Ms. Yan is a teacher in Yunnan Province in China who’s trying to make a difference in young people’s lives. Along with her role as teacher, she’s also the executive director at the China Children and Teenagers Foundation. In that role, she used to travel across inland Yunnan carrying large sums of cash to hand-deliver bursaries to local girls. It was an important ask, but also incredibly stressful and risky: she had to lug funds around in taxis, worry about every dollar, and bear the responsibility for any error to students and donors.

Today, thanks to 99 Giving Day and its digital philanthropy platform, those bursaries now flow directly to students’ Weixin Pay accounts – securely, transparently, and discreetly. No longer needing to worry about logistical burdens, Yan is freed up to spend more time mentoring and supporting students.

For charities like Yan’s, streamlined disbursement helps build credibility, strengthens donor relationships, and frees staff to focus on what matters – helping others. For donors, the real-time visibility into how funds are dispersed deepens trust.

Yan is symbolic of efforts across the country to help others. Tencent helped bring about the growth in philanthropy through its 99 Giving Day program, which this year is celebrating its 11th anniversary.

From small online experiment to nationwide impact

What began as a three-day online fundraising drive has evolved into a long-term movement that shapes how people interact with charities. Giving has become part of daily life, making charity more accessible, transparent, and engaging for donors and NGOs through technology.

In 2024 alone, 289 million people took part, raising US$532 million and generating over 700 million acts of kindness. That included 46 million individual donations that supported over 5,500 philanthropic organizations. Over the past decade, Tencent’s digital philanthropy platform has facilitated 1.5 billion donations, channeling more than US$4 billion to over 137,000 charitable projects.

The effectiveness and impact of 99 Giving Day are made possible by Tencent’s integrated digital ecosystem. Across Weixin, QQ, and Tencent’s games, video, music, cloud, and AI tools, giving has become as natural as any digital interaction. Users can donate while paying for groceries, gaming, or streaming – reducing friction and normalizing charity.

Going beyond fundraising to empowerment

As 99 Giving Day evolves, the focus is shifting from one-off donations to long-term capacity building for the non-profit sector. Initiatives like Donation by Cent, which lets Weixin Pay users round up purchases or donate as little as one cent to their preferred charitable causes, ensures a steady flow of micro-donations to sustain programs ranging from rural literacy classes to rehabilitation for hearing-impaired children.

In line with modern-day donors’ expectations around visibility and impact, digital disbursement tools allow donors to trace their contributions in real time, check monthly progress reports, and connect with projects via interactive forums. They have also shortened the time it takes for beneficiaries to receive funds from months to as little as 10 minutes.

NGOs can show exactly where money goes – whether funding a student bursary, stocking a school library, or delivering relief vouchers – with logistics tracked from warehouse to beneficiary. This speed and clarity foster repeat giving and lasting relationships as donors see immediate, verified impact.

This year, Tencent is investing about US$28 million in the non-profit sector, including unrestricted grants, digitalization training, and helping NGOs build deeper relationships with donors.

In addition, a suite of 15 digital tools has been launched to support functions like project tracking, transparent reporting, and audience communication. These tools help NGOs modernise operations, adopt efficient digital systems, extend reach, and retain supporters.

As AI capabilities grow, more opportunities arise to harness its benefits. Donors can get instant answers on project goals, budgets, and progress. AI-assisted optimization tools guide NGOs in improving project design and execution. Shared knowledge bases help organizations build institutional memory and scale best practices.

A connected, sustainable future for giving

While technology drives efficiency, it is the people behind donations who give charity its purpose. That’s where Tencent’s Little Red Flower comes in. These digital badges, which appear on donars’ Weixin status after a contribution, symbolize kindness. Each badge recognizes a donor’s effort and encourages others to take part. In this way, everyday acts of kindness grow into visible reminders of our collective compassion while preserving the dignity of recipients.

As 99 Giving Day enters its second decade, it’s proving that sustainable philanthropy requires more than good intentions – it needs smart systems that facilitate giving.

When people use tecnology to strengthen connections, when giving becomes as easy as sending a message, philanthropy becomes not just more efficient, but more meaningful – ensuring that even the smallest acts of kindness have the potential to change lives.