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register a charity in Hong Kong

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  1. #11

    I would also be interested to find out whether you were successful Khema as I am interested in setting up a charity. Please can you update this thread?


  2. #12

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    Before you go down this route, be sure that you have the resources to deal with all the aspects of running a charity. It's way too easy to set up a charity here and many people do so because they believe in a cause and their heart is in the right place but they have no idea about running a successful organisation. It's similar to, but more demanding, than running your own business.

    If there is already a charity here operating in the field that you want to set up in, you may be able to achieve more for your cause by working alongside them. In many countries this is a criteria which is taken into account (ie if your cause is not unique, you need to make a strong case why a new charity is needed) but in HK it's not.

    Football16 likes this.

  3. #13

    That is sound advice AIP. I aam currently recruiting my friends to work pro bono to ease the pressure on me. As a teacher i am aiming for my students to take the lead as they need to be made aware of social responsibility and i would like them to see that even a little money will go very long way if given directly to those who need it. I was going to give all the money we raise to the charities already working in the same area as i went and saw what the fantastic work they were doing at first hand this Christmas.
    The reason that i want to register my own charity is just in case people want to give donations over $100 as i assume they are more likely to do so if they receive a tax deduction.

    Last edited by Luckyarsenal; 09-01-2011 at 07:37 AM. Reason: Spelling mistake

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Luckyarsenal:
    That is sound advice AIP. I am currently recruiting my friends to work pro bono to ease the pressure on me. As a teacher i am aiming for my students to take the lead as they need to be made aware of social responsibility and i would like them to see that even a little money will go very long way if given directly to those who need it. I was going to give all the money we raise to the charities already working in the same area as i went and saw what the fantastic work they were doing at first hand this Christmas.
    The reason that i want to register my own charity is just in case people want to give donations over $100 as i assume they are more likely to do so if they receive a tax deduction.
    I think AIP makes great points.


    Another option MIGHT be to find a charity who will take on your project and agree to give 100% of any funds raised to your project and issues receipts. This is tricky but if it is a school in China maybe not too much of an issue. Not sure under HK law if a charity could do this and not violate any rules.

    I know the United Way model back in Vancouver where they actually do issue receipts for charitable donations (or used to) and direct 100% of the money to any charity with no admin fee. They do this as they promote the concept of ONE major annual donation and then they have a say in any supplementary fund raising activities of its members such as the "smile and dial" sweat shops that make calls but take off a huge chunk for fees. I used to donate a decent annual one time sum of money to the United Way and designate which legit agency was to get it (or which ones not to get it). If you wanted they did it by payroll deduction so I donated to several pet projects (non members) like a mental health job finders agency as I was a Chamber of Commerce rep to them and to my university.

    Another option is the HK Chambers of Commerce to partner with for a project.
    Last edited by Football16; 09-01-2011 at 08:22 AM.

  5. #15

    On a personal level i already donate to the Community Chest as i believe in what they do.

    I volunteered in an orphanage in Cambodia over Christmas and am going to get my students to correspond with to help them practice their English. I saw how far $260 went at first hand as it purchased pillows, blankets, sleeping mats and mosquio nets for every child in the school so if I can raise funds with my students and show them exactly where every cent is going it will really motivate them. Members of my sports club also want to get involved hence the question about tax.

    I like your suggestion about working with another charity to ease the burden so will look into that today


  6. #16

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    United Way Worldwide

    I see from your post and that site that it is Community Chest in HK. Interesting stats on giving here in HK in that site.

    One thing to also find is companies/ other parties that will match donations or funds raised by your students. This works well with fundraising for universities where at times some companies will match any employee donations (capped). We wanted to help our university Library and did a fund match from the alumni fund to any donations that year from our grads. It worked fantastic and they were able to establish a learning center with the donated PCs and added Alumni Association name to it. In exchange the Librarian got more loan and access to journals for grads.

  7. #17

    Thanks for the resource.

    I really like your idea. How would you go about that? Would it just be a case of getting word out there to see whether any local companies were interested?


  8. #18

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    I think you have come up with a really exciting idea and a great way to get your student involved and exposed to another side of life. You don't say how old the students are but you mention you want them to take the lead so I assume they are not primary school students. There is great scope for them to come up with and implement fundraising projects, and other areas mentioned below.

    I can understand why you want to be able to give tax receipts for donations, here's a few things to consider that may be of use:

    - How are you planning to raise money? Bear in mind that tax receipts can only be issued for pure donations. If donors receive something in return - whether it is goods or services; eg a cake sale or an event they pay to attend, they can't get a tax receipt. Some charities do issue tax receipts in these circumstances but they are wrong in doing so.

    - If you find that you are missing out on significant donations because you are not able to issue a tax receipt, it could be worth considering trying to set up a charity. I would want to be sure that the benefits were worth the effort before taking that step.

    - Is the school you work for a registered charity? I believe some independent schools are (this is the case in UK but I don't know about HK). In that case you could ask the school to process the payments.

    - If the school you work for isn't a registered charity, do you have friends who teach at schools that are? Maybe they could work with you on the project so that it can go through their school's books.

    - If you can find a group of other teachers who would like to do similar projects with their students. you could set up a charity together which would reduce the administrative burden for you and give economies of scale. You'll also have a good support network for each other in terms of the frontline work. It would be easy to set up an accounting process where you record separate expenditure and income for your individual projects.

    - In terms of corporate donations, I would set this as a task for the students. Putting the word out there and seeing who is interested is unlikely to bring much in terms of results. This is a competitive field and you need to market your project so that it stands out. I would target SMEs that your school / students have a connection with. Large companies generally have their own philanthropic strategy and it's unlikely that you would be able to meet their criteria. Also think about what you can offer to the companies - eg are you having an event where the audience would be of interest to them, and their logo will be prominent, or they can get other exposure.

    Hope that helps and good luck with it all!

    Luckyarsenal likes this.

  9. #19

    Thank you so much for your positive reply.

    They are primary students but they are pretty awesome and this is well within their capabilities.

    I really like your ideas and now I feel that I am definitely heading in the right direction.

    I do not really want to say too much about what I intend to do but I promise I will update this page once we are off the ground after CNY


  10. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Luckyarsenal:
    On a personal level i already donate to the Community Chest as i believe in what they do.

    I volunteered in an orphanage in Cambodia over Christmas and am going to get my students to correspond with to help them practice their English. I saw how far $260 went at first hand as it purchased pillows, blankets, sleeping mats and mosquio nets for every child in the school so if I can raise funds with my students and show them exactly where every cent is going it will really motivate them. Members of my sports club also want to get involved hence the question about tax.

    I like your suggestion about working with another charity to ease the burden so will look into that today
    Look at our website: Angels For Orphans
    We are a HK based non-profit, reg. charity and have very successfully fundraised in favour of Cambodian orphanages