After the devastating Sichuan Ya’an earthquake earlier this year, Shenzhen One Foundation mobilized public support and collected a large sum in donations to help with search and rescue, disaster relief, and rebuilding work. Since the quake, it has used social media and its website to provide regular updates on the personnel and materials it has dispatched to the area and the work that has been accomplished, allowing donors and other interested parties to see how funds are being used. Such open and transparent practices have made Shenzhen One Foundation a trusted charity in China and boosted public confidence in local charitable organizations in general. Within the non-governmental organization (NGO) community in China, one person is well known for making this success possible: Ms. Zhang Min, Supervisor and Chief Auditor of One Foundation.
Transferring to the NGO sector
Softly-spoken Zhang Min is a bold pioneer—one of the first to transfer from financial services to China’s NGO sector, bringing all of her professional skills to full-time charity work. She describes her decision to alter her career path in terms of seizing “an opportunity offered by life.” Zhang came to work and live in Hong Kong in early 1990s. She was very touched by the local public service advertising she saw here and was inspired to get involved as a charity volunteer. “If I had seen the sort of public service ads you have in Hong Kong just a few years earlier, when I was a recent graduate, I might have chosen to volunteer as a teacher for a year or two,” Zhang reminisces.
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As it was, Zhang finally transferred fully to the NGO sector in 2007 when she joined SEE Foundation as the Chief Financial Officer. Headquartered in Beijing and dedicated to preventing the desertification of the Alashan area of Inner Mongolia, SEE was the first environmental protection NGO set up by Chinese entrepreneurs. Zhang held the post of CFO at the high-profile charity for three years, taking responsibility for the foundation’s financial activities and reporting to the board of directors and the board of supervisors. During her tenure, she also gathered invaluable first-hand knowledge of the challenges of setting up and running a charitable organization in China.
Focusing on transparency
Zhang next joined One Foundation, which was then being registered in Shenzhen as a fully independent charity to carry on the work of the Red Cross Society of China Jet Li One Foundation Project, set up by global movie star and philanthropist Jet Li in 2007.
Bringing years of experience and expertise in financial management, Zhang was charged with helping the Foundation develop the open and transparent processes necessary for it to fulfill its mission to promote philanthropic culture, provide humanitarian aid, and build a professional and trusted public service platform for China.
Zhang says, “I have focused on establishing clear and robust internal financial controls for One Foundation and on building a comprehensive information system that carefully tracks all donations, documenting donors and beneficiaries as well as cash inflows and outflows.”
This transparency is essential to the professionalism for which One Foundation is respected among the general public. However, it must be achieved without taking too many resources from the Foundation’s charity work. One Foundation spends less than 10% of donations on administration and human resources, in line with government regulations. Part of Zhang’s role is therefore to find innovative ways to minimize these costs. She frequently collaborates with major corporations such as consultancy group Bain & Company and social networking leader Renren, and reaches out to her friends and old schoolmates from HKUST.
Helping HKUST friends contribute
Zhang joined the Executive MBA program at HKUST Business School primarily to learn more about other industries and business sectors. Driven by curiosity, she found much to explore, both through academic learning and exposure to different business cultures and ideas. “The education I received at HKUST offered a good and thorough exploration into my profession and career,” she says.
Zhang relished that opportunity to interact with classmates from a wide range of corporations and industries. She was also encouraged to think more strategically about corporate social responsibility, as her professors at HKUST talked about the value of nurturing CSR in a highly competitive business environment.
While at HKUST, Zhang Min inspired many of her schoolmates to step up as charity volunteers, but she remains modest about her contribution. “Many of those I met at HKUST had a strong will to offer charitable service; all I did was provide them with a platform and opportunity,” she says. “I’m really proud to have been able to help these talented professionals share their skills in meaningful ways.”
For example, Zhang’s classmates Wang Jigang and Yu Gang joined SEE to raise the environmental awareness of their HKUST schoolmates. Two other HKUST alumni, Liu Yun and Li Weihua, now serve as voluntary auditors at One Foundation, while another of Zhang’s schoolmates, Xu Jianzhen, who is Liu Yun’s colleague from Deloitte, helped set up SEE’s internal control e-system and serves One Foundation as a risk control consultant.
This year, HKUST again showed its care with strong support for One Foundation’s new “Hike for Love” (為愛同行) campaign. Designed to combine fundraising and an engaging social activity, the event challenges teams to hike 50 miles non-stop across a demanding route within 16 hours. With the support of Zhang Min and her fellow alumna Yu Cuiping, HKUST fielded 11 teams in the Shenzhen leg of the “Hike for Love” event, raising a total of more than 250,000 RMB. The experience was so rewarding that these teams have also signed up for the Hang Zhou stage of the competition.
In a message to donors after the Shenzhen “Hike for Love,” Yu Cuiping wrote, “Thanks to your generosity, 690 children will have a winter filled with love this year. The cheerful faces of children touched by your kindness amidst natural disaster are testimony to the significance of your support. Thank you for warming up their winter.” This message is also a testimony to a caring attitude. With a positive outlook and benevolence, it is amazing what people can do together.