NVPC’s Great Singapore Give campaign encourages more volunteering, donation efforts
Corporates and charities are participating in the 4-month-long campaign to drive volunteerism
THE National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) is preparing to conclude its Great Singapore Give (GSG) campaign, which it launched in November in preparation for SG60 this year. The four-month-long nationwide programme was done to encourage Singaporeans to give back on a more regular basis.
From Nov 18, 2024, to Feb 28, 2025, NVPC created different opportunities for individuals, groups and organisations to give what they can to support various causes.
To encourage sustained donations, the group’s platform giving.sg launched a recurring donation feature for fundraising campaigns.
Gemma Byrne, deputy director of segments and market development at NVPC, said: “As part of GSG, there are more than 300 partners and activations involved, with 135 of them driven by corporate organisations. The intention behind GSG is to cultivate giving activities that are deeper and more meaningful.”
For example, Endowus launched the “Give a gift of hope” campaign to encourage its customers to give back to 20 charities supporting various causes. These include Community Foundation of Singapore, Dementia Singapore and Zero Waste SG.
The campaign is in its fourth year running. Endowus also encouraged customers to consider donating their trailer fee refund – which they receive as cashback – to the selected charities.
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Dominic Ong, chief financial officer of Endowus, said: “Singapore has a vibrant and established charity ecosystem, and we wanted to see how we can do our part to support their efforts. In addition, we also leveraged our network of partnerships with fund managers to have the wider financial community partner with us in this endeavour.”
In 2024, the company raised more than S$74,000 for various charities in Singapore through the Endowus Gives Back programme.
“(Giving back to the community) gives us the ability to leverage our partners and network to be more intentional in directing positive action to benefit others,” he added.
Besides volunteering, Endowus provides charities with “impartial, institutional-grade advice on how to manage their reserves” at a preferential rate, Ong noted. It also offers pro-bono training sessions on financial management.
Charities’ participation
Besides being beneficiaries, many charities launched their own initiatives and events during the GSG season.
One such charity is St Luke’s ElderCare (SLEC), which held its #RideForSLEC event on Dec 6, 2024. Around 20 participants – including SLEC staff and beneficiaries – cycled a distance of 162 km, covering all 30 SLEC centres, to raise funds for elders.
A spokesperson said: “We hope this event raised awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and making intentional choices.” The spokesperson added that participating in the GSG campaign will hopefully help the charity reach a wider audience and inspire more contributions.
Another participating charity was the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO). In a collaboration between Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and SCWO’s New2U thrift shop, pre-loved fabrics were donated by the community and turned into fashion pieces to “share the stories of (domestic violence) survivors”, said Koh Yan Ping, chief executive of SCWO.
All of the proceeds from New2U were donated to SCWO programmes and initiatives, such as Star Shelter, which provides refuge for women escaping domestic violence, and Maintenance Support Central, which offers counselling, a legal clinic and maintenance order support.
SCWO said participating in GSG raises awareness of the work that the organisation does, and strengthens fundraising efforts to sustain and expand its programmes.
Volunteering journeys
One part of the GSG was Giving Week – the campaign’s highlight – which ran in the first week of December, bringing together corporations, charities and ground-ups to create diverse giving opportunities for all Singaporeans.
Theatre company Drama Box has consistently participated in NVPC’s Giving Weeks. “There is a concerted effort to give more exposure to different charities,” noted Koh Hui Ling, interim executive director and co-artistic director of Drama Box.
For the first time, NVPC incorporated volunteering learning journeys – which served as an introduction to volunteering – into Giving Week.
NVPC’s Byrne said: “Volunteering learning journeys help people take their first steps as volunteers in the community. They are designed to be short and simple, covering the essentials of what to expect as a volunteer in a specific charity or non-profit organisation.”
For example, participants at Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (SPCA) learning journey took on some of the duties of an animal care officer – such as preparing the animals’ breakfasts or taking the dogs on walks.
Brandon Soh, volunteer and merchandise manager of SPCA, said: “We hoped that (participants) would gain a keener appreciation of our daily operations and rethink some common misconceptions about SPCA.”
Participant Takashi Onishi initially found the process of volunteering “challenging”, but said that the learning journey was “enriching” and “eye-opening”. He hopes to continue volunteering with SPCA.
The volunteering landscape
NVPC has noticed that individual volunteering levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and younger Singaporeans are finding alternative ways of giving back to the community. There is also increased interest among corporates to do good.
Social organisation Care Singapore added: “The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a heightened sense of empathy and collective responsibility, which continues to influence volunteer participation.”
NVPC noted that it will continue to launch various initiatives, events and engagements for Singaporeans to give back – especially for SG60 this year.
Byrne said: “While giving continues to be widely practised in Singapore, we want to encourage more Singaporeans to embrace giving as an everyday behaviour. Through hosting and publicising initiatives such as volunteering learning journeys on giving.sg, we hope to spark curiosity in giving and nurture the next generation of volunteers.”
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