Despite the rapid digitisation of the Asian social sector, social delivery organisations (SDOs) are struggling to keep up with technological changes because of inadequate access to digital infrastructure, lack of capacity and insufficient donor support, according to the Doing Good Index 2024. As technology continues to advance, a new type of digital divide is emerging that hampers the ability of the social sector to deliver products and services to the most vulnerable communities, said the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), which created the index.

Read the full article here.

The Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society(CAPS),a uniquely Asia, independent, action-oriented research and advisory organization, released the 2024 edition of its flagship study, the Doing Good Index. The study finds that despite the rapid digitalization of the Asian social sector, social delivery organizations (SDOs) are struggling to keep up with technological changes due to inadequate access to digital infrastructure, lack of capacity, and insufficient donor support. As technology continues to advance, a new type of digital divide is being created that hampers the ability of the social sector to deliver products and services to the most vulnerable communities.

Read the full article here.

The Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), a uniquely Asia, independent, action-oriented research and advisory organization, released the 2024 edition of its flagship study, the Doing Good Index. The study finds that despite the rapid digitalization of the Asian social sector, social delivery organizations (SDOs) are struggling to keep up with technological changes due to inadequate access to digital infrastructure, lack of capacity, and insufficient donor support. As technology continues to advance, a new type of digital divide is being created that hampers the ability of the social sector to deliver products and services to the most vulnerable communities.

Read the full article here.

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.

Government procurement of goods and services from the social sector is mutually beneficial. It helps the government leverage the social sector’s subject expertise and community links to deliver more efficient and cost-effective social services while also providing legitimacy and a sustainable source of income to social delivery organizations. However, the potential benefits are contingent on the ease and accessibility of government procurement and broader factors contributing to an SDO’s capacity to fulfill needs.

This policy brief provides an assessment of the policy landscape of government procurement from the social sector in Asia and highlights four key findings:

1. Preferential government procurement policies in the social sector favor social enterprises over nonprofits.
2. Nonprofits are contracted mostly as knowledge partners and welfare service providers, whereas social enterprises are more likely to be suppliers.
3. Capacity issues are the biggest inhibitor of SDO participation in government procurement; these constraints range from production reliability to staffing to financial viability.
4. Large and older SDOs with existing government relationships crowd out smaller and newer SDOs.

Based on these findings, the policy brief identifies bottlenecks that limit the potential benefits of government procurement from the social sector and introduces recommendations for governments and SDOs to address specific issues.

Allan Barcena is Assistant Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations at Energy Development Corporation (EDC). He is also the Executive Director of the Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA). EDC is the largest renewable energy company in the Philippines and is involved in diversified energy projects, including geothermal, hydroelectric, and wind, with geothermal as its primary power source. Its mission is to forge collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future. At a time when climate change affects every economy, CAPS spoke with EDC’s Allan Barcena to gain a deeper understanding of their Regenerative Strategy and how they integrate ESG into it.

CAPS: Allan, thank you very much for joining us today. EDC has recently introduced a regenerative strategy. As a starting point, what is a regenerative strategy, and why did the company think such a strategy was needed?

Allan Barcena: It’s a new strategy that was introduced in 2019. We started with a sustainable development business strategy, but our Chairman, Federico R. Lopez, wanted to go beyond sustainability. So, we revised our mission to “forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.” Decarbonization, regeneration, and collaboration are the three pillars of EDC’s current mission, and the regenerative strategy is part of achieving this.

As I mentioned, regeneration goes beyond sustainability. If sustainability aims to minimize the harm and the damage and to sustain the status quo for future generations, then regeneration means to grow it in a way that is equal or better than the original state. It produces more positive outcomes, minimizes the harm simultaneously, and ensures that you create the conditions for positive outcomes. Regeneration should be transformational, meaning you transform the lives of the communities, employees, and stakeholders.

CAPS: How has the introduction of the strategy influenced EDC’s operations?

Allan Barcena: With the regenerative strategy, we need to view our operation through a different lens. For example, we must think of ways to improve our environment and ecosystems. We need to ensure that our communities do not just become beneficiaries of CSR projects but are part of the development process, growing their capacity to become self-reliant and sustainable long-term.

There’s not a single set of key performance indicators (KPIs) on regeneration. We are in the process of defining what regeneration means to the workplace, to our communities, to the environment, and to our suppliers and customers. So, it’s an ongoing process of defining the KPIs, and we’d like to align it with ESG. By connecting the regenerative mission to ESG metrics and targets, we can make our operational goals clearer, more defined, and more measurable.

CAPS: Are these metrics and targets coming from your company, or are they set from outside? How are you measuring it?

Allan Barcena: It’s basically internal. From the elements and KPI, we pick what is relevant to us through a principle of materiality – what is material to the company and our business operation. We are in a unique situation; we’re a producer of renewable energy and have a unique set of stakeholders. Therefore, we need to determine the materiality of the metrics and what is relevant to the business of renewable energy. And after that, we would like to have validation and assurance of these KPIs and targets. But we’re not there yet. As I mentioned, we are still in the process of identifying relevant KPIs and metrics.

CAPS: What challenges have you faced with this change in strategy, and how are you resolving them?

Allan Barcena: Regeneration is a new concept to us. So, a big challenge internally is coming up with clear objective metrics and KPIs, related to the strategy. It’s not easy, unlike sustainability, which already has a set of clear and defined parameters. We might have some ideas about regeneration, but it’s still early to have a single set of criteria and KPIs around the concept.

The external challenge is to get others involved in the strategy. How can you convince customers, suppliers and partners to be part of the regenerative strategy as well? On the one hand, we supply clean and renewable energy to help companies lower emissions and decarbonize, and we offer offset solutions. We share knowledge, technology, and experience, such as tree-growing and forest restoration, to involve those interested in exploring nature-based solutions to lower their emissions.

On the other hand, creating the Net Zero Carbon Alliance in the Philippines was part of addressing this challenge. It started with a small group of customers who are committed to reducing their carbon emissions and becoming net zero in 2050. But it has expanded to include other companies that are not necessarily customers of EDC but are committed to becoming net zero by 2050. So that’s the other work I do, managing this alliance of companies and organizations who are advocating and taking the journey towards net zero.

CAPS: EDC is heavily involved in philanthropy and CSR. How has the regenerative strategy influenced those aspects of your business?

Allan Barcena: For a long time, what we did was only transactional and philanthropic. Now, we have slowly shifted from transactional CSR to transformational CSR. That’s quite a big change. Because transformational means we must invest in long-term projects that will eventually build the communities’ capacity to grow and become self-reliant. To me, regeneration and transformation are quite connected, and it should be long-term and strategic.

We focus our resources on strategic projects that will create a bigger impact and contribute to the long-term development and welfare of the communities. We used to have multiple CSR projects providing everything the communities needed: livelihood, education, health, etc. But then we realized this was not strategic. So, we’ve shifted from supporting direct livelihood projects to social enterprise projects. We require a project to be income-earning, and it should be sustainable so that it creates multiple benefits – a ripple effect. To us, this is regeneration and transformation. Because you’re not giving them fish, you’re teaching them how to catch it. And this will sustain them in the long run, and hopefully, they can also help other community members by expanding their social enterprise projects.

CAPS: Can you give an example of a project you are working on under the regenerative strategy?

Allan Barcena: Sure. We are quite proud of the BINHI Forest Restoration program, the largest private-sector-led forest restoration initiative in the Philippines. This project is part of our nature-based solutions and is a long-term commitment for EDC. Through this project, we have planted and restored over 10,000 hectares of degraded forest land, specifically focusing on endangered native trees. And we don’t do this alone. We work with the communities, other partners, and even customers.

Our chairman has emphasized the importance of working with others. We try to bring as many organizations and companies as possible along on the journey to create greater impact for the environment and communities. And collaboration means synergy, more partners, better outcomes, and more beneficiaries.

Climate change and environmental degradation are increasingly impacting our society and have highlighted the necessity for collective action by individuals, governments, and the private sector. However, in a region where most economies are still emerging, striking a balance between ambitious environmental efforts and development goals adds a layer of complexity.

This report examines the ways in which Asian private capital—from corporations, investors and philanthropists—is being brought to bear on environmental challenges. Drawing insights from interviews with 163 individuals and experts from companies, foundations, and nonprofits across 10 Asian economies (Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand) we look at what actions local companies and organizations are taking to adapt to and mitigate environmental challenges. It provides unique Asian perspectives on climate action and offers recommendations for public and private sectors.

The report identifies four characteristics of the ways in which funders push resources towards environmental challenges, identifies the challenges companies and organizations face when doing so and presents recommendations and next steps for funders in this space.

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.

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.