Philanthropists in Beijing have hailed the release of a comprehensive guidebook on the management of charity organizations.

The step-by-step manual, which was issued on Tuesday by the capital's civil affairs bureau, is the first in China and is expected to fill the gap in the absence of a national charity law.

"We hope to raise public awareness of the importance of setting unified standards of philanthropic organizations and get them working more efficiently," said Chen Bailing, deputy director of the bureau and secretary-general of Capital Philanthropy Federation.

The federation has 52 members and plans to add another 20 next year. Although many non-profit organizations in Beijing have working standards and are run smoothly, Chen said it is still necessary to have a mature catch-all mechanism.

Experts worked on the book for six months, drawing lessons from successful management models employed by enterprises and drawing on experiences in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and many Western countries. It breaks down each procedure, including soliciting donations, fund management, project implementation and communications.

"What donors care most about is how their money is used. With the new guidelines, it will be very easy to trace where the donations go," said Guo Keli, deputy director of the Beijing Disabled People's Federation.

Founded in 2007, the Capital Philanthropy Federation is aimed at enhancing communication between charity groups in Beijing. Cheng Liyan, deputy secretary-general of the group and director of the civil affairs bureau's philanthropy office, told METRO she believes the manual will have a positive effect in speeding up legislation of a charity law.

"The procedures are put down in black and white, and if something goes wrong you know who to look for," he said. "If all charity and non-profit organizations meet every requirement in the book, there won't be any disputes like (the one involving) actress Zhang Ziyi (in 2010).

"Philanthropy is still very young in China and there are lots of problems, like a lack of industrial standards and operation experiences, while most people working in charity have more passion than professional knowledge. For us there is a long way to go," he added.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/27/2011)