DONATE WITH A CLICK

By Ma Xiaowen

Every early September， Ge Mingzhu， who works for a charitable organization based in Beijing， puts up 99 Giving Day posters across social media platforms to raise more fund for her organization.

By using a smartphone to scan the QR code on the poster， one can donate money to the charitable projects directly； the Tencent Charity Foundation and other such organizations will add to individual donations with their own contributions.

Burgeoning online fundraising

The Internet， especially mobile Internet， has become an intrinsic part of life in China， driving economic growth and even the development of philanthropy.

99 Giving Day， launched in 2015 by Chinas tech giant Tencent， was set up with the explicit intention of encouraging philanthropy as well as improving the companys public image. Ever since， it has become an annual charitable bonanza taking place between September 7 and 9. Over the course of its six-year existence， 99 Giving Day has managed to rake in donations worth 6.2 billion yuan （$960 million）. And thats just a glimpse of the burgeoning online fundraising cause.

This year， this online public charity campaign was extended to cover a period of 10 days and included more interactive activities to expand its influence. Netizens could， for instance， have charitable organizations make donations on their behalf by entering their daily step count， sharing posters with friends， or even by just answering a few questions.

The mass enthusiasm came with Chinas improving legal environment for philanthropy. In 2016， China released its first-ever Charity Law. Later， four ministries issued measures for the administration of public fundraising platform services， aiming to protect the interests of donors， beneficiaries， and charitable organizations.

In the meantime， the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved several online information platforms to conduct public fundraising. Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba launched its Philanthropy Week together with multiple public organizations and companies in 2017. It also called on its platforms entrepreneurs to donate part of their profits to Gongyibaobei， a charitable campaign in collaboration with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

Since 2016， a further 20 such platforms， have been approved to provide information services for non-profit organizations， covering all major online platform providers.

For the public good

As a popular public charity campaign in China， 99 Giving Day is bringing together enterprises， charities and contributors to address a diverse range of challenges that affect both the local and global communities， such as those involving rural education， left-behind children， animal protection， antidesertification， and medical care for those in urgent need.