Non-profit ImpactSG launched to connect family offices to philanthropic causes (2024)

SINGAPORE - Non-profit organisation ImpactSG was launched by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Nov 21, to engage a growing community of family offices here to contribute to Singapore and the Asean region.

The ImpactSG community comprises 75 individuals of more than 10 nationalities from family offices, philanthropic foundations and the private sector, who have pledged to contribute to various causes. The majority are new to giving or newcomers to Singapore, though most are based in Singapore.

There are around 1,650 single family offices here set up by the super rich.

Speaking at the launch held at the National Gallery Singapore, Mr Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and chairman of ImpactSG’s board of directors, said that Singapore has been a magnet for both talent and wealth, with over $5 trillion of assets managed here and more than 1,600 single family offices.

“This openness has stood us in good stead and will continue to be a source of Singapore’s economic vitality,” he said.

“But openness, if not well managed, has its downsides. There is a misperception that wealth and talent inflows have led to higher inflation and inequality. The key is more purposeful integration of incoming talent and wealth to contribute meaningfully to our society and to the region.”

He said philanthropy has evolved beyond “writing a cheque”, with organisations providing advisory services to donors, cause-based funds addressing unmet needs in society and impact being tracked.

He said ImpactSG will focus on impact measurement and data-driven giving.

ImpactSG does not raise funds itself, but will help match funding and resources to needs on the ground. It works with partners such as charity Beyond Social Services to organise visits to families living in public rental flats, in order for individuals to better understand the needs of these families and to give to them.

In 2025, the organisation will focus on three areas: career exposure for students, uplifting rental households, and helping to fund proton therapy treatment for children with cancer in South-east Asia at the National Cancer Centre Singapore.

The causes were based on people ImpactSG met, and what those who pledged to contribute were interested in, said ImpactSG’s co-founder, Dr Daniel Lim Yew Mao, who is the director of sector policy and planning in the Industry Division at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

In June, ImpactSG was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee – a corporate structure used by non-profit organisations – and it is working towards attaining charity status.

ImpactSG’s four full-time staff include co-founder Edmund Twohill, who quit his job as vice-president at DBS Bank to become the executive director of ImpactSG.

Mr Twohill said the individuals who pledged to help were taken to rental flat neighbourhoods to see a community fridge there, and a pavilion where a coffee shop vendor gives out free drinks. They were told it costs about $500 a month to keep the community fridge stocked.

“So it impressed upon the group that was there: ‘Is it really so hard to give?’”

In 2024, ImpactSG provided neighbourhood school students with opportunities to engage with entrepreneurs such as Mr Allen Lau, co-founder ofWattpad, a platform for user-generated stories; Mr Jonah Larkin, a leadership coach at Stanford University Graduate School of Business; and Mr Thomas Park, co-founder of the BDC Deep Tech Fund, a venture capital fund focused on supporting Canadian start-ups.

Mr Twohill said the opportunity also allowed Mr Park, an avid reader and admirer of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, to step into a school here for the first time.

He enjoyed the experience, and when he ran out of time to answer all the questions from the students, he videotaped his answers when he was back in Canada, which he then sent to the school.

In 2025, as part of its career exposure programme for students, ImpactSG is looking to send them on visits to companies.

Mr Clarence Ching, executive director of charity Access Singapore, a programme partner of ImpactSG, said: “This ecosystem has supported our mission to uplift disadvantaged youth that we work with through innovative approaches and by providing exclusive opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.”

Ms Ng Sook Kit, principal of Yuan Ching Secondary School, another ImpactSG partner, said interacting with the entrepreneurs who spoke at the school broadened students’ minds.

“We look forward to future collaborations that impact students’ development of inventive thinking skills and creativity,” said Ms Ng.

Mr Richard Mak, chief investment officer of Highland Family Office who pledged to contribute to ImpactSG, said he did not know anyone when he came to Singaporein 2022.

The citizen of Hong Kong, China, and Canada said: “ImpactSG really helped me to get involved with Singapore society. It was a major entry point for me. Without ImpactSG, I wouldn’t have met so many people.”

He said participating in ImpactSG’s immersion sessions allowed family offices and newcomers to Singapore to develop a sense of community and belonging.

“This is a far cry and different from the donate-to-get-a-photo-op model.”

Mr Mak has introduced his network of family offices in North America to contribute to ImpactSG.

He said experiencing the front line of charity work has allowed him to see how it changes people’s lives for the better.

“It opens new doors and opportunities which family offices may not have known existed.”