The China Philanthropy Research Institute, along with the China Global Philanthropy Institute, published the China Family Charitable Foundation Development Report (2018) on the 15th of January 2019. Here we will introduce some of the key points in the report to give our readers an overview of the development of family charitable foundations in China.
According to the statistics, there were 268 family charitable foundations in China by the end of 2018, accounting for 4% of all foundations. The donations of family charitable foundations between 2005 and 2017 increased from 8.73 million yuan to 3.7 billion yuan, mainly for poverty alleviation, fundamental education and higher education. In 2017, the average donation of family charitable foundations was 18.12 million yuan, and there were 10 foundations that donated more than 100 million yuan.
China’s Southeastern coastal areas have the most such foundations, while they are much less common in the country’s Western areas. Guangdong, Beijing and Fujian rank top three for the number of family charitable foundations, with 52, 41 and 34 respectively. Education is the most common issue of concern for family charitable foundations, but culture, elderly care and social development are also common.
In general, the number of family charitable foundations has grown steadily at an annual average growth rate of 24%, or 20% if you discount 1989, when the total number of such foundations rose from 1 to 5 in a single year. It is expected that the number of family charitable foundations in China may pass the 300 mark by the end of 2019. At the same time, the registration fund and net assets remain consistent.
