Singapore's donations to local charities jumped 12% to $1b

It's the highest in 10 years.

In a release, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam during the Budget Debate 2013 had announced that the total amount of tax-deductible donations to local Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) increased by 12 per cent from $896 million in 2011 to a record $1 billion in 2012. This is the highest amount received in the last 10 years. 

This was due to the higher contributions made to the charity sector by corporations and members of public in 2012. Corporate and individual donations rose 16 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Following the Charities Act Amendment Bill that was passed in Parliament in 2010, the COC’s Office has amended the charity regulations to better protect charities and donors.

Measures are now in place to better manage the conduct of commercial and third-party fund-raisers and commercial participators via the Charities (Fund-raising Appeals for Local and Foreign Charitable Purposes) Regulations.

In addition, commercial fund-raisers or participators will not be allowed to use terms such as “charitable organisation” to represent themselves, as the latter specifically refers only to charities that are set up exclusively for charitable objects.