E Letter (January - March 2022)

NPO CERTIFICATION
Invest in Trust and Choose to be Trusted

PCP, the body approved by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the certification of nonprofit entities in Pakistan, has granted certification approval to as many as 73 organizations from January to March 2022.

Beyond tax benefits, PCP Certification Stamp helps to bridge the information and credibility gap between grant-makers and grant recipients, builds NPOs' capacity to meet international standards of Governance, Transparency & Accountability and last but not the least, build a credible pool of nonprofits that are reliable and effective development partners.

Training on Taxation and Regulatory Compliance for Non-profit Organizations (NPOs)

PCP brings an exclusive Two Days' Training on "Taxation and Regulatory Compliance for Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs)" to address challenges faced by them in tax compliance and understanding of the changes in regulatory regime. The aim of the training is to equip the participants with skills and knowledge to navigate the taxation and regulatory regime without any assistance.

In reflection of this idea, the first ever training batch was held in Islamabad at PCP head office. The training was fully endorsed by participants as a much needed initiative to facilitate the non-profit sector in various taxation and regulatory challenges. Owing to this overwhelming response, we have decided to run similar training batches in Lahore and Karachi as well.

Sector Research
Knowledge development to support your work in the charitable sector

PCP launched Pakistan's first-ever "Pakistan Giving Index 2021"

The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) virtually launched the Pakistan Giving Index (PGI) report on 7th March 2022. It is a pioneer study that examines giving practices and philanthropic trends amongst Pakistanis. Based on a perception survey of 2000 individual respondents, the findings revealed that despite facing Covid-19-related economic hardships, almost all segments of the Pakistani population gave charity in one form or the other. The headline finding is that 8 out of 10 Pakistanis gave charity or financially helped a needy person during 2021. Moreover, religion is the most common motivation for giving charity as stated by 67% of the respondents. This reinforces the findings drawn from earlier PCP studies on philanthropy in Pakistan, making us aware that the value of generosity is inherent in the majority of the Pakistani population.

Dr Ashfaq Hassan Khan, Principal and Dean of the NUST School of Social Sciences and Humanities was the lead speaker, who commented on the content of the report and applauded PCP's efforts to highlight Pakistanis' generosity and philanthropic behaviour. The report can be downloaded here: https://tinyurl.com/ykjsypp7

2022 Global Philanthropic Environment Index (GPEI)

The Global Philanthropy Environment Index (GPEI) 2022 is out now, and it is with pleasure we announce that Pakistan has reported a "Favorable Philanthropic Environment".
GPEI examines the enabling environment for philanthropy within a country by measuring the regulatory, political, economic, and socio cultural incentives and barriers to philanthropy. It collects data at the country-level using an expert questionnaire consisting of 11 indicator questions to be filled by a country expert.
Executive Director PCP acted out as our country expert. With her deep knowledge of and rich practical experience with the philanthropic sector, she provided a professional assessment for philanthropy in Pakistan.

Download the full report to know more about it: https://bit.ly/384ZA8c

Academic course on philanthropy extended to the spring 2022 semester

With the purpose of engaging youth in social development and philanthropic activities, PCP collaborated with SZABIST Islamabad to pilot an academic course titled 'Introduction to Philanthropy' in the Fall Semester of 2021. The course covered important aspects of philanthropy, including the history of philanthropy in global and local contexts; theories of philanthropy; correlation between philanthropy and religion; the economics of charitable giving; the role of philanthropy in poverty reduction; philanthropy and public policy, and the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in philanthropic donations. Due to positive feedback received from SZABIST students, both SZABIST and PCP have decided to extend the course to the Spring Semester of 2022. This partnership between PCP and SZABIST aims at providing students with theoretical knowledge and rich insights into the practical application of philanthropy. This shall be achieved through discussions with academics, practitioners, and guest lecturers, who impart essential knowledge to students, based on their real-world life experiences.

PCP wins AKF funded project on Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGECS)

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Canada has approved a sub-project of Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGECS), and PCP is the implementing partner of this project. The key objective of the AEGECS project is to build the capacity of local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in promoting gender equality and empowering women in the community. The target locations for this project are Chilas Tehsil in district Diamer and Aliabad Tehsil in Hunza district of Gilgit Baltistan.

Collaboration between PCP and NUST on promoting youth philanthropy

The PCP Research team led by the Chairperson of its Research Committee, Dr Attiya Inayatullah, met representatives of the NUST University Advancement and Social Sciences Departments headed by Ms Maria Qadri. The purpose of the meeting was to find common ground for collaboration with the NUST team to tap the potential of Pakistani youth and facilitate their involvement in philanthropic activities.
 

Drawing from the NUST Community Engagement Model for students, the mapping of the philanthropic contributions of youth across various educational institutions as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would be undertaken, leading to concrete strategies for actively engaging youth in meaningful philanthropic ventures.
 

These ten categories are: Corporate Philanthropy, Diaspora Philanthropy, Individual Giving, Women in Philanthropy, High-Net-Worth Giving, Muslim Philanthropy, Zakat, Qualitative Research on Philanthropy, Youth Philanthropy, and Philanthropic Indices. To facilitate users in accessing information, individual links have been created for each journal article, which can direct users to that particular journal paper.

The lead consultant for this project is the well-known Pakistani academic and research scholar, Dr Adil Najam, who will work closely with the PCP research team to develop the structure of the report. The duration of this project spans from 2022 to 2024.

PHILANTHROPY SUPPORT SERVICES
Making partnerships and grant-making more efficient
 

PCP Hosted a delegation from Foundation for Science, Culture and Education (İLKE) Istanbul, Turkey to explore possible ways of collaboration between the two organizations.

National introductory webinar on crowdfunding for CSOs in Pakistan

PCP was represented by its Executive Director at the "National Introductory Webinar on Crowdfunding for CSOs" hosted by Islamic Development Bank Group - isdb.org, Islamic Solidarity Fund - ISFD, UNDP in Europe and Central Asia, and Tadamon - CSO Empowerment. It was an insightful session where PCP emphasized the importance of digital crowd funding as a potential source of fundraising. It was also highlighted that there is a need for a clear regulatory framework on crowdfunding so that indigenous local fundraising platforms can establish and groom themselves. We look forward to staying an essential part of this paramount discussion and hope that it would lead to a fruitful output.

Grants and Friends' Fund

PCP, in partnership with Give2Asia, facilitated "Grants of US$ 150,000" from S&P Global Foundation to Akhuwat and Al Khidmat Foundation Pakistan. This is to support these organizations (i) to provide ration packages for the affected families; (ii) to support financially constrained families; and (iii) to provide PPEs and masks to hospitals with limited facilities amid Covid-19.

Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness (PFFB) and Roshni Homes Trust have been approved as a fiscal sponsor partner under G2A's Friends Fund Program. This makes a total of 7 PCP certified NPOs who have donation pages on the G2A website featuring their projects/ programs and have the facility to receive overseas donations

On this year's World NGO Day, PCP was represented at a seminar on the role of NGOs at NIM Islamabad where PCP Certification Program was explained and the way it is benefiting the nonprofit sector. We look forward to continue playing our role in promoting and strengthening the role of NPOs in Pakistan.