Data on Organisations Applying to Register as Charity
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns an inquiry by Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang regarding the registration of organizations as charities when their purposes are not wholly or substantially beneficial to the community in Singapore. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai reported that since January 2020, 16 organizations received ministerial waivers for this requirement, representing approximately 7% of the 221 total charities registered. These organizations are predominantly Qualifying Grantmakers under the Grantmaker Scheme, which are privately funded, do not solicit public donations, and operate under a lighter-touch regulatory regime. Although their primary purposes are not local, these entities are encouraged to support Singaporean causes, with the majority allocating at least 50% of their funds locally. The Minister noted that such waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis to accommodate these specific grant-giving organizations within the charitable framework.
Transcript
38 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth for each year in the past five years (a) how many organisations whose purposes are not beneficial wholly or substantially to the community in Singapore have applied for registration as a charity; and (b) of these applications, how many and what percentage have been approved.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: One of the basic conditions for registration as a charity is that the purposes of the organisation must be beneficial wholly or substantially to the community in Singapore. However, the Minister has the discretion to waive this condition on a case-by-case basis.
In the past five years, from 1 January 2020 to date, the Commissioner of Charities granted charity status to 16 organisations which had obtained a waiver of this charity registration condition as their purposes and activities were not substantially beneficial to the community in Singapore. This makes up about 7% of the total of 221 charities registered over the same period.
The majority of the organisations which were granted waivers are the Qualifying Grantmakers who applied for charity status under the Grantmaker Scheme administered by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. This is because, unlike typical charities, Qualifying Grantmakers are solely funded by an individual, family or institution, do not solicit for public donations and engage predominantly in giving out grants to charitable causes. Therefore, they are regulated under a lighter-touch regime, with certain regulatory requirements waived. That said, Qualifying Grantmakers are still encouraged to apply some of their funds in Singapore, and the majority of them apply at least 50% of their funds locally.