$20m fund to match spontaneous donations to ComChest

A $20 million fund will be set aside to match Community Chest (ComChest) donations raised through spontaneous acts daily, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.

An example of a spontaneous act of daily giving is customers making a donation at the point of transaction, he said, adding that businesses have the potential to do more to facilitate such giving.

The new Change for Charity Grant will match the donations raised through this initiative.

The grant will also co-fund one-off development costs needed to integrate or enhance donation functions on businesses' payment platforms, said DPM Heng.

The ComChest Share As One scheme, which provides dollar-for-dollar matching for new and additional donations through the Share programme, will also be extended to the end of the financial year of 2023.

The Share programme encourages companies and individuals to commit to making regular donations, and this will spur more giving through the challenging times brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, said DPM Heng.

"ComChest plays a critical role in raising funds for many social service agencies, including for programmes that uplift lower-income families, such as KidStart," he noted.

The 250 per cent tax deduction for donations made to Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) will be extended for another two years until the end of 2023. It was set to lapse at the end of this year.

"The current level of 250 per cent tax deduction on donations to IPCs in Singapore is high, compared to other jurisdictions," Mr Heng said, noting that it is part of a multi-pronged approach to encourage charitable giving.

In addition, the Tote Board's enhanced fund-raising programme will be extended by one year. Through this scheme, charities can apply to receive dollar-for-dollar matching on eligible donations raised from projects in the 2021 financial year, up to a cap of $250,000 per applicant.

More details will be given in the debate on the Ministry of Social and Family Development's budget.

While donations to certain platforms such as Giving.sg and for specific causes like Covid-19 have increased, DPM Heng noted that donations to many charities in general as well as income streams for their recurrent programmes have fallen.

"Some charities even had to dip into their reserves to keep operations going. This affects the help that goes to those who need it," he said, calling on individuals and corporates to do more for charity where possible.

To encourage more corporate volunteerism, the Business and IPC Partnership Scheme, where employees of companies help out at IPCs, will be extended for two more years, until the end of 2023.

DPM Heng also lauded ground-up community efforts by voluntary organisations, corporate partners and individuals to meet the "last mile" needs of different groups, such as a group of national service buddies who pooled close to $1 million to set up a surgical mask manufacturing facility here and donated many of the masks to the community.

To provide greater support for bottom-up initiatives, a $50 million fund will be set aside for community development councils' Care and Innovation Fund, where the Government will give $3 for every $1 raised, he said.

DPM Heng said: "Despite the stresses that Singaporeans face in this period, we continue to hear many heart-warming stories of our people stepping up to make a difference... I hope these acts of kindness will inspire more people to step forward."