A Hong Kong Businessman’s Search for a Way to Help the Third Sector

A Hong Kong Businessman’s Search

for a Way to Help the Third Sector

By

Po ChungCreative Foundations Ltd.

The 64 Million Dollar Question

Now that I have the time and money to do anything I want to do… What do I want to do?

Andrew Carnegie’s“Gospel of Wealth”

• If you make a substantial fortune, there three ways you can leave your wealth.

• There are two poor ways to pass it on.• There is one good way to enjoy it.

First Way—The Wrong Way, Without a Will

• Government takes 40%• Relatives’ lawyers fight over the rest• Lawyers take 20%• The rest ruins your children and grand

children’s lives because they never have a chance to earn a living and a healthy self-esteem.

Second Way—The Okay Way,

Leave a Will• Wife and children are taken care of

appropriately: good education and good working ability.

• Wealth is given to an existing charity upon your death.

• Not much satisfaction because you are supporting someone else’s vision.

Third Way—The Best Way,Spend it on Good Deeds

• Give children a good education. Start them off with a house. Let them earn their own living and a good self-esteem.

• Create your own Vision. Start your own charity and run it like a business.

• Run it for 10-15 years yourself and then turn it over to a professional business team.

The Search for My Own Charity

• I don’t want to be a “Me Too”.• I want to be passionate about it.• I want to be good at it.• I want to stay excited about it.• I want it to be in alignment with

my personal values.

My Decision

• I will start a charity organization that will help other organizations to do a better job.

• In order for them to do a better job, they should regularly reexamine what they are doing. In other words, they should do periodic strategic reviews.

Creative Foundations

Initiatives for Change

What do we do?Creative Foundations provides a

workshop for Board Members, Senior Level Staff and key stakeholders to

discuss:

“ Where do we want to go?”&

“ How should we get there?”

Why do we think this is important?

• Society is constantly changing

– Economics

– Demographics

– Environment

– Government

Organizations are being challenged by

• Changes in Government policies

– How funding is disseminated (Lump Sum Grant)

– How service provision is measured (Accountability)

– How future services will be sourced (Competition)

• A depressed economy that does not appear to be getting any better.

Why do we think this is important?

• Organizations need to be more proactive and adopt the “We can do it quicker and better ourselves than if we wait for help” attitude that made Hong Kong great in the 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s.

Why does it work so well?

• The people running Hong Kong’s NGOs know better than anyone else what their organization needs to succeed.

• They just need the opportunity to evaluate their own ideas in a safe environment that stimulates creative ideas and initiatives.

Why does it work so well?

• They also need to feel like they can create the future.

And they can!

What happens in a typical Creative Foundations

Workshop?

Pre-workshop Data Collection

1. A facilitator collects ideas and opinions about the organization’s current state, including its strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities from Board members, senior management, staff, and other stakeholders.

Pre-workshop Data Collection

2. The information is analyzed and organized into a presentation that will be used during the workshop.

Day 1 Workshop Agenda

1. The facilitator presents the pre-workshop data in an objective, non-threatening format.

2. Ideas are discussed, not personalities.

Day 1 Workshop Agenda

3. Consensus is built regarding the NGO’s current state, significant issues and potential problems are identified.

4. Internal and external threats that might prevent the organization from achieving its mission are identified.

Day 1 Workshop Agenda

4. Participants are broken into small teams to work to develop the vision and the future profile for the organization.

Day 2 Workshop Agenda• The gaps between the current and

future profile are identified and prioritized.

• Small teams use creative problem solving techniques to develop creative initiatives to close the gaps and solve the problems.

Day 2 Workshop Agenda

• Then individuals or teams are assigned the tasks of developing action plans to implement the initiatives.

The Results?

The group is re-energized and the participants leave with a higher level

of commitment to achieving the NGO’s

Goals and Mission.

Who are some of our facilitators?

• GML Consulting Limited • LT Consultants • Kenn & K Consulting Ltd. • Anderson

Who has participated so far?

• Community Chest • American Chamber of Commerce• Against Child Abuse• Agency for Volunteer Service• American Woman's Association• Chartered Institute of CPAs• Christian Family Service Centre

Who has participated so far?

• Federation of Employers• Hong Kong YWCA• German Swiss International School• HK Retirement Schemes

Association • HKTA Forum• Hong Chi Association

Who has participated so far?

• Hong Kong Red Cross• Liberal Party• Hong Kong Family Welfare• Management Development Center• Ocean Park Conservation Foundation

• Po Leung Kuk• Queen Mary Hospital

Who has participated so far?

• Hong Kong Arts Centre• Chartered Institute of Logistics &

Transportation• Richmond Fellowship• St. Stephen's College• Vision 2047• Yan Chai Education

Who else has used our process?

• Chinese International School• Ocean Park• Airport Authority• Business for Arts• Arts Festival• KPMG

Who pays and how much?

• Creative Foundations Ltd pays 80%• The NGO pays 20%• A workshop costs HK$120-

175,000.00

Our Goal

To continue to make a positive difference in the Third Sector