The interplay of these and related factors takes place within the social and political context of each society, its historical charitable tradition and current practices, public confidence in state and civil society. Despite a challenging environment and difficult economic conditions, giving continues to be an important part of the Pakistani culture. The philanthropic spirit in the Pakistani nation is second to none. In the Gallup Survey 2011, Pakistan ranked 34 out of 154 countries in giving. This, of course, is not news; giving is a central theme of the Pakistan ethos whether it is in response to natural disasters or to reach out to lesser fortunate compatriots. This fact has been clearly brought out by various studies.
Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) was set up in 2001 as an independent, non-profit support organisation with the founding vision that the three sectors of society - business, civil society and the Government - work together in a strengthened partnership for social development in Pakistan. PCP's mission is to increase the volume and effectiveness of philanthropy for social development.
Over a short period of time, PCP has become a thought leader within the area of its mandate. To date, the Centre's research portfolio includes 28 reports and studies on various aspects of philanthropy, civil society, public-private partnerships and creating an enabling environment. These studies primarily focus on policy level engagements of various stakeholders to better understand the dynamics of philanthropy and plan effective initiatives for social development.
Some of these include the following:
Philanthropy in Pakistan - AKDN study
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Study 'Philanthropy in Pakistan - A Report of the Initiative on Indigenous Philanthropy - 2000' gave confidence that philanthropy could indeed become a leading source of funding for social development, supplementing the government's efforts. In October 2000, the Conference on Indigenous Philanthropy recommended that the PCP be set up. The objective was, therefore, to create an organisation that could facilitate an enabling environment for effective partnerships committed to social development, funded by enhanced volumes of effective philanthropy.
Findings of the study revealed that:
Total giving by Pakistanis was Rs 70.4 billion of which:
-- Rs 29.4 billion (41%) was in the form of time volunteered
-- Rs 13.7 billion (20%) was Zakat money
-- Rs 16 billion (23%) was non-Zakat money
-- Rs 11.3 billion (16%) was gifts in kind
-- Individual indigenous philanthropy in the Punjab (2010)
The objectives of this study were to undertake evidence based research on philanthropy in the Punjab, and use the data collected to document the extent, size, scope and contribution of individual indigenous philanthropy. Individuals in Punjab gave Rs 103.7 billion (Year-2010), by way of charity (inclusive of giving in cash, in-kind and time volunteered), where as in 2010, family foundations in the province gave Rs 3.7 billion (including expenditure on beneficiaries and cost of time volunteered). When aggregated, this comes to a total of Rs 107.4 billion.
This is equivalent to 95 percent of Punjab's provincial revenue of Rs 113 billion, excluding receipts from the federal divisible pool, during the same period. This is a sum any government would be proud to acknowledge and to channel into investment in social assets for long term benefit of the indigent, besides immediate succour for the needy. Interestingly the sum is also 157 percent of the allocated budget for Social Sector Spending (Rs 68.3 billion) in the Punjab's Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) for 2010-11. A study on Individual Indigenous Philanthropy in Sindh is under way.
Corporate philanthropy in Pakistan; survey of public-listed companies
This report is an annual survey that documents the philanthropic giving of public-listed companies (PLCs) in Pakistan. To-date the Centre has published seven reports. In the Corporate Philanthropy Survey 2010, a massive fourteen- fold increase, in nominal terms, was recorded from the philanthropy of Rs 228 million documented in the survey's base year (2000) to Rs 3.4 billion in 2010. Award winners for the year were as follows.
Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2010 for the highest volume of donations are (1) Pakistan Petroleum Limited; (2) Habib Bank Limited; (3) Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited; (4) Engro Corporation Limited; and (5) Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim. Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2010 by volume of donations as a percentage of PBT are (1) Karam Ceramics Limited; (2) Pakistan Services Limited; (3) Diamond Industries Limited; (4) Askari General Insurance Company Limited; and (5) Thatta Cement Company Limited respectively.
The eighth will be launched at the upcoming PCP Corporate Philanthropy Awards Ceremony on the 12th of December in Karachi.
PCP corporate philanthropy awards
With the corporate philanthropy study serving as a primary tool, the PCP continues to work towards its goal of strengthening and promoting the impulse to give, which is an essential part of the Centre's core mandate. Despite a challenging environment and difficult economic conditions, giving continues to be an important part of the Pakistani ethos. Giving by the PLCs continues to increase, year after year. The awards ceremony provides a virtuous model for others to emulate. Following an annual ranking, top giving companies are awarded on the basis of two criteria: i) volume of donations, and ii) volume of donations as a percentage of profit before tax. (The writer is Senior Programme Manager in PCP).