Illegal fundraising, the "most beautiful volunteer teacher" scandal!
Compiled from The Paper
Do you still remember Long Jingjing, the returned female master's graduate who became famous for "volunteer teaching in western Hunan for 10 consecutive years"?
Case review
Recently, based on a citizen's report, the Changsha Civil Affairs Bureau investigated and handled the suspected illegal public fundraising by the Changsha Shanyin Gongyi Student Aid Service Center, and issued an administrative penalty decision (Changmin Fazijuezi [2021] No. 1) in accordance with the law. The Changsha Civil Affairs Bureau, according to Article 40 of the Administrative Licensing Law of the People's Republic of China, publicly disclosed the administrative penalty decision on its website. According to the content of the public penalty decision, the legal representative of the Changsha Shanyin Gongyi Student Aid Service Center is Long Jingjing.
The penalty decision shows that the party collected funds from the public by posting QR code payment information on internet media, which should be considered an act of public fundraising, but the party did not have the qualification for public fundraising. After discovering that the party was conducting public fundraising without the proper qualification, the Changsha Civil Affairs Bureau ordered the party to immediately stop the fundraising activities on September 27, and its payment QR code was discontinued on September 29.
The Changsha Civil Affairs Bureau decided to impose an administrative penalty of a warning on the party, ordered the party to return the illegally raised property of 11,845.4 yuan to the donors within 60 days, and issued administrative guidance requiring the party to fully rectify and standardize charitable activities in accordance with the law, improve internal management system standards and financial management, and strengthen information disclosure.
Charity Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 22: A charitable organization conducting public fundraising must obtain the qualification for public fundraising. A charitable organization that has been lawfully registered for two years may apply to the civil affairs department where it is registered for the qualification for public fundraising. The civil affairs department shall make a decision within 20 days from the date of receiving the application. If the charitable organization meets the conditions of having a sound internal governance structure and standardized operations, it shall be issued a certificate of qualification for public fundraising; if it does not meet the conditions, the certificate shall not be issued, and the reasons shall be provided in writing.
Foundations and social groups that are allowed to conduct public fundraising from the date of registration as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations shall be directly issued a certificate of qualification for public fundraising by the civil affairs department.
[1] The author's perspective
According to the above legal provisions, only social organizations that have been registered or recognized as charitable organizations and have obtained the qualification for public fundraising, as well as other organizations that are lawfully allowed to conduct public fundraising activities, may carry out public fundraising activities. No other organizations or individuals may conduct public fundraising activities. Any form of public fundraising activity carried out by illegal social organizations, whether by setting up donation boxes in public places, disseminating fundraising information through media such as radio, television, newspapers, or the internet, or organizing events such as "charity performances," "charity matches," "charity sales," "charity exhibitions," "charity auctions," or "charity galas," is illegal.
Regarding Long Jingqing herself, her persona is that of the "most beautiful volunteer teacher," who over ten years has visited 24 remote mountain schools in places like Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou, and Shaanxi, helping more than 2,000 mountain children. However, some have raised doubts: the volunteer teaching diaries she posted on short video platforms feel "incongruous"; after watching the videos, it is unclear what she did during her teaching stints or what the children learned, only her meticulously styled appearance from head to toe. There have even been questions about whether her "ten years of volunteer teaching" experience is merely "a continuous show of influencer-style check-ins."
The author believes that volunteer teaching to help remote mountain areas is certainly worthy of support, but if it is used to attract public attention, generate hype, or even illegally raise funds, it is highly inadvisable. It is hoped that this administrative penalty against Long Jingqing will serve as a wake-up call, so that she does not regret it only when the situation becomes serious.
