Community Foundations in China: In Search of Identity?

This paper provides an assessment of the current state of China’s community foundation movement. We use a mixed-methods approach that combines the collection and analysis of secondary data with interview-based comparative case studies. We first present a typology, followed by an estimate of the number of existing community foundations. We then present a comparative analysis of two community foundation types (independent vs. government-affiliated). Our findings, organized around four themes, suggest the presence of dual identities among Chinese community foundations: government-led social reform and civil society-led social innovation. Although vastly outnumbered by their government-affiliated counterparts, independent community foundations are able to achieve greater strategic agility, suggesting a promising future for this new form of institutional philanthropy in China.