The Doing Good Index 2024 reveals Asia’s social sector is unprepared for technological challenges
- Asia’s social sector plays a critical role in addressing pressing social and environmental issues. As the world has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, how has the social sector of 18 Asian economies performed in the past two years? And amid the rapid digital transformation, how is Asia’s social sector faring? What are the digital opportunities and potential pitfalls?
- CAPS’ Doing Good Index 2024 will answer these questions and include insights from 2,183 social sector organizations and 140 experts across 17 economies
The Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), a uniquely Asia, independent, action-oriented research and advisory organization, released the 2024 edition of its flagship study, the Doing Good Index. The study finds that despite the rapid digitalization of the Asian social sector, social delivery organizations (SDOs) are struggling to keep up with technological changes due to inadequate access to digital infrastructure, lack of capacity, and insufficient donor support. As technology continues to advance, a new type of digital divide is being created that hampers the ability of the social sector to deliver products and services to the most vulnerable communities.
The Index finds that digital technology has become commonplace in the social sector in Asia. 95% of the organizations surveyed use digital technology to carry out their work, with 88% intending to increase their use of digital technology in the next two years. However, SDOs in Asia lack the necessary resources to fully leverage the benefits of digital technology and protect themselves against the associated risks. 59% of surveyed SDOs said their staff lack the skills to use digital tools effectively, and 70% do not have, or are unaware of, an organizational cybersecurity strategy. When asked about their organization’s top technology needs, hardware, operational software and staff training emerged as the top three.
According to the Index, access to operational funding is essential for organizations to respond adequately to the rapidly changing digital landscape. Almost half of SDOs report that their donors do not fund digital technology and IT costs, indicating a glaring funding gap.
Against the backdrop of the tumultuous Covid-19 years, there has been little change across the four sub-indexes of the Doing Good Index in the last two years. Aside from Sri Lanka, which improved in performance, all other economies have remained in the same clusters as 2022.
Funding to the social sector has remained mostly unchanged. Domestic funding (from individuals, foundations and companies) remains the main funding source for SDOs across Asia, comprising 64% by proportion of the average SDO’s budget. Government funding (20%) and foreign funding (15%) as a proportion of an SDO’s budget have also remained steady.
Funding shortfalls, staffing challenges, and staff upskilling/reskilling are the top challenges facing the social sector. Almost three-quarters (73%) of SDOs struggle to recruit staff, and 69% report difficulty retaining them.
Governments continue to send mixed messages on social sector regulations. While some governments embrace the social sector as a partner, others are showing a hot-and-cold approach, at times encouraging its growth and at others implementing overly burdensome regulations and restrictions.
The role of SDOs remains important, and they generally feel supported. There is also strong optimism within the sector, even after the turmoil of the last few years. This demonstrates the resilience of SDOs in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Mr. Ronnie Chan, the Co-Founder and Chair of CAPS, said, “With ongoing crises ranging from regional conflicts to climate change, Asia faces an uphill battle to create a more equitable future. The good news is that with increasing private wealth, Asia has a unique opportunity to leap ahead and implement policies and programs to solve community problems. We at CAPS are pleased to release the fourth iteration of the Doing Good Index, offering actionable and evidence-based insights for business leaders, philanthropists, and policymakers to consider how they can facilitate and increase private capital flows toward the social sector. The Doing Good Index also offers a blueprint for a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future for the region.”
