One Vision
Explore an innovative path for philanthropy in China and be an important force for harmonious development of humanity.
This is a good expression of the direction and prospects of YouChange. It represents the core values on which YouChange’s future depends and from which YouChange derives its mission and philosophy. YouChange keeps enriching and improving its vision to ensure it stands at the front of social innovation and philanthropy in the process of social change.
As a member of the non-profit third sector, providing philanthropic services is the starting point of YouChange. In light of limitations of traditional philanthropy, YouChange is committed to new ways of philanthropy in China.
At the same time, we recognize that, under new social circumstances, non-governmental philanthropic organizations have an important supplementary and balancing role to play among the government, capital market and society. It can serve as a bridge in the interaction of multiple stakeholders. While participating in and supporting innovation in philanthropy, YouChange will actively assist the government in policy innovation and help the business community find new ways in fulfilling their social responsibilities, leading to a new social innovation pattern that combines philanthropy, the government and the business community.
In YouChange’s perspective, social innovation in philanthropy is social innovation activities conducted and practiced by non-governmental organizations, philanthropic institutions and individuals in public domain. The government’s policy social innovation refers to social innovation guided and led by public policies and their implementation measures of the government. For the business community, social innovation can be defined as strategic activities by taking innovation ways of thinking and actions to integrate operational resources such as products, marketing, human resources, R&D, finance, channels, coordinate upstream and downstream partners as well as staff and philanthropic organizations to work together for social development problems.
YouChange must join the process of social innovation if it is to become an important force for the equitable and harmonious development of humanity. This is the vision of its ultimate objective. YouChange will continue to support social innovation to promote social progress and work for a people-centered, equitable and harmonious society.
Two Missions
l Seek and support neo-philanthropy leaders
Social innovation is an initiative that can involve everyone, from urban residents to farmers, and from students to pensioners. Social innovation calls for a new type of leaders with a sense of mission, social responsibility and social innovation who work tirelessly for this endeavor. Neo-philanthropy leaders committed to practice at the community level provide the source of innovation. Working at the frontline and closest to social problems, they know better than most other people what the vulnerable groups need and how to help them. Therefore, one of our tasks is to identify and support new-philanthropy leaders who can resolve social problems in new ways. We set our eyes on people who can help achieve sustained outcome in philanthropy.
l Establish a neo-philanthropy network and platform of cross-sector cooperation
As philanthropy stands in today’s China, we do not lack suppliers in resources—the upstream in the whole philanthropic chain. Rapid economic development in the past three decades has created a large number of “philanthropists” or potential resources for public good in China. Many entrepreneurs and families have begun to establish their charity foundations. Meanwhile, we do not lack the downstream part of the philanthropic chain, either. Community-based grassroots organizations have played an active role in the frontline for public good in the past twenty years.
What we lack, if any, is the midstream of this chain, or the supporting system. We still have no service platform for “philanthropists” or resource suppliers (grant-making foundations). Nor do we have a supporting system to serve the vast number of grassroots organizations, leading to polarization in this field, breakup of the whole and congestion in some parts of this chain. Most organizations are fighting their own battles.
At the same time, we believe social problems cannot be resolved by one organization and social innovation calls for the joint participation of all stakeholders. Philanthropy, rather than the monopoly or one-man show of the third sector, has enjoyed the input from the government, business community, academia, media and general public. A sound social innovation environment can be created only when a cross-sector cooperation platform is built to integrate all social resources and connect top-level design with social needs at the bottom.
Therefore, YouChange puts more emphasis on neo-philanthropy to support social innovation at a greater scale rather than specific charity projects with limited funding. Cross-sector coordination is an important feature of neo-philanthropy. YouChange has taken the initiative in building a cross-sector service platform, a visionary idea for sustainable philanthropy. This is part of YouChange’s core competitiveness.