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NEWS UPDATES |
Middle Class Most Generous in Giving
Middle-class people with an annual
salary of between $400,000 and $600,000 are the most generous donors
to charity, Inland Revenue Department figures show. Statistics also
reflected that the rich were "less generous" in giving to
charities than the middle
class, the South China Morning Post reported on February 21.Measures to Boost Donations Through
Charity Flag Sales
In view of growing cuts in funding, flag days has
become a major source of income for charitable organizations
in Hong Kong, and over 200 organizations have since been applying for
annual flag
selling at the Social Welfare Department. In order to help
increase the amount of funds raised by these organizations, SWD has set out various Flag Day Improvement
and Testing Schemes, making more flag days
and regional flag days available and extending traditional flag day
deadlines for an extra 2 hours, the Mingpao News reported on Feb 9.
Habitat for Humanity Launched Hong Kong
Chapter
Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong
has launched and announced its
Tsunami Rebuilding Program at a press conference on Feb 3, 2005.
HFH is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that
seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world.
It calls on the people of Hong Kong to aid in efforts to eliminate
poverty housing and provide decent home for the people
in Asia who lack permanent or proper shelter.
¡§Ed Exchange¡¨ - Internet Fundraising Platform
for Schools to Launch in April
The Hong Kong Insitute of
Education will be launching "Ed Exchange" in April - a fundraising
website for local schools in Hong Kong. With reference to the
structure of the Stock Exchange, the website will
help match prospective donors with schools in need, resembling a "eBay"
for the educational sector. It is currently under testing by 24 schools and plans to match 800-1,000 education programs for the first year, the Mingpao News reported
on Feb 1.
Government Established $200 Million Partnership Fund for Disadvantaged
To promote the development of a tripartite partnership among the
Government, the business community and the welfare sector to help the
disadvantaged, the Chief Executive has announced in 2005 Policy
Address the setting up of a $200 million Partnership Fund for the
Disadvantaged. The Government will provide matching grants to
donations made by business organisations to support non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) promoting social welfare projects. Bona-fide
charitable welfare NGOs having tax-exempted status under Section 88 of
the Inland Revenue Ordinance may apply for the Fund.
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RESEARCH UPDATES |
Draft Report of Task Force Available for Comment
The Task Force on NGO Statistics and Social Auditing, organized by
the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, has recently
released a
draft report documenting
its findings on the state of NGO statistics production and social
auditing in Hong Kong. Recommendations on alternative mechanisms
for improving NGO statistics compilation and nonprofit reporting and
social auditing were made in the report.
Two Research Projects
on Hong Kong's "Civicness" - An Update
The Biennial Opinion Survey on Civic Education (2004), which
was first reported in the June 2004 issue of our newsletter, has been
concluded recently. The survey was commissioned by the Committee on
the Promotion of Civic Education and is one of the most
comprehensive studies of national identity in Hong Kong. On the
other front, the Civil Society Index Project, another key
research project of the Centre, is well underway. The Project's aim is
to enhance our understanding of the values, structure, impact, and
environment of civil society in Hong Kong. The next few months will
see the completion of a few primary researches, including case studies
of the impact of civil society organizations (CSOs) on public policy;
media review of the activities of CSOs; and questionnaire survey of
the operations of CSOs. Acknowledging the importance of the research
objects, the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education has
agreed to sponsor $300,000 for the Project; the additional funding
will allow the Centre to extend the scope of some studies and go into
more depth in others.
Researching Hong Kong's
Arts Development
The Hong Kong Arts Development Council, formally
established as a statutory body since 1995/96, is approaching its 10th
anniversary, and recently commissioned the International
Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong Branch) to conduct a
research to review arts institutional and policy developments in the
past decade, with an aim to publish the findings in a commemorate
volume. The Centre for Civil Society and Governance has
been engaged by IATC to take part in this research project.
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Prospect of Promoting
Community Philanthropy in China
Following the promulgation of the new Foundation Law in
China in 2004, the Centre's Research Fellow, Lusina Ho from the Faculty of Law, has
presented a paper titled "China: Breaking New Grounds for Community
Foundation?" at the Community Foundations Symposium, held in
Germany in December 2004. The topic has aroused great interest
among the conference participants,
and in January 2005, the Centre for Civil Society and Governance
was engaged by the International Community Foundation at San
Diego to evaluate the prospect of promoting the community
foundation paradigm in China, and a legal analysis on the new
Foundation Administration Regulation was compiled at the request of
the US Foundation.
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OVERSEAS CONFERENCES AND PROGRAMS |
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Call for Submission ¡V 4th ISTR Asia and Pacific
Conference
The
4th ISTR Asia and Pacific Conference on
Third Sector will be held in Bangalore, India,
in November 2005. The overarching theme of the
conference is Civil Society and Social Justice.
The last date for the submission of proposal has
been
extended to 31 MARCH 2005.
Call for Participation
¡V The 34th Annual ARNOVA Conference
The Association for Research on Nonprofit
Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)
invites participation in its 34th annual
conference, to take place from November 17-19,
2005 at Washington, DC, USA. The special focus area this
year will be Nonprofits, Philanthropy and the
Public Agenda: Linking Research, Practice and
Policy.
Upcoming Conference -
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
18th Annual Symposium: Women and Philanthropy
The symposium, to be held from August
25-26, 2005 at Indianapolis, brings
together scholars and practitioners for
thoughtful discussion about Women and
Philanthropy. For details regarding this
conference, please visit the
Women's Philanthropy Institute website.
Graduate Fellowships in
Public and Nonprofit Financial Management
The School of Public and International
Affairs at Virginia Tech announces two new
graduate fellowships in public and nonprofit
financial management to begin in fall 2005,
including a Three-year fellowship for
Ph.D. student in Public Administration and
Public Affairs or Environmental Design and
Planning, and a Two-year fellowship for
master student in the Master of Public
Administration, Master of Public and
International Affairs, or Master of Urban and
Regional Planning.
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USEFUL RESOURCES |
Check out the following resources on civil
society and governance:
Downloadable Documents
and Resources
Check out online resources in relation to [Guides
on Outcome Management], [Volunteering
Toolkit], and [Government-Civil
Society Policy Partnership].
Recently Released Books
Click [here]
for descriptions for a list of recently released
books:
- Losing Your Executive Director Without Losing
Your Way
- Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing
Grant Proposals
- The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook Part II
- The Nonprofit Board Member¡¦s Guide to Lobbying
and Advocacy
- Community Visions, Community Solutions:
Grantmaking for Comprehensive Impact
- The New Effective Voluntary Board of Directors
- Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Measure,
Manage, and Improve Performance
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ABOUT CCSG AND THE NEWSLETTER |
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The
Centre for Civil Society and Governance
is a multi-disciplinary research unit established by
the Department of Politics and Public Administration
under the Faculty of Social Sciences of the
University of Hong Kong. The Centre aims to enhance
our knowledge of civil society - its nature,
constituents, dynamics, roles, and in particular its
contributions toward governance, and to foster the
development of a vibrant civil society in Hong Kong,
mainland China, and other parts of the world. The
Centre seeks to do this through research, advocacy,
and dissemination.
The CCSG e-Newsletter, first published in
June 2004, is a quarterly online news bulletin which
serves to provide a platform for allowing various
concern groups to disseminate news about civil
society development to local NGO practitioners.
Through the production of the newsletter, it is
envisaged that readers will be able to keep abreast
with latest developments of civil society and
governance around the world. More partners will be
engaged in the production of this newsletter in the
coming issues.
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To subscribe to the quarterly CCSG e-newsletter, please send us your email
address to
ccsg@hku.hk. Please also forward this newsletter
to your colleagues and friends who are
interested in learning more about Civil
Society and Governance.
If you wish to unsubscribe, please send your
email address to
ccsg@hku.hk with "unsubscribe" on the
subject line.
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| CONTACT US |
Centre for Civil Society and Governance
c/o General Office, Department of Politics & Public Administration,
Room 622, Wong Chuang Lai Wah Building,
Meng Wah Complex,
The University of Hong Kong,
Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
Please send us a email at ccsg@hku.hk
for queries regarding the Centre for Civil Society and Governance.
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