As reported by Guangzhou Daily, December 12 becomes the first annual "Philanthropy Day" in Guangzhou. The city held large scale week-long activities including fund-raising and promotion.

With the development of Chinese economy and society, interest and participation in philanthropy has increased. Charity has become an important supplement to the social welfare system. The 2008 Hurun Philanthropy List shows that a total of 12.9 billion yuan (US$1.88 billion) has been donated by the top 100 Chinese philanthropists since 2003. The Ministry of Civil Affairs received 76.4 billion yuan (US$11.18 billion) donations from which a total of 52.029 million disadvantaged people benefited.

The enormous power of philanthropy cannot be neglected. Thus the local government of Guangzhou devised a "Philanthropy Day" to guide and promote charitable activity. We can't deny the good intention of "Philanthropy Day." However, several questions remain unanswered. When the day/week is over, will the activities be sustained in the long term? Will citizens still have passion for philanthropy? In other words, it's impractical to rely on a certain day to foster the spirit of philanthropy.

For one thing, various "days" such as "No Cars Day," "Water Saving Day" and "Migrant Workers' Day" have bored common people. Furthermore a lot of legal problems such as unpaid migrant workers' check and disputable labor contracts remain unsolved after a considerable period of time. How much can a "Philanthropy Day" mean to common people under these circumstances?

To put it plainly, the establishment of the special day seems to be attractive in theory but means very little in reality. It is not sufficient to fulfill its role of "promoting philanthropy," let alone solve legal problems and constrain wrongdoing.

There are always people ardently pledging donations to each fund raising organization. But I wonder how many of them can realize their promises. The president of Philanthropist magazine, Wang Liwei, disclosed an astonishing fact recently: Generally only up to 7 percent of promised donations are paid. "Promise without action" is common place in China.

Therefore, a "Philanthropy Day" is far from enough in the sense of fostering philanthropic spirit in China. The realization of philanthropy calls for the regulation of policies and laws. Firstly, charity organizations need to be supervised by the public. Charities should provide detailed information on how people's money is spent. Secondly, the government should offer tax preference for donators. Thirdly, instead of using administrative measures to manage charity activities, the government should punish illegal charity organizations and individuals who make dependence on philanthropy a lifestyle.

(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Ren Zhongxi.)

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