China Philanthropy

Links that Make you Go Hmm for the Week Ending August 19

Beijing is closing migrant schools, GOOD acquires Jumo, China Red Cross makes a move to increase transparency and more links...

Beijing Closes Migrant Schools: The Wall Street Journal reports the closure of several migrant schools days before classes are set to resume. Is the city trying to pare down migrant population or keep children safe?

Jumo Sold to GOOD: This week Jumo, the social networking site promoting social good, announced it has been acquired by GOOD, a company promoting social causes. Started by Chris Hughes who co-founded Facebook, Jumo kicked off last fall but has yet to distinguish itself as the Facebook for do-gooders.

British Company Supports Chinese Social Entrepreneurs: London-based beverage distribution company Diageo along with the British Council is launching a program to find and develop China’s next nonprofit workers and social entrepreneurs.

Another Internet Giving Campaign: After a student hit and then stabbed a young mother last year, Shanghainese lawyer Fu Weigang started a microblog campaign to raise money for the family. For every forward of his post, he promised to donate 1 RMB. With 545,000 posts and donations from friend, family, and other bloggers he recently fulfilled his promise to the woman’s family who will use the funds for her child’s education and to pay off hospital bills from the incident.

China Red Cross Discloses Donations Online: In an effort to be more transparent, China Red Cross will disclose donation information online starting with how it used donations for the 2010 Yushu Earthquake.

How Will Electronic Money Change Giving? Lucy Bernholz at Philanthropy 2173 asks this question and quite a few other good ones on her blog. What do you think?

TCG Nordica: Challenging Yunnan’s Artists

While we often focus on organizations that help the disadvantaged, SVG also has great respect for those working to develop community through culture. Today’s post features an influential group that nurtures Kunming’s artist community, while encouraging them to value humanity.

For the past ten years, China’s cities have begun to see small but vibrant artist communities spring up in abandoned factory parks and leaky, rundown buildings. These enclaves have gained a following with Chinese and foreign visitors showing an interest in the growing art market, but the newness of the movement has brought with it some challenges.

Based in Kunming, Helen Wu and Anna Mellergård noticed that the city’s growing art scene was a group of individual artists in small, isolated groups rather than a thriving community. Additionally, while artists were making good art, many could not express themselves clearly and had few opportunities to interact with more established international artists. Helen, a Chinese businesswoman and self-described art appreciator, and Anna, a Scandinavian poet, decided to change that by opening TCG Nordica a multi-faceted art space in the heart of Kunming’s Chuang Ku/LOFT art district.