The Commission on Asian Philanthropy — a coalition of 13 of Asia’s leading philanthropic organizations including the Kasikornthai Foundation, Nippon Foundation, Tanoto Foundation, China Soong Ching Ling and Tencent Charity Foundation — held a convention in Hong Kong on September 8, 2025, with co-conveners such as the Asia Philanthropy Congress and the Institute of Philanthropy. The important convention was held on ”Asia’s philanthropy trajectory: five growth models driving domestic impact.” The crucial convention announces early insights, based on the landmark research on Asia’s philanthropy, on Asian giving that mark a major milestone in the Commission’s three-year effort to catalyze “in Asia, for Asia” philanthropy.
The convention on Asian Philanthropy highlights several distinct philanthropy growth models, based on the findings in Asia, where charities are still less compared to the West and considered informal and rooted in cultural values but are growing faster, that are transforming the scale, professionalism and effectiveness of philanthropy across Asia. The philanthropy models are corporate-led (in which companies deploy assets, expertise and infrastructure to advance inclusivein which citizens engage through volunteering, peer support and grassroots mobilization), faith-based (which are values-driven giving and which sustains long-term action and deep community trust), state-led (which enables greater coordination and scale, leveraging the state’s reach and delivery infrastructure) and high-net-worth-individual-led philanthropic organizations.
The convention indicates that distinctively, philanthropic growth models in Asia capitalize on the region’s values, with society taking on greater collective responsibility. While the last model has a comparatively limited presence in Asia, the first four models account for the majority of philanthropic capital and activity across the region and offer compelling pathways to unlock domestic impact through approaches tailored to local contexts. As the convention further indicates, the Commission has found that this diverse and pluralistic approach to cultivating philanthropy extends beyond a focus on high-net-worth individuals and allows jurisdictions in Asia to derive benefits that surpass financial contributions alone.
The convention also highlights regional diversity, showcasing how jurisdictions are cultivating systems aligned to their cultural, institutional and socio-economic contexts of the philanthropic models rather. Lester Huang, the Chairman of the Institute of Philanthropy which is a Co-Convenor of the Commission on Asian Philanthropy, says “These models offer a path forward — not just to grow giving, but to professionalize philanthropic approaches, improve co-ordination and increase impact.” To illustrate how these models are reshaping philanthropy in Asia in practice, the convention spotlighted examples from several jurisdictions including India, China and Indonesia, each reflecting the kind of expansive investment and strategic ambition that defines a growth model.
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While India’s mandatory CSR boosted corporate giving from US$1.20 billion in 2015 to US$4.17 billion in 2024, embedding inclusive growth into boardroom priorities in less than a decade, China and Saudi Arabia have digitalized informal giving by the general public, with China channelling close to US$1.55 billion in 2021 and Saudi Arabia raising US$1.33 billion in 2024 through digital fundraising platforms. Indonesia’s Zakat system (giving to vulnerable people as mandated by Islamic law) has professionalized faith-based giving, increasing contributions to US$2.55 billion in 2024, with institutional giving tripling since 2015 to US$0.73 billion (28.69% of total).
Highlighting the importance of Asia in global Philanthropy, Ichiro Kabasawa, the Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation who represented the Asia Philanthropy Congress, which is a co-convenor of the Commission on Asian Philanthropy, says that Asia is shaping a new paradigm for global philanthropy, one that is rooted in local relevance, innovation and strategic execution. He further says, “By building on bold growth models, we’re not just increasing giving, we’re raising the standard for what philanthropy can achieve when it is deeply embedded in the communities it aims to serve.”
The Commission on Asian Philanthropy has highlighted multiple jurisdictional examples of pathways across the corporate-led, community-led and faith-based models to spark dialogue, foster shared learning and encourage regional collaboration to inform the evolution of domestic philanthropic ecosystems. But putting the importance of strengthening the underlying systems in Asia, Lester Huang says that Asia’s philanthropic landscape is full of potential, but real transformation depends on strengthening the underlying systems that support the different philanthropic growth models.
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