The Framing of Sustainable Finance in Charitable Foundations—Findings from a Qualitative Study

In the face of decreasing returns on investments and the growing influence of sustainability requirements, foundations have had to adjust the way they invest their assets. Sustainable investments have shown themselves to be as robust in terms of their returns as conventional investments and—more than that—they can support foundations’ goals much more effectively. But only very few foundations implement sustainable investment strategies. The present study analyses the reasons for this, by means of interviews with personnel responsible for assets. The interviewees operate as ‘sense givers’ who have to kickstart a process of strategic readjustment. The reference framework for their ways of thinking and acting has been investigated using framing analysis. So-called sense givers’ isolated position in their foundations is the rather disturbing finding of this study. Familiar strategies of action seem to be of little help in their endeavours. This is frequently expressed in sometimes poignant calls for external guidelines and role models, while specific ideas about courses of action remain relatively vague. This applies particularly to large foundations where strategic readjustments are hindered by complex structures and hierarchies, whereas in small-scale entities, decisions follow shorter, face-to-face pathways. The imperative of carving out a complex sustainability discourse in their foundations drives sense givers to activities like networking inside and outside their foundations in order to exchange ideas and build alliances, for example within the German Association of Charitable Foundations. Investment managers need first of all to develop new strategies to convince the range of stakeholders in their foundations.

Disaster Relief Funding by Private Grants and POs: Actors Supporting “Paradise” After Disaster

Following various tragic accidents, a civil society utopia has emerged to overcome the terrible situations through altruistic behaviors and mutual aid. Rebecca Solnit describes it as “a paradise built in hell.” As a means for civil society to support large-scale disasters, assistance is provided directly or indirectly through financial donations, relief supplies, or sending volunteers to disaster-affected areas. Such disaster relief assistance emerged post the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). Indirect disaster relief takes the form of making contributions to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to support disaster-stricken areas and people. Despite grants provided to NPOs, obtaining comprehensive data on their activities is difficult because of the enormous assistance they receive. Thus, research on civil society’s private disaster relief funding systems for the GEJE works remains limited. Additionally, it is difficult to deduce the number of program officers (POs) in charge of disaster relief activities for the GEJE. These POs belong to various foundations, companies, and NPOs. Apart from NPOs or charitable foundations, private companies have also established disaster relief grant systems for NPOs to aid disaster relief assistance. This study addresses the above concerns by reporting recent survey results to understand the role of private grants and POs in managing fund distribution to the NPOs working for the GEJE disaster relief. The study concludes from the survey that at least 25 private grant systems were launched, and they supplied more than JPY 40.57 billion (USD 391.26 million) from 2011 to 2020 for disaster relief activities by NPOs.

Healthcare of South Korea

South Korea is one of the most developed Asian states, located in the northeastern part of the Asian continent. This country has a powerful economy and highly developed industry, being one of the world's major suppliers of computer technology. Korean statehood traces its history from the 4th-3rd centuries BC, when the country was under the control of the Japanese Empire. As a result of the Second World War, Korea was divided into the northern part, controlled by the USSR, and the southern part, under US patronage. The Republic of Korea was founded on August 15, 1948, after which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (better known as North Korea) was proclaimed on the territory of the Soviet zone on September 9. The subsequent Korean War, which lasted for three years (1950-1953), only consolidated the division of the country. Over the 70 years of its existence, South Korea has achieved tremendous economic progress, and the changes could not but affect the health sector. Despite the fact that compared to other highly developed countries, South Korea spends not so much on the development of medicine — about 7.6 % of GDP, this figure is slowly but steadily growing. More than half of the capital that goes to meet the needs of the healthcare system is of private origin. In addition to compulsory medical insurance, which covers 96 % of the country's population, non-state sources of funding include the system of voluntary medical insurance, payment for treatment received, as well as funds from charitable foundations. On average, each Korean spends about 5 % of their income on healthcare annually.

COOPERATION OF BOADINGT SCHOOLS WITH CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS OF TRANSCARPATHIA OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE XX CENTURY

The activities of boarding schools in Transcarpathia in the first half of the XX-th century were organized and carried out with the direct participation of the state, but the active support of such institutions was carried out by various charitable organizations. The purpose of the article is to study the areas of cooperation of boarding schools in Transcarpathia in the first half of the XX-th century with charitable organizations. Methods applied: search and bibliographic method exists for the study of archival and library catalogs, collections and descriptions; content analysis of archival materials in order to identify the retro features of the organization and the content of cooperation of boarding schools of Transcarpathia with charitable organizations; interpretation and generalization − in order to update and identify ways to implement constructive historical experience in the modern practice of institutional care, formulation of conclusions, recommendations. The formation and development of boarding schools in Transcarpathia in the first half of the twentieth century depended primarily on the educational and social policy of the states to which the Transcarpathian lands belonged. Also, the activities of boarding schools of the first half of the XX-th century were accompanied by the active support of charitable public organizations that operated during the stay of the Transcarpathian lands as part of both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, including: League for the Protection of Children (creation of boarding schools at craft schools; holding charity events; supporting families in difficult life circumstances; organization of children's rehabilitation campaigns); the union «Shkolskaia pomoch» /»School help»/ (cooperation in the field of education of pupils of boarding schools, actively carries out student actions); union «Nadiya»/»Hope»/ (guardianship of war veterans' children); union of church teachers (guardianship of orphans of parish and state teachers, assistance in teaching in pedagogical education institutions); union «Patronage» (care for single mothers); counseling center «To our children»(care for the health of vulnerable children); Masaryk League against tuberculosis (children's recovery). Coordination of the actions of this unions, charitable foundations, public organizations was established on April 31, 1923 in the town Mukachevo. This work was carried out by the regional branch of the State Committee for Youth Guardianship, which was opened in the town Mukachevo in 1923.

Tax-Exempt Status and Associated Factors among Charitable Foundations in China

Tax exemption plays an important role in the sustainability of charitable organizations (COs). The 2016 Charity Law of China provides stronger tax incentives for charity donations. Using 767 observations of Chinese charitable foundations (CFs) during 2010–2018 from the China Foundation Center database and manually collected tax-exempt status data, this study applies multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the association between tax-exempt status and related key factors, such as transparency and donation dependency. This study found that a one-point increase in the transparency score of a CF is associated with a 3.9 percentage points higher likelihood of having at least one type of tax-exempt qualification (OR = 1.039, p < 0.01). There is in general a significantly positive association between tax-exempt status and donation dependency of CFs in China. After 2016, the CFs responded actively to the tax incentive provided by the Charity Law, which in return requires a higher level of transparency. These results suggest that taxation under the legal system may effectively function to promote the sustainability of charity foundations in China in the long run. Further studies are needed to explore in-depth why CFs with advanced tax-exempt qualifications concentrate in Beijing and Shanghai.

Internet charity in Russia: conditions, forms and practices

The article is devoted to the analysis of such a phenomenon in modern realities as Internet charity. The authors analyzed the forms of modern charity and its tools in the online reality, as well as considered specific campaigns using digital mechanisms. Charity is considered as a public detail, carried out exclusively on a voluntary basis. The main features are highlighted: the gratuitous basis; the choice of the place, volume and format of assistance; the social orientation of the activity, the subject of which can be either a private person or a legal entity; the non-state nature of the activity with possible state support for campaigns and NGOs. In modern Russian society, charity is not a national tradition. However, today there are a large number of charitable foundations, non-profit organizations, as well as private initiatives on the part of citizens. The virtualization process makes it possible to introduce modern tools and mechanisms into the usual spheres of life, thanks to which most of the processes are simplified and become accessible to a larger number of citizens. The sphere of charity is also no exception. The development of ICT makes it possible to spread information to a larger audience, to mobilize a larger number of stakeholders, and to optimize the donation process. The article deals with cases of charitable activity in the Internet environment, innovative forms of charity, as well as what functions are performed by modern tools of the studied activity. We can say that the Internet charity today acts as a significant and effective resource due to the availability, efficiency, visibility, and scale of the dissemination of socially oriented information.