Sustaining Nonprofits through Challenging Times
The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing devastating disruption on our society and economy worldwide, which in turn causes impact on the charitable sector. Many nonprofits are struggling to stay afloat when the economic downturn triggers the cancellation of fundraising events as well as a decline in private contributions from individuals who are less inclined or able to give.
At times like this, however, the local community needs even more support from nonprofits to provide a safety net of various services than ever before. To weather the storm together as a companion, The D. H. Chen Foundation (“the Foundation”) initiated Project Fuel (“the Project”) which provides emergency financial support to its selected Hong Kong’s small-sized, non-subvented nonprofits (“the Awardees”) in order to maintain their core operations amid this challenging moment.
Besides financial support, the Foundation understands the importance of nonprofits being able to survive this extraordinary period and also continue to thrive in the long run. The Project also includes a Fellowship component aiming to empower its Awardees to be more resilient in the face of adversity. Based on a co-learning and co-developing spirit, the activities of the Fellowship center on building strong, trusting companionship among the Awardees. By sharing their strengths and weakness, as well as exploring collaborations, the Fellowship targets to tackle the pain points and challenges that nonprofits face on an everyday basis as a collective force.
With various opportunities offered to build the Awardees’ capacities, the Foundation hopes the Awardees would become stronger even under a new normal and help foster a healthy and long-term development within the nonprofits, as well as collaboration among like-minded stakeholders to drive bigger impact and meet urgent needs of our community.
MakerBay Foundation was very lucky to receive the help of the DH Chen Foundation through the COVID19 tough times.