Asia’s wealthiest families take an Asian family philanthropy approach that is more direct, more business-like and more comfortable with the state than anything seen in the West, according to a new report from the Bridgespan Group, a US-based philanthropy advisory group.
The report, released at the Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum in Hong Kong, found that about 94% of Asian families studied are in their first or second generation of wealth, compared with 85% of families in high-income economies elsewhere.
Around the same proportion are still in control of the businesses that created their fortunes. Outside the region, that figure is 68%.
Business-linked giving defines the Asian family philanthropy approach
That continued ownership shapes how Asian families give. Business-linked giving is used by 95% of wealthy families in Asia’s middle-income economies and 80% in its high-income ones. Outside Asia, just 28% of high-income families give through their businesses.
Western philanthropists typically set up standalone foundations. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, for example, chose to channel their giving through their own foundations rather than through Microsoft or Berkshire Hathaway.
‘The level of control that families expect to have over their giving, because they’re still so used to having that level of control over the corporate, is definitely a lot more hands-on,’ said Gwendolyn Lim, head of Southeast Asia at Bridgespan and a co-author of the report.
Lim traces the habit to the conglomerate era, when Asia’s tycoons built sprawling groups by spotting ‘gaps in the market.’ When they turned to philanthropy, they saw similar gaps, such as non-profits lacking capacity or governments unwilling to act. The result was the ‘operating foundation’ that both funded and managed charitable projects.
Working with governments and measuring outputs
More than three-quarters of Asian family philanthropies partner with the government, versus 58% outside Asia. Lim says Asian families are accustomed to dealing with ministries through their businesses and see few obstacles in doing so through their charities.
‘If you talk to American or European philanthropists, working closely with the government is something that makes them nervous,’ she said.
The report notes that Asian families often fund pilot programmes to prove a model works, then hand successful schemes to the government to run at scale.
Asian philanthropists are also more willing to report their outputs. More than 80% of Asian families report metrics such as schools built or teachers trained, compared with 45% of families in high-income economies elsewhere. Outcome reporting, however, remains rare in both regions.
The Bridgespan data also shows that 13 of the world’s 20 largest institutional funders are private foundations linked to founder or family-established wealth, accounting for US$18.6 billion in cumulative giving in 2024.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city’s only authorised betting operator, tops Asia’s corporate rankings at $774 million a year, ahead of Tencent at $404 million. Globally, the Jockey Club ranks eighth among corporate givers, behind Johnson and Johnson, the world’s largest at $3.8 billion a year. The Gates Foundation leads all institutional funders at $6.5 billion per year.
The top 20 Asian philanthropies gave a combined $2.7 billion annually; the global top 20 gave $21.4 billion.
Both reports were commissioned by Bridgespan’s Funders’ Council, whose members include the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
A funding gap no single actor can fill
According to AVPN, a network of Asia-based social investors, the region faces a development funding shortfall of $26 trillion through 2030.
The challenge has grown sharper following the Trump administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, which cancelled roughly 83% of the agency’s programmes. USAID once spent about $860 million a year in the region; in Indonesia and the Philippines, programme values fell by 95% or more. Aid financing to South-East Asia could drop by more than $2 billion, according to estimates from the Lowy Institute.
Lim is frank about what philanthropy can and cannot do. ‘Governments can’t fill the gap. Philanthropy can’t fill the gap. There’s not enough money,’ she said.
Still, she argues the burden falls squarely on the region’s own donors. ‘This is the decade where our own people have to help our own people,’ she said.
