Behind the "deduction" of charitable donations: Urgent need for standardized management of private charitable donations
Recently, a donation event at the Center School of Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township in Long Hui County sparked controversy due to irregularities in its handling. The incident caused a public stir, with all parties involved feeling aggrieved. After investigation, the reporter keenly felt that private charitable donations urgently require standardized management.
Student Reflection: Charitable donations being deducted
At the end of 2011, our newspaper received a report from a student:
"I am a junior high school student at Luo Bai Nine-Year Compulsory Education School in Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township, Long Hui County. On December 14th, I accepted a live donation from Aunt Su in Hong Kong. When I saw the red envelope contained 500 yuan in cash, I was very happy and grateful. But as soon as the donation ceremony ended, my homeroom teacher collected our red envelopes. I was deeply saddened, almost shedding tears. Later, when the teacher returned the red envelope to me, there was only 200 yuan left inside. The teacher told us that the other 300 yuan had been submitted to the center school."
"Could Aunt Su be deceiving us? Afterwards, I asked classmates from Shan Jie School, and they were like me; anyone who received a 500-yuan donation had 300 yuan taken away. Where did those 300 yuan go? On the afternoon of December 16th, the teacher again required us to sign for receiving 200 yuan. We were puzzled; we had already received the donation on-site, so why did we have to sign again? Although we are poor, we also have dignity and cannot let others take our scholarship funds without reason. We sincerely invite all levels of media to pay attention to us, these pitiful impoverished students, and not tarnish Aunt Su's kindness towards us."
Why did the school do this? Another reader reported that before the donation, the Shan Jie Center School held a meeting with middle-level leaders. At the meeting, the head of the center school said: According to notice from higher-ups, this donation was different from previous ones, as it would be a live donation by the donor directly to the assisted students. Because during the process of securing this charity scholarship, certain expenses were incurred, along with some labor fees. Therefore, after the donation ceremony, the red envelopes from the assisted students would be collected. There were a total of 60 students each receiving 500 yuan, with 300 yuan taken from each, totaling 18,000 yuan used for labor fees and various expenses. On the morning of December 14th, Ms. Su arrived at the Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township for the live donation. After the donation ceremony, the homeroom teachers of Luo Bai and Shan Jie schools followed orders to collect the red envelopes, taking out 300 yuan from each student's donation, amounting to 18,000 yuan, which was then submitted to the center school. After the students reported this, due to media inquiries, the head of the center school realized the situation was unfavorable and immediately issued a notice requiring Luo Bai and Shan Jie schools to create additional student lists, giving each student 100 yuan. The remaining money was distributed to two kindergartens' students.
School Response: Not deduction, but redistribution to help more people
In mid-January, the reporter went to the Shan Jie Township Center School in Long Hui County for an interview. The school's responsible person explained that the school indeed collected part of the students' donations, but it wasn't intended to withhold these funds for expenditures. This fundraising effort was arranged by the county Overseas Chinese Affairs Federation, and the school itself did not incur any expenses. Collecting the donations was mainly to reallocate them to help more people.
The responsible person stated that Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township is a provincially designated minority impoverished township. The entire township has 1,186 impoverished students, including 582 extremely impoverished students. Recently, Ms. Su from Hong Kong held a live donation activity at the school, distributing 500 yuan to each of the 51 extremely impoverished students and 100 yuan to each of the 150 impoverished students, totaling 201 students and 40,500 yuan. Due to the large number of impoverished students in the school and the disparity in donation standards, parents of students who didn’t receive aid were demanding and had significant opinions. To assist more impoverished students, the school, after obtaining agreement from relevant leaders of the county Overseas Chinese Affairs Federation, expanded the number of assisted impoverished students from 201 to 354, adjusting the standards accordingly. The donation to extremely impoverished students was reduced from 500 yuan to 200 yuan, reallocating 15,300 yuan of the donations to another 153 impoverished students, giving each 100 yuan.
Relevant officials from the Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township Party Committee and government informed reporters that after receiving reports about deductions of student donations, the Shan Jie Hui Muslim Township Party Committee and government took it very seriously, immediately organizing township discipline inspection, supervision, and related personnel to investigate the distribution of student scholarship funds. It was confirmed that the situation was indeed as stated by the school. The misunderstanding arose mainly because this event was rushed, and the center school did not adequately explain the situation to the teachers and students.
Charitable donations call for standardized management
Given the current situation, questioning the original intentions of the school when it reclaimed the donations no longer holds much meaning. However, the issues exposed by this incident are thought-provoking: The school redistributed the donations to help more people, but does the school have the authority to arbitrarily change the donor's wishes? How can we ensure that the generous contributions of philanthropists truly reach those in need? Currently, with the increasing popularity of private charitable donations, corresponding supervisory mechanisms have not yet been established. Moral integrity and goodwill alone are far from sufficient. Charitable donations call for standardized management; otherwise, they risk being misappropriated.
Long Hui County is a national-level impoverished county, receiving care from all sectors of society. Various forms of private charitable donations continue to flow in. This is originally a good thing. However, during interviews, some officials confided in the reporter their difficulties: Worried about deductions of donations, many philanthropists do not transfer their donations to the accounts of relevant departments but instead personally deliver them to designated recipients. To show respect for these philanthropists, government departments have to welcome and send them off, sometimes even inviting media for publicity, which indeed increases manpower and resources. Once, for arranging a single donation activity, the relevant department spent over ten thousand yuan just on meals and accommodations. With more such events, even good deeds become hard to manage.
People are calling for the establishment of a standardized management mechanism for charitable donations, clarifying the rights and obligations of donors and recipients, establishing a supervision mechanism for the delivery and use of donated funds and materials, standardizing administrative supervision and adjustment mechanisms for private charitable donations, and stipulating the legal responsibilities of all parties involved. Only then can private charitable donations develop healthily and warm more hearts.
By Oujin Yu and Shixuehui