Nurturing Philanthropists

Gingko Fellowship fosters a new generation of China’s non-profit leaders By Wang Hairong

Cui Lanxin, Secretary General of the Beijing-based Chunmiao Children’s Aid Foundation, still remembers a boy nicknamed Haibaobao, a patient with congenital heart disease whom she and her colleagues helped save from death almost two years ago.

Haibaobao is from a low-income Muslim family in Dengzhou, central China’s Henan Province. After he was diagnosed with congenital heart disease in 2010, his parents were distraught because they could not afford treatment.

Nonetheless, Haibaobao was lucky.With fi nancial support from the Chunmiao Foundation, he received an operation in Beijing in early 2011. Now 3 years old,Haibaobao is a healthy and chubby toddler.

The foundation was established in 2010 and is mainly engaged in child welfare programs, including sponsoring medical treatment for congenital heart disease. Over the past two years, it has helped approximately 500 poor children with serious illnesses get medial treatment. In October 2012 alone, the organization spent 275,959 yuan ($44,274)to treat 12 children.

Cui Lanxin, the principal operator of the foundation, was a recipient of the Gingko Fellowship for her work at Chunmiao.

The Gingko Fellowship, launched by the Narada Foundation in 2010, gives both tangible and intangible assistance to recipients, including an annual stipend of 100,000 yuan ($16,047)for three consecutive years. The recipients can also participate in overseas study tours to learn charity management and network with experts and other recipients.

Recognition

The Narada Foundation is a private non-pro fi t organization founded in May 2007. With registered capital of 100 million yuan ($16 million), it positions itself as a supplier of funds and resources in the non-pro fi t sector.

The Gingko Fellowship grooms promising young philanthropic professionals for leadership positions in charity organizations.Potential recipients should be between 20-40 years old, have a minimum of two years’experience in charity, and plan to continue to engage in philanthropy.

This year, 16 persons with an average age of 34 were named recipients, bringing the total number to 37 so far.

The Narada Foundation has a set procedure to select recipients. First, candidates should be nominated by in fl uential persons in NGOs, academic institutions, media organizations or the business sector. The foundation will conduct a preliminary screen and background check on recommended candidates,and then the shortlisted candidates are reviewed by an independent panel of experts.Candidates are required to make a presentation on their charitable work before the panel of experts, who select the fi nalists.

During the presentation before the panel of experts, Cui impressed the judges.

Cui was born in rural Hebei Province in 1978. At the age of 23, she quit her civil service job and decided to try her luck in Beijing,where she worked various jobs. She once set up her own business but failed. Frustrated by the setback, Cui thought that she could regain the courage to carry on by helping others.

In 2006, Cui met Liu Dong, a medical doctor who later set up the Chunmiao Foundation.Inspired by Liu, she raised funds for poor children with serious illnesses so they could afford medical treatment. In 2010, she quit a highpaying job in a private company to work at the Chunmiao Foundation. Since 2011, Cui has served as secretary general of the foundation,which now has more than 10 fulltime employees and many volunteers.

Not long after the foundation’s launch,Cui received a request for help from Yu Lu,a volunteer with whom she once worked. Yu met an 18-month-old boy with a 4.5-kg tumor in his stomach. Doctors in the boy’s hometown in Yunnan Province thought it was too risky to treat him, so Yu referred the boy to Cui.

Cui found a doctor in Beijing who was willing to treat the boy, and in a matter of days raised more than 20,000 yuan ($3,209)for the boy’s successful operation.

In addition to helping children with serious illnesses, Chunmiao also hires couples to take care of physically disabled orphans and sends social workers and volunteers to help families in need.

COURTESY OF CHUNMIAO FOUNDATION

(Left)HOSPITAL VISIT: Cui Lanxin visits a girl who received treatment in a hospital with fi nancial support from the Chunmiao Children’s Aid Foundation in November 2011

“In the eyes of children, I find strength and warmth,” she said.

After being named a recipient of the Gingko Fellowship, Cui toldBeijing Reviewthat the award will not only improve her life,but also give her an opportunity to learn and carry out her research.

She said that the award has prompted her to think of better ways to help children. Her organization has just made a fi ve-year plan. It plans to cooperate with more hospitals across the country, sponsor treatment of more types of diseases, and lobby for public policies bene fi ting children.

A unique program

Differing from other charitable programs,the Gingko Fellowship sponsors professionals rather than an organization. This philosophy has triggered debate about why the Narada Foundation gives money to philanthropists rather than people in need, poor children in particular.

Xu Yongguang, Chairman of the Narada Foundation, said that currently, charitable organizations in China are short of talented people. He said that although many young persons are passionate about careers in nonprofit work, many have to give up their dreams to make a living because charity work is low paying.

Data released by National Bureau of Statistics in May 2011 showed that the monthly pay for employees of social organizations averaged 740 yuan ($119), which was equivalent to 43 percent of that for employees in the private sector and 24 percent of that in the public sector. Moreover, nearly 40 percent of charitable organizations did not offer insurance bene fi ts, according to a report released by the Narada Foundation in 2010.

After the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, many charitable organizations have sprouted up in China. How to attract, cultivate and retain talented people has become an issue for non-pro fi t organizations.

“A shortage of funding makes it difficult for charities to find talented people,while a lack of talented people makes it diffi cult for charities to attract more funding,”Xu said.

Through the Gingko Fellowship, the Narada Foundation aims to help outstanding young charity practitioners remove obstacles to their personal development to help them grow into charity leaders.

“Every industry needs professionals to fuel its growth, and the charity industry is no exception,” said Lin Hong, a project of fi cer at the Narada Foundation. She said that young NGO leaders shoulder great social responsibilities and are under heavy pressure, so support to them will promote both their personal growth and the growth of philanthropic institutions.

Liu Yi, Director of the China Mangrove Conservation Network, was named a recipient of the fellowship in 2011. “The funding provided by the Gingko Fellowship is valuable.It recognizes the real value of NGO staff, and on the other hand, it has fi rmed up my determination to continue to engage in charity,”Liu said.

Sun Heng, founder of the Beijing Workers’ Home, a charitable organization serving migrant workers, was also named a recipient in 2011. He said that during a trip to the United Kingdom funded by the program,he visited local charity stores, which inspired him to open secondhand stores for migrant workers in China.