Wednesday, August 12, 2009

80% of Earthquake Donations Ended Up in Government Accounts

A study by Qinghua University revealed that 80% of earthquake donations after last year's Sichuan Earthquake ended up in government accounts. A historic 76.7 Billion RMB Yuan was raised after the 5/12/2008 earthquake. Many of the donors are themselves in need, but still gave whatever they had in hand to the victims of the disaster that took away thousands of lives.

A team led by Guosheng Deng of the Public Management College of Qinghua University conducted a study on the donation. They found 80% of the donation made by individuals and companies ended up in government accounts in the form of extra tax revenues. Although only 58% of the donations were directly made to government accounts, those made to various charities were in the end taken away by the government.

The study was publicized on the 'Exhibition of Charity Projects and Community Organization 5.12 Activity Forum' held on August 12, 2009 in Beijing.

Guosheng Deng is an associate professor and director of the NGO Institute of the Qinghua University. He received a J.D. from the People's (Renmin) University.

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