Singapore is poised to foster a community of purposeful givers through a ground-up initiative

About 240 guests from ImpactSG‘s growing community of pledgers and partners and representatives from the public and private sectors attended the launch of ImpactSG, an independent ground-up initiative that aims to foster a community of purposeful givers in Singapore and Asia. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam launched the initiative at a launch event held on 21 November 2024 at the National Gallery Singapore.

ImpactSG was founded in June 2022 in response to the ForwardSG conversations by three young Singaporeans from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors: Dr Daniel Lim Yew Mao, Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry; Mr Edmund Twohill, at the time Vice President at DBS Bank and now Executive Director ImpactSG; and Mr Kwee Ker Fong, Principal, Kwee Investment Office, a single-family office.

ImpactSG is designed as a platform to add value to Singapore’s charity and philanthropy ecosystem by being a “gateway to giving” in Singapore and Asia and for individuals new to giving or newcomers to Singapore and the giving ecosystem.

This is part of the initiative’s goal of encouraging pledgers to go beyond financial donations, volunteer their time, share their expertise, and tap into their professional networks to help others.

Empowering organisations through partnerships

Over the years, ImpactSG has successfully partnered with a diverse group of 18 organisations which it is working or receiving support from, which includes the National Cancer Centre Singapore, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MiRXES, Equitech Collective, Asian Family Legacy Foundation and Gold House.

“ImpactSG has provided my students with opportunities to engage with renowned entrepreneurs and speakers such as Mr Allen Lau (founder of Wattpad) and Mr Jonah Larkin  (professor of Stanford University),” said Ms Ng Sook Kit, Principal of Yuan Ching Secondary School.

Ng, one of the initiative’s programme partners, expressed her delight that the interactions brought authentic learning experiences and broadened students’ minds.

In addition, ImpactSG remains one of the most effective ways of engaging charities through its willingness to listen, courage to break new ground, and leadership in providing opportunities to family offices.

“I am excited to be a part of its launch—timed as the preamble to the start of SG60  celebrations—as it will create and facilitate the opportunity for us to renew our commitment to the nation,” said Mr Chew Sutat, Chairman of Community Chest and member of the Board of Directors of ImpactSG. “The movement is already gathering momentum, and I hope to see the roots established today sprout into sustainable outcomes in time!”

He also shared that ImpactSG‘s ground-up movement has enabled purposeful individuals to express and channel their philanthropic interests, driven by a passion for connecting pledges and partners. These are the seeds of ForwardSG in action.

Ground-up philanthropy initiatives on the rise

Interest in ground-up philanthropy initiatives has grown over the past few years, with many more businesses adopting initiatives from the ground up and through partnerships with various industries and sectors.

For instance, as part of its ongoing efforts to redefine business success while giving back to stakeholders and communities, US-based digital wealth platform Arta has partnered with Co-Axis, a digital impact marketplace under the Temasek Trust Initiative that connects impact partners with funders to carry out impact project initiatives.

In addition, the partnership would enable Co-Axis to tap into Arta’s client base and expand the reach of its impact projects, which are also aligned with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Building on the momentum, ImpactSG aims to establish itself as a multifaceted and multidimensional mandate at the forefront of addressing Singapore and Asia’s most pressing issues.