Doing Good Index 2024 – Examining the Readiness of Asia’s Social Sectors to Thrive

CAPS’ biannual Doing Good Index identifies the factors that drive or hinder the giving and receiving of private social investment to address social needs.

Now in its fourth iteration, the Doing Good Index 2024 looks at how the four components of the Index—regulations, tax and fiscal policy, ecosystem and procurement—have changed in the last two years. The findings are evidence-based, derived from original data from surveying 2,183 nonprofits and social enterprises and interviewing 140 experts across 17 Asian economies. This iteration of the report also includes a special thematic section on the impact of digital technology on Asia’s social sector.

Against the backdrop of the tumultuous Covid-19 years, the 2024 Index shows a continuation of the status quo with few major changes. However, the lack of change is not necessarily bad, as stability lays the groundwork for the social sector to thrive. The report also finds that Asia’s social sector is insufficiently prepared for the technological future, held back by inadequate access to digital infrastructure, capacity constraints and insufficient donor support.

The Index offers a blueprint of the policies and practices that can unleash private social capital and how the public, private and social sectors can work together to build a stronger and more equitable Asia.

Doing Good Index microsite

Our interactive microsite lets you explore and compare our Index data using visual and digestible graphics. The economy profile pages present a deep dive into each economy and provide a longitudinal overview of select data points. The data dashboard allows you to compare economies with each other, the Asian average and over time.

The Doing Good Index is published every two years. Read the inaugural edition from 2018, our 2020 edition, and our 2022 edition.

 

The Legatum Prosperity Index

Legatum Institute

The Prosperity Index aims to help identify specifics action to be taken to contribute to strengthening the pathways from poverty to prosperity across 167 countries, as well as providing a roadmap as nations chart their way through and out of the pandemic.

2023 edition: Read it here.

2021 edition: Read it here.

2020 edition: Read it here.

Poverty and Shared Prosperity Series

World Bank Group

This series provides the most up-to-date estimates and trends on global poverty and shared prosperity.

2022 edition
The 2022 edition provides the first comprehensive look at the landscape of poverty in the aftermath of an extraordinary series of shocks to the global economy, including the pandemic.

2020 edition
For more than two decades, extreme poverty was steadily declining. Now, for the first time in a generation, the quest to end poverty has suffered its worst setback. Read it here.

2018 edition
The 2018 edition broadens the way poverty is defined and measured, introducing a multi-faceted measurement approach connected to household consumption and the international poverty line (US$1.90 per person per day). Lack of access to infrastructure and education is also included as a facet of poverty. Relative poverty within households, sliced by gender and age, is also analyzed. Read it here.

Asia’s social sector sees a funding decline

SME Horizon

COVID-19 has exacerbated income inequalities and social disparities across Asia, serving as a force multiplier for trends already in place. Assessing performance across four sub-indexes – Regulations, Tax and Fiscal Policy, Ecosystem, and Procurement – CAPS’ biennial flagship study, the Doing Good Index 2022, examines the social investment landscape in Asia. Read here.

In Conversation With Ruth Shapiro, Founder and Chief Executive of Centre for Asia Philanthropy and Society

Prestige

According to the Doing Good Index 2022, which analyses the social investment landscape in Asia, Covid-19 has exacerbated social disparities and income inequalities and across the region. We talk to Dr. Ruth Shapiro, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), which conducts the study biennially, about the pandemic’s impact on people in Asia, her work and improving Hong Kong’s social sector. Read here.

Funding for Asian NGOs falls amid tighter regulations

Philanthropy Age

Almost half of Asia’s social delivery organisations have reported a decline in funding in the last 12 months, some as much as 50 percent, according to new research. The Hong Kong-based Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS) surveyed more than 2,000 entities and some 120 experts across 17 Asian economies, including India, Pakistan, China, and Singapore. Read here.

The Doing Good Index Reveals Asia’s Social Sector Sees a Funding Decline Despite Having the Highest Pandemic-Induced Poverty Globally

Yahoo Finance

Covid-19 has exacerbated income inequalities and social disparities across Asia, serving as a force multiplier for trends already in place. A new social impact study released today by the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS) shows how to maximize philanthropic and policy responses to cope with these post-Covid challenges. Read here.

Doing Good Index 2022

Assessing the Health and Well-being of Asia’s Social Sector

Doing Good Index microsite

Our interactive microsite lets you visualize, explore and compare our data. Use our graphics and maps to help you understand Asia at a glance. The data dashboard allows you to compare economies and track changes across time. Economy profiles present a visual and digestible deep dive into each economy.

What is the Doing Good Index?

The Doing Good Index 2022 is the most comprehensive social impact index in Asia to date, highlighting the factors that drive or hinder private capital flowing towards social and economic challenges across 17 Asian economies.

The Doing Good Index comes at a critical time when economies have been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Inequalities have been exacerbated, and hard-won progress in social and economic growth has been undone. An estimated two-thirds of those newly forced into poverty live in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.

To address these shared challenges, all parts of society—individuals, companies, government and the social sector—must work together to drive more resources towards building a better future together. The Doing Good Index shows how. It provides a roadmap of the policies and practices that can unleash this capital by mitigating the trust deficit; leveraging local support; and facilitating cross-sector collaboration.

In 2022 we surveyed 2,239 SDOs and interviewed 126 experts across 17 Asian economies. In mapping the landscape of social investment, the study examines four sub-indices: Regulations, Tax and Fiscal Policy, Ecosystem, and Procurement. We also include a section on how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the social sector.

The Doing Good Index is published every two years. Read the inaugural edition from 2018 and our 2020 edition.

The Routledge Handbook of Taxation and Philanthropy

Routledge

This publication brings together 30 academic contributions on how philanthropic contributions can be fostered by states through tax incentives. It covers a wide range of perspectives including those from political sciences, law and psychology. The book is divided into sections, exploring justifications of tax incentives for philanthropy, donor behavior, tax incentives for cross-border philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. Also included is the OECD report on Taxation and Philanthropy, prepared in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for Philanthropy and the University of Geneva. Read it here.

Global Landscape of Climate Finance

Climate Policy Initiative

The 2021 edition of the Climate Policy Initiative’s Global Landscape of Climate Finance provides a comprehensive overview of climate-related primary investment around the world. A key finding is that total climate finance has steadily increased over the last decade, reaching USD$ 632 billion in 2019/2020, but has slowed in the last few years. At the same time, an increase of at least 590% in annual climate financing is needed to meet international targets by 2030 and to avoid severe climate change impacts. The report data reveals that East Asia and the Pacific accounted for almost half (USD$ 292 billion) of global climate investments between 2019-20, with around 81% concentrated in China. Read it here.