New mentoring initiative to help charity leaders, Charities Act under review

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo announced these moves on Oct 15 at the annual Charity Governance Conference.

PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Published Oct 15, 2026, 01:00 PM

Updated Oct 15, 2026, 01:34 PM

Charity Elevate will match charity leaders with experienced mentors to improve leadership and governance. Minister David Neo said: “everyone can play a part in good governance”.

A study of 540 Singapore charities found many need better people management. Only 33 per cent said they had reached the maturity stage, while 60 per cent were still in start-up or growth.

The Office of the COC is reviewing the Charities Act to keep rules relevant and build trust. Charities will be consulted in 2027, while the PILLAR Framework will help them assess governance and transparency.

SINGAPORE – Charity leaders will be able to tap experienced mentors for guidance to strengthen their organisations’ leadership and governance under a new initiative launched on Oct 15.

The Charity Elevate mentoring pilot, introduced by the Charity Council, will match board members, human resources leads and chief executives with mentors who can share knowledge and perspectives on running charities effectively.

The Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) is also reviewing the Charities Act to ensure Singapore’s regulatory framework remains relevant, with plans to engage charities on possible changes in 2027.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo announced these moves on Oct 15 at the annual Charity Governance Conference, attended by more than 600 charity leaders and board members.

“The inclusion of different leadership roles in this (mentoring) initiative underscores an important point : everyone can play a part in good governance. It is shared responsibility across the charity. When people at every level play a part, our charities become stronger,” he said.

As of December 2024 , there were 2,406 registered charities in Singapore, up from 2,398 in 2023.

A study of 540 charities in Singapore published in 2025 found that many of them had room to improve their organisational capabilities, particularly in managing staff and volunteers.

The Charities Life Cycle Landscape Report , commissioned to better understand the organisational maturity and capability needs of charities, found that only 33 per cent of respondents assessed themselves as having reached the stage of maturity in people management.

Another 60 per cent considered themselves to be at the start-up or growth stages in this area.

While many charities assessed themselves as mature in governance and administration, the report identified gaps in management and employee-related capabilities, including volunteer coordination and structured training plans.

Over the next three years, the Office of the COC and the Charity Council will engage charities across different sectors to share the report’s findings and work with them to strengthen their long-term capabilities.

Executive director for the CHIJ Sanctuary for Children Kitson Leonard Lee said every charity is different and may have its own blind spots.

Mentoring lets charities “work with other like-minded people who are better-skilled and who are able to see things from a different perspective”, he said.

“As leaders, the important part is being humble, wanting to learn more, and listening to what others can see that we cannot.”

The mentoring pilot builds on existing efforts to equip charity leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to manage their organisations.

One such effort is the GovernWell: Excellence in Charity Leadership programme, introduced in 2025 by the Office of the COC and the Charity Council in collaboration with five training partners.

It offers training for charity board members and staff in four areas: leadership, ethics, social impact measurement and financial stewardship. More than 1,200 participants have registered for the programme since its launch.

On the review of the Charities Act, Neo said the Government wants to ensure the regulatory framework supports charities’ work while building public trust.

Agencies and partners are being consulted on areas to strengthen the Act, and focus group discussions will be held with charities in 2027 to gather their views.

“Your participation is crucial to help us strike the right balance between empowering charities to do good and enabling intervention should governance concerns arise,” said Neo.

The Charity Council and Singapore University of Social Sciences also published a framework in June to help charities assess their governance and transparency practices.

The PILLAR Framework consolidates existing governance and regulatory requirements into a single reference, helping charities identify areas for improvement.

It will also support assessments for the Champions of Governance and Transparency Award, with participating organisations receiving feedback reports to guide their development.

Corporate governance

文化、社区和青年部长大卫·尼奥于 10 月 15 日在年度慈善治理会议上宣布了这些举措。

图片来源：联合早报

发布于2026年10月15日下午1点

更新于2026年10月15日下午1:34

“慈善提升计划”（Charity Elevate）将为慈善机构领导人匹配经验丰富的导师，以提升其领导力和治理水平。大卫·尼奥部长表示：“每个人都能在良好的治理中发挥作用。”

一项针对新加坡540家慈善机构的研究发现，许多机构需要改进人员管理。仅有33%的机构表示已达到成熟阶段，而60%的机构仍处于初创或成长阶段。

慈善事务委员会办公室正在修订《慈善法》，以确保规则的有效性并建立信任。委员会将于2027年就此征询慈善机构​​的意见，同时PILLAR框架将帮助他们评估治理和透明度。

新加坡——根据10月15日推出的一项新举措，慈善机构领导人将能够向经验丰富的导师寻求指导，以加强其组织的领导力和治理。

由慈善理事会推出的“慈善提升”指导试点项目，将为董事会成员、人力资源主管和首席执行官匹配导师，导师可以分享有关有效运营慈善机构的知识和见解。

慈善事务专员公署（COC）也在审查《慈善法》，以确保新加坡的监管框架与时俱进，并计划在 2027 年与慈善机构就可能的修改进行磋商。

文化、社区和青年部长大卫·尼奥于 10 月 15 日在年度慈善治理会议上宣布了这些举措，600 多名慈善机构领导人和董事会成员出席了会议。

“这项（导师制）计划纳入了不同的领导角色，凸显了一个重要的观点：每个人都可以在良好的治理中发挥作用。这是整个慈善机构的共同责任。当各个层级的人都参与其中时，我们的慈善机构就会变得更加强大，”他说道。

截至 2024 年 12 月，新加坡共有 2406 家注册慈善机构，高于 2023 年的 2398 家。

2025 年发布的一项针对新加坡 540 家慈善机构的研究发现，其中许多机构在组织能力方面还有提升空间，尤其是在员工和志愿者管理方面。

为更好地了解慈善机构的组织成熟度和能力需求而委托撰写的《慈善机构生命周期概况报告》发现，只有 33% 的受访者认为自己在人员管理方面已经达到了成熟阶段。

另有 60% 的人认为自己在该领域处于初创或成长阶段。

虽然许多慈善机构认为自己在治理和管理方面已经成熟，但该报告指出，在管理和员工相关能力方面存在差距，包括志愿者协调和结构化培训计划。

在接下来的三年里，COC办公室和慈善理事会将与不同领域的慈善机构合作，分享报告的研究结果，并与他们共同努力，加强他们的长期能力。

圣婴女贞儿童庇护所执行主任李基森表示，每个慈善机构的情况都不同，可能都有自己的盲点。

他说，导师制可以让慈善机构“与其他志同道合、技能更强、能够从不同角度看待事物的人一起工作”。

“作为领导者，重要的是保持谦逊，渴望学习更多，并倾听他人能看到而我们看不到的东西。”

该指导试点项目建立在现有工作的基础上，旨在为慈善机构领导人提供管理其组织所需的技能和知识。

其中一项举措是“GovernWell：卓越慈善领导力计划”，该计划由慈善理事会办公室和慈善委员会与五个培训合作伙伴于 2025 年推出。

该项目为慈善机构董事会成员和员工提供四个方面的培训：领导力、道德规范、社会影响评估和财务管理。自项目启动以来，已有超过1200名学员报名参加。

关于慈善法的修订，Neo表示，政府希望确保监管框架能够支持慈善机构的工作，同时建立公众信任。

正在就加强该法案的领域咨询各机构和合作伙伴的意见，并将于 2027 年与慈善机构举行焦点小组讨论，以收集他们的意见。

Neo表示：“你们的参与对于帮助我们在赋予慈善机构行善的能力和在出现治理问题时进行干预之间取得适当的平衡至关重要。”

慈善理事会和新加坡社会科学大学也在6月份发布了一项框架，以帮助慈善机构评估其治理和透明度实践。

PILLAR 框架将现有的治理和监管要求整合到一个单一的参考标准中，帮助慈善机构确定需要改进的领域。

它还将支持“治理与透明度倡导者奖”的评估工作，参与的组织将收到反馈报告，以指导其发展。

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