Photo by ILO/Giorgio Taraschi on Flickr
By Stacey Choe, Co-Founder, Real Impact Advisors
In recent years, many countries in Asia have transitioned from ‘developing economies’ to thriving markets. With global markets slowing down, attention has also turned to ‘the East’ for more opportunities and increased dynamism. Along with the rise of the local affluent, the global elite have also been relocating to countries like Singapore, which is fast becoming the Monaco of the region.
Recent reports have indicated a sharp increase in family offices in Singapore, surpassing 2,000 as of early 2025. These family offices are required to have at least USD 150 million1 of Assets Under Management2. Under the auspices of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, the Temasek umbrella’s Philanthropy Asia Alliance announced more than SGD 1 billion (around USD 750 M) of philanthropic pledges from regional and international funders towards programmes in Asia. The Singapore government also introduced two new tax schemes to signal its support for more overseas giving as it positions itself as a regional philanthropy hub – both the Philanthropy Tax Incentive Scheme and the Overseas Humanitarian Assistance tax deduction Scheme provide tax incentives to local donors on overseas giving.
In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jockey Club launched the Institute of Philanthropy in 2023, announcing HKD 5 billion (USD 640 M) of funding commitment to spur philanthropy from the region. I view this healthy competition as welcome momentum for a still nascent sector in the region.
However, unpacking all these big headlines on funding pledges, policy incentives, and staggering wealth numbers is not so simple. Such news has certainly invited much curiosity and enthusiasm to a region that was hitherto not well-known for big-ticket philanthropy. But have these announcements translated to actual funding to the field and made any significant changes? Let’s hold our horses and dive deeper.
Upon closer inspection, while funds are starting to flow, some might say this is a trickle compared to what could (should?) be happening. There has not been a flood of funding towards organisations on the ground; local NGOs have not grown and scaled from such potential funding, nor have big wicked problems like climate change been addressed at large.
Challenges of a fledgling market
So why are the wealthy based in Asia not giving more, then? The reasons run broad and deep.
- The state of the social sector in most of Asia is not as sophisticated as what exists in certain other parts of the world, where it was built over the past century. For example, the non-profit sector in the United States is the country’s third largest employer at 12.8 million jobs in 2022 (although the early 2025 headlines suggest that US civil society is experiencing significant disruption); long-standing organisations such as the International Rescue Committee were founded nearly 100 years ago, and tax deductions for giving to charities started with the Revenue Act of 1917, over 100 years ago. Unfortunately, the nascency of the sector in much of Asia means that there is still plenty of mistrust, governance structures are not yet in place, and there are insufficient policies relating to philanthropy that help to encourage more giving. UHNWIs (Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals) still speak of the uncertainty of their dollars going towards impact, and if the money is used effectively.
- Much of the wealth in Asia is relatively new – some are first generation, mostly second or at most third. This is in part due to the series of armed conflicts in the 20th century: from the Second World War to the Vietnam and Korean wars, and the cultural revolution in China, which all contributed to wiping out the ‘old money’. Hence many families are still concerned with wealth preservation, and philanthropy may be considered for creating family legacies or engaging the next generation. In Asia, it is less common to find accumulated wealth that can be safely given away, even with tax incentives, or tech billionaires with overnight liquidity with flexible cash for philanthropy.
- Due to the early stage of progress in the sector, the ‘leanness’ of the family foundations and offices also prohibits more action. Many who are handling philanthropy in the family structures are either wearing many hats – first investments, then philanthropy as an afterthought; or are a family member with little experience in grant-making. With a gap in their bandwidth and expertise, philanthropy often gets deprioritised, especially when the hat-wearers might be faced with the fear of making mistakes, taking on unnecessary risks and going into unchartered territory by themselves.
- Finally, we often hear about the ‘lack of pipeline’ for funders. The under-developed non-profit and impact sector means that there is not a queue of high-potential scalable organisations and ventures in Asia (with the exception of India, which has a more developed market). Instead, there is an abundance of small grassroots organisations that are in need of core funding, help with organisational development and support with their growth. They are the ones with the local knowledge, context and commitment to solve the issues of their communities.
Building infrastructure to supercharge the young market
So how can we address these barriers? To start with, we need to ensure we have an enabling environment: we all need to invest more in the ‘plumbing’ to make philanthropic funding flow more readily, effectively and impactfully. This is the infrastructure that would build the foundations for standards, benchmarks, exchange, and talent development. We are lucky that there is already plenty in the works in Singapore, but there is still much to be achieved throughout the continent.
To support individual foundations and family offices starting out or trying to be more ambitious, there needs to be more accessible and suitable help for them. We’ve heard about new upcoming initiatives that will lower the hurdle to enter new intimidating areas like climate. New platforms such as Asia Community Foundation offering Donor Advised Funds that make cross-border giving easier and less risky are now on the uptake. Pooled funds offered by the likes of AVPN and UBS Optimus Fund also provide funders with an easy way to onboard to new themes, get involved in programmes of a bigger scale, and get access to organisations that they otherwise would not have known.
What remains is the scarcity of direct support for the lean family offices and foundations. These outfits require trusted and experienced professionals who can work with them, at their pace and according to their style of working; but are able to hit the ground running based on their philanthropic interests.
In the commercial sector, fractional Chief Financial and Investment Officers often offer such functions to help get new set-ups going or provide them with valued advice and direction to ensure that they get the best returns. So why not fractional Chief Philanthropy or Programmes Officers to get more philanthropy going, also at the best impact returns? These are senior industry experts who could help families navigate the uncertainties against shifting global priorities and evolving funding trends.
We have to work creatively in this new era to figure out what the new phase of Asian philanthropy should look like in this new world order. Funders should act now while there is this momentum, especially when there are so many new gaps, emerging and available incentives to act, and possible support to help funders along the way. There has never been a more urgent time than now to act collectively and address barriers to work towards more action and funding.
_______________________________________________
-
Based on current exchange rate from SGD200M, and the programme is managed by Singapore Economic Board. https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/grants/global-investor-programme.html
- Assets under management (AUM) is the market value of the investments managed by a person or entity on behalf of clients. AUM is used in conjunction with management performance and management experience when evaluating a company. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/aum.asp
Real Impact Advisors is a boutique philanthropy advisory firm based in Singapore and also supporting funders in Asia with high-level fractional services that can easily complement their own grantmaking and philanthropy goals. You can learn more at https://www.realimpactadvisors.com/, and also engage via our Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/realimpactadvisors
Stacey Choe is Co-Founder of Real Impact Advisors (RIA), a philanthropy advisory based in Singapore. She has more than 13 years of experience in the philanthropy sector in Asia; and prior to RIA, she was Chief Operating Officer at the Asia Philanthropy Circle, and Director of Policy Engagement and Membership Services at AVPN before that.
To get first access to our blogs every month, subscribe to our newsletter here.