Wang Zhenyao: Philanthropy is in a stage of transformation, and its development needs to be professionalized

On June 28, 2024, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "One Old and One Young" Social Service Innovation Exchange Conference was held in Nansha, Guangzhou. While discussing the impact of the philanthropy economy on the field of life services, the Southern Weekly Philanthropy Research Center had a dialogue with Wang Zhenyao on the current changes, healthy development and influence of the philanthropy industry. He believes that "good economy" is the trend of the whole era, and that public welfare and charity are currently in a period of transition, and only through specialization can we better promote the development of the industry and give full play to the influence of public welfare and charity in promoting grassroots governance and international exchanges.

Wang Zhenyao of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "One Old and One Young" Social Service Innovation Exchange Conference shared the keynote (photo provided by the interviewee)

Under the wave of "good economy", public welfare and charity are facing transformation

Southern Weekly:

In recent years, you have mentioned the "good economy" on different occasions, what is the "good economy"? What does "good economy" mean for governments, enterprises, public welfare and charitable organizations, and individuals?

Wang Zhenyao:

In 2013, I came up with the concept of "good economy" while researching the waves of social and economic development. At that time, Western scholars called this concept "philanthropic capitalism", and after comparing various theories and theories, I think that it is more appropriate to use the term "good economy" in China, and it is closer to Chinese culture. It refers to the fact that the country has entered the stage where the per capita GDP reaches 10,000 US dollars, the productivity is highly developed, and the products are greatly rich, at this time, the business logic changes from striving for more to striving for good, and the economy and society turn to high-quality development, and pay more attention to social value and business for good.

The transformation of business civilization has brought about a change in values and lifestyle. For example, ordinary people pay attention to emotional value, which is reflected in the popularity of Zibo barbecue, Guizhou village super, Tianshui Malatang and other phenomena. These changes have also led to a corresponding adjustment of public policy, with local governments placing greater emphasis on service functions. The rapid development of the good economy has led to the formation of a huge social wave driven by information technology, which has penetrated all aspects of our lives.

For public welfare and charitable organizations, this is not only a huge opportunity, but also a severe test. On the one hand, people are more willing to do good, and the demand for community charity services and donations has increased, which provides more resources and development space for public welfare charitable organizations. On the other hand, the traditional path of public welfare and charity may not keep up with the development of the times, and it is necessary to innovate service methods and improve service quality to meet the needs of society. Under the influence of the trend of good economy, how to seize this opportunity and realize their own sublimation has become a more urgent challenge.

Southern Weekly:

In recent years, China's philanthropic industry has ushered in the establishment of the Central Ministry of Social Work, the revision of the Charity Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Charity Law"), and the revision or formulation of supporting laws and regulations. What are the implications of these adjustments and changes for the industry?

Wang Zhenyao:

I believe that macro policies are very positive for philanthropy, especially in the process of revising the Charity Law, Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences undertook the evaluation of the Charity Law commissioned by the National People's Congress, which shows that the relevant departments have a positive, affirmative and encouraging attitude towards the development of public welfare and charity.

In fact, this is also reflected in the setting of the name of the agency. In 2008, I participated in the establishment of the Department of Social Welfare and Philanthropy Promotion of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and served as its director. In order to promote the development of philanthropy, it is necessary to adjust policies and give tolerance, understanding and support to public welfare behaviors.

The current policy direction remains unchanged, and in the process of revising the Charity Law, the tone of all parties is to promote. Some provinces and regions have made valuable explorations, such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu and other places, where the number of county-level foundations is relatively large, and Zhejiang accounts for about 400 of the more than 1,000 county-level foundations in the country. The practice of these places is of strong exemplary significance, indicating that local party and government cadres and organs may have a deeper understanding of charity work. In terms of the combination of theory and practice, how to grasp the main direction of promoting the development of philanthropy has set an example for us.

Southern Weekly:

With the different stages of social development, the role and role of public welfare and charity are also different. In your opinion, what role does philanthropy play in different fields in the mainland at this stage?

Wang Zhenyao:

Today, the role and role of philanthropy are in a stage of transformation. During the epidemic, emergency charity played a significant role, especially during the fight against the epidemic in Wuhan, overseas Chinese actively donated various epidemic prevention materials, which greatly alleviated the shortage of medical supplies in China. Because of this, Hubei Province included the special emergency charity in the Charity Regulations, and the subsequent revision of the Charity Law also set emergency charity as a special chapter, and China's emergency charity was born, which is unique in the world.

From the initial relief of the first aid and poverty alleviation, public welfare and charity have been given new meanings by the times and continue to expand to different fields. For example, in cultural life, philanthropy has begun to focus on mental health; In the field of arts and culture, philanthropy is committed to creative exploration; Another example is the economic field, where charity plays a role with a unique logic in rural revitalization. China Central Television (CCTV) and China National Radio have all helped rural revitalization through public service advertisements, and even sold goods from poor mountainous areas at airports, forming charity consumption. Philanthropy has entered a new stage, expanding into the economic and creative fields, enhancing emotional value. We need to pay attention to this trend and trend because it is moving towards many aspects such as culture.

In addition, the culture of philanthropy is changing. In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China has accumulated an economic foundation, and while pursuing better development, it has begun to re-explore the heritage of Chinese culture. The Chinese civilization has gradually shown its inherent tension and value, and is gradually moving towards a new rejuvenation, and China's concept of public welfare and charity has become more confident and confident.

Specialization can be healthy and brand development

Southern Weekly:

In recent years, the government work report has repeatedly mentioned the need to support the healthy development of social organizations, volunteer services, public welfare and charity, in your opinion, how to understand "healthy development"? What are the keys to "healthy development"?

Wang Zhenyao:

The healthy development of public welfare and charity requires specialization, and through specialization, the love and goodwill of the public can be brought together in an organized, systematic and standardized manner, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in China's public welfare and charity in this regard.

Taking volunteer service as an example, the first is that it is still in the stage of dedication to labor, and the volunteer service force with professional skills such as retired teachers, doctors, and police officers has not been fully tapped. Second, the statistics are not specialized, and at present, only the number of volunteers and the service duration are counted, and the service classification of different values is not reflected. Third, the overall management needs to be systematized, such as the standardization of registration management, and the classification and grading of the security system need to be optimized.

Taking social donations as an example, just like mass fundraising, such as Hong Kong's weekly flag fundraising, it is organized in an orderly manner to form a certain standard. There is still a lot of room for improvement in the orderly nature of fundraising. Second, in many countries, charity stores are an important source of donations and aid for communities, but our charity supermarkets are currently failing to adequately meet these needs.

Taking the professional management of philanthropy as an example, the whole society has not yet reached a consensus on some key issues. For example, whether the income of the staff of a charitable organization is reasonable, and the income of the personnel of a foreign charitable organization is comparable to that of the general public, only the income standards of the top executives are limited, and the restrictions mainly come from the board of directors. For example, the cost of fundraising is not clearly defined in the mainland, while the cost of fundraising in the world is usually around 20%. In addition, it is not clear whether the services paid for the fundraising should be paid, and there is also controversy regarding administrative costs. Although the Charity Law stipulates that charitable organizations can invest, foundation-run companies like IKEA have not yet appeared on the mainland, and people do not know how to operate them. In many countries, the government of charitable organizations buys the majority of services, but if the government provides fixed funding to charitable organizations, is it acceptable to the public?

Although the revised Charity Law clarifies the responsibilities and procedures of some public welfare charities, the professionalization and professionalization of public welfare and charity still require the whole society to make changes in concepts and concepts, which need to be promoted through social public education and media appeals.

Southern Weekly:

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has emphasized on different occasions to strengthen the construction of social organizations, volunteer services, and public welfare and charity brands, and to create a competitive service brand. What should we do to strengthen brand building?

Wang Zhenyao:

The brand's most direct response to philanthropy is reflected in fundraising, especially large donations. When it comes to public welfare brands, Project Hope is the number one brand known to the public, so many entrepreneurs will be more willing to donate to Project Hope or donate to other organizations, hoping that the project can be branded like Project Hope in the future. This fully shows that charity upgrading and brand building are inevitable.

If a charity organization wants to build a charity brand, I believe that it should be considered from two aspects: first, it must have a solid and in-depth understanding of the long-term needs of the society, and through rigorous research and analysis, accurately grasp the essence of the needs and the scale of their possible coverage. Second, be creative. Based on a full understanding of the real social needs and the internal laws of the brand, we carefully design a plan that is acceptable to the public, or a plan that is easy for a specific group of people to accept. Only by combining these two aspects can it be possible to create a successful brand. To achieve this combination, it is important to have the courage to face and understand the real needs of society, and at the same time, it is necessary to improve the professionalism and professionalism of charitable services, which also requires the participation of consulting institutions and professional institutions.

Southern Weekly:

Trust is the cornerstone of philanthropy, but the phenomenon of fraud in the name of charity from time to time damages the image of charity to a certain extent, what do you think of these phenomena? What do you think can be done to improve these phenomena?

Wang Zhenyao:

This issue needs to be considered from two aspects. On the one hand, there have indeed been some undesirable phenomena in the field of public welfare and charity, and some people have done evil in the name of public welfare, but this cannot negate the entire public welfare sector. Even in some developed countries, there have been scandals involving donations splitting up. However, in the aftermath of the incident, the local judiciary was able to deal with these issues calmly, while the public continued to donate in the community. They believe that donations are first and foremost for themselves, including improving the public environment in the community and supporting the disadvantaged in the community, and they distinguish individual evildoers from their own donations.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to formulate procedures and norms to prevent the occurrence of these bad behaviors, the key of which lies in two points: one is openness and transparency, of course, openness and transparency cannot go to extremes, not every invoice should be put on the Internet, and attention should be paid to protecting the privacy of donors and relevant parties to avoid causing undignified charity. The second is to establish a strict board of directors system, so that the governance system of charitable organizations conforms to the basic provisions of the Charity Law, especially the management system of charitable assets and the management of fundraising behaviors, and only by grasping the main links can these undesirable phenomena be effectively prevented.

Leading the way in philanthropy, promoting community linkage and people-to-people bonds

Southern Weekly:

In recent years, social governance has also emphasized the "linkage of three societies" and "linkage of five societies". How to break down these barriers?

Wang Zhenyao:

The five societies emphasize that charity comes first, social mobilization is the key, especially the participation of the public, and stimulating the public spirit of the masses is an important factor in the success of the experiment.

Take my hometown of Lushan County, Henan Province, as an example, a poor county with simple folk customs, and at first only entrepreneurs donated money to our village. I proposed not to let entrepreneurs sing a one-man show, I took the lead in donating and driving other villagers to donate, a small yuan is also money, only when I participate in charity, can I feel that this matter is related to the vital interests of each villager. In practice, the villagers' donations far exceeded expectations, and a good interactive relationship and atmosphere were formed between villages through donations, extending from villages to townships, and finally the whole county participated. Public charity plays the role of a "glue", giving everyone a sense of value and promoting the development of things.

Whether it is the linkage of three societies or the linkage of five societies, public welfare and charity are the foundation, stimulating public spirit is the key, and community linkage is inevitable.

Southern Weekly:

In recent years, philanthropy has also become a kind of "soft power" to participate in the "Belt and Road" or other international exchanges, what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of philanthropy in international exchanges? What are some suggestions for international exchanges in philanthropy in the future?

Wang Zhenyao:

First of all, Chinese charitable donations are characterized by sincerity, often from the heart, directly helping each other, meeting the most urgent needs of the other party, and then gaining recognition and acceptance from the recipient, and promoting people-to-people bonds. Secondly, donations that are close to people's livelihood, such as helping local residents grow vegetables in Africa, can meet the daily needs of ordinary people, which can produce the same frequency resonance and enhance the communication effect.

However, our philanthropy also has disadvantages in international exchanges, on the one hand, it lacks experience in international donations, and it is not very good at using donations to more efficient and influential places. On the other hand, large enterprises going global have not yet made full use of foundations and social organizations when investing in projects, combining public welfare and business to enhance their international image and influence.

Suggestions for future international exchanges of public welfare and charity are: first, policy support, translating the provisions of the Charity Law that encourage international exchanges into specific mechanisms, and formulating corresponding provisions in other relevant laws to provide special policy support for charitable organizations to go global. Second, it is necessary to strengthen training and learn from the advanced experience of other countries, such as the training model of developed countries for social organizations to go global. The third is to encourage young people to serve in international organizations and increase China's participation in international organizations and the degree of internationalization. Fourth, we should make full use of diplomats and other resources to encourage them to serve public welfare and charity after retirement, and give full play to their experience and interpersonal advantages.

Southern Weekly researcher Zhong Jinxiu and intern Yuan Yunshan

Editor-in-charge: Shi Liang