Members are increasingly interested in scaling up the impact of local work. At the same time, more and more global funders are seeking to learn how to operate in our regional environment, and keen to share their global learnings and channel resources towards impactful projects in Asia.
Business as Usual
Meanwhile, I have taken on more overall management responsibility to handle the Business as Usual. The Board has also decided to establish an HR Working Committee (WC), consisting of Francesco Caruso, Watanan Petersik and myself. The HR WC will focus on three priorities: one, to hire new staff and to conduct a comprehensive HR review; two, to review and refresh APC’s membership engagement model; and three, to guide, mentor, and coach individual members of the APC team, while setting up a framework to do this on a sustained basis. The HR WC is temporary until the new senior management team is in place.
Francesco, together with Michiel Brenninkmeijer, have joined the APC Board this year. Please join me in welcoming them. Meanwhile, Stanley Tan, APC’s co-founder, has retired from the board while remaining an active APC member, as well as the Chairman of Asia Community Foundation (ACF). Please join me in expressing our deep gratitude to Stanley for his vision, commitment, and guidance over the years–APC would not be alive and thriving without him!
We understand that you may have many questions. We will be reaching out to you individually in the coming weeks to get your inputs and feedback, and to clarify any questions you may have. Do be patient with us as we take the next couple of months to figure details out, and test ideas!
It is important to end by restating our aspiration: APC continues to be a close-knit community of committed philanthropists learning, growing, and working together. Our sister organisation ACF is helping us reach out to newer and more nascent givers by making giving easy and impactful. This new collaboration arm will help us reach out and work with global partners to accelerate social progress. Both new arms are only possible with the strong foundation that APC provides, and both will bring in prospects of new social impact.
Laurence Lien
11 June 2024