A survey on the Nepal earthquake relief effort was conducted recently by China Philanthropy Times together with Sina Gonyi and Wenjuan.com. The survey was carried out from May 6 to May 11 and 1106 internet users participated.
The results show that nearly 40% of the participants were willing to donate their money to non-profit organizations such as foundations. One thing worth noting is that the public were more focused on the accountability of fundraising activities than in previous surveys; nearly half of the participants said they would do some background research before giving money to a charitable organization, and about 23% of them would even follow how the money would be used by those organizations. The surveyors think that this a good sign for the future development of the Chinese public welfare sector.
Chinese foundations began to participate in international humanitarian aid in 2004. According to unofficial statistics, since then more than 30 Chinese foundations have taken part in international disaster relief efforts such as the 2004 Tsunami in Indian Ocean, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tokyo earthquake, and the 2013 Philippines hurricane. Chinese foundations are currently active in Nepal and the public now seems more supportive than before about the participation of Chinese organizations. According to the survey, about 70% of internet users thought the Chinese NGOs’ activities in Nepal were commendable and should be encouraged.
