The story in the China Daily this weekend Charities fear donations will dwindle peaked my interest at (1) I am currently fundraising and (2) the financial downturn has left many wondering what the impact would be on NGOs

According to the article:

Corporate donations to China’s charities are expected to fall significantly next year, despite them hitting a record 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) this year

A few charities expressed their concerns:

Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association - The slowdown has begun to affect our operations

China Foundation of Poverty Alleviation - We definitely expect donations to fall next year, but we will do our best to minimize the impact.

A few groups expressed their ongoing support

Microsoft - citizenship programs will remain central to its commitment to growing together with China.

Novartis - will maintain its support next year, especially in terms of the provision of volunteers

From my perspective, there are a few things that are important to note:

1) Of the 100 billion Yuan donated this year, the vast majority was in support of the earthquake, and benefited only a few NGOs
2) Many of the grassroots NGOs have largely been cut off from corporate funding as they lack the ability to issue a receipt
3) the potential impact on grassroots organizations could be much larger as their reliance on friends and family may lead to lean times as the threat of unemployment, the reduction in the stock market, and other economic shocks reduce the individuals ability to donate funds
4) Like many other industries in China, and around the world, we are looking at a time where being small and unknown will increase the difficulties faced by NGOs.  Larger NGOs will continue to attract donations (aleit at a lessor level than this yer), but their scale and capabilities will continue to be attractive to those corporations with money.
5) Now is not the time to launch new operations, or a new NGO.  Ensuring the ongoing fndncial stability of new operations could be difficult unless a reserve to weather then next 12-18 months is guaranteed