Be with the public
"A welfare organization must attract attention from the public," said Yang Peng, adding that that is why the One Foundation has chosen disaster relief and child care to be its focuses, even though they are already the central concerns of many other organizations.
"Nokia is a cellular producer, so is Apple. But Apple eventually surpassed Nokia. It is the public who has the final say," explained Yang.
A survey by Zhu Yonglei, partner and global vice president of Bain & Company, found that 80% of contributors cannot donate regularly. Therefore, some serial projects that are impressive and can arouse sympathy from the public must be carried out to encourage people to donate repeatedly. "'Ocean Heaven' is such a program," added Yang.
The "Model Project" launched in 2008 was relatively less effective. Its aim was to select several leading NGOs out of about 300,000 ones nationwide every year and award each no more than 1 million yuan for further development.
Yang worried that the transformation may land such projects into a fix. "The 'Model Project' is pretty advanced in China. But presently, people tend to pay attention to the beneficiaries of welfare, rather than the project. They are not likely to donate to the ones awarding the money," Yang said, adding that the public prefers to see a patient get cured or a student that goes back to school due to the Foundation's help.
The One Foundation has already suspended its "2011 Model Project" and is planning to improve it during the second half of this year.
Be transparent and optimistic
A small leak will sink a great ship. "Without transparency, a small flaw can destroy an industry," warned Zhu Yonglei, adding that people are more concerned about the transparency of the welfare organization after the "Guo Meimei incident," which caused a public trust crisis.
However, since the organization抯 Articles of Incorporation have yet to be approved, the transformed One Foundation has already been bombarded by some as being not transparent enough.
Another pressure has come from the lack of comprehensive understanding among the public toward the necessary expenses of the welfare organizations, such as spending on personnel.
Questioned by a journalist on how to make sure every penny has been used on charity, Jet Li said that nobody can transport goods to a place thousands of miles away without paying for gasoline, thus, administrative expenses are a must for the welfare organizations.
A healthy public foundation should also see a steadily growing fund every year, a goal still hard to reach in current China. The One Foundation raised less than 10 million yuan in 2007 and 143 million yuan, a record high, in 2008 after the deadly earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province. However, in 2009, the figure dropped sharply to about 50 million yuan.
"Welfare organizations cannot maintain sustainable practices if there are not enough funds," said Zhu.
