Hong Kong · Fortune Technology
Still, in the “Asian decade,” Asia’s philanthropists will need to find some way to pick up the slack
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Asia’s richest families approach philanthropy in much the same way they approach business: Managing things directly and keeping a close eye on outputs, rather than writing the checks.
Key facts
- The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development canceled roughly 83% of the agency’s programs, gutting development budgets in a region where USAID once spent
- The top 20 Asian philanthropies together gave $2.7 billion annually; the global top 20, $21.4 billion
- Globally, the Jockey Club is the only Asian entity in the corporate top 10, at No
- The Trust gave an average of $705 million a year between 2020 and 2024, putting it in the lead among Asian philanthropic organizations, but shy of the global top 10
Summary
That’s one of the conclusions from a new report from the Bridgespan Group, a U.S.-based philanthropy advisory group, released at the Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum in Hong Kong on Sept. 7. Asia’s family fortunes are still younger than the rest of the world’s. That continued ownership shapes how Asian families give. “The level of control that families expect to have over their giving—because they’re still so used to having that level of control over the corporate—is definitely a lot more hands-on,” says Gwendolyn Lim, head of Southeast Asia at Bridgespan and an author of the report.