The ACS Foundation¹ (“ACSF” or “the Foundation”) was established 10 years ago with the support of the Methodist Church in Singapore and the ACS Board of Governors. The purpose of the Foundation is to reinforce the long held tradition of giving back to our school and to encourage and facilitate our students in being a blessing to the community.

Set up as a charity with ‘Grantmaker’² status, ACSF receives gifts and donations through two main channels:

(i) an Endowment Fund, with a goal to generate sustainable income streams by growing the principal amount of this fund over time such that the income generated is used to benefit the ACS Schools, ACS stakeholders as well as the community. Donations to the Endowment Fund do not currently enjoy tax deductibility from the government.

(ii) a “Grantmaker” fund where donors giving to this fund enjoy tax deductibility at the prevailing rate set by IRAS, currently at 2.5 times the donated amount. Donations to this fund must be disbursed to IPCs³ (of which the ACS schools are our main beneficiaries) within 5 years of receipt.

The Foundation was formed not to replace the fundraising and building projects at the ACS Schools level which will continue, but rather to supplement funding for programs that the ACS Schools felt were important for the well-rounded development of our students and for areas such as Special Needs Education.

ACSF meets with the ACS Schools regularly to better understand their needs and how the Foundation can support them in their programs. Each year, the schools submit their funding requests to ACSF for the programs and activities it wishes to undertake that are beyond what is available from their traditional funding sources. All funding requests are put through a rigorous approval process. Each program is vetted and the level of support is agreed by the Grants Committee of the Foundation, then the whole ACSF Board is informed to ensure proper governance before the funds are disbursed to the schools. To date much of the funding from ACSF has gone into areas such as Special Needs Education and funding the schools for programs in the community.

ACSF has also been a regular funding contributor to ONE ACS Programs such as the highly successful ONE ACS Career Forum organised by the ACSOBA and the recent production of the ACS135 Founder’s Day celebration. The Foundation has also been supporting the sports and activities arm of the ACSOBA – Oldham Club – which has seen rapid growth in popularity amongst the ACS and wider community.

The basic funding purpose of the Foundation is well understood and valued, but beyond this, ACSF plays meaningful roles in several important areas:

• a formal platform to raise and disburse funding while keeping track of outcomes and objectives;

• a basis from which to engage the schools to understand the needs and issues in contemporary education in Singapore today;

• a sustainable entity from which ACS Philanthropy continues to grow; and importantly,

• inspiring a new generation of ACSians who use their blessings to bless others

Although 10 years old, The ACS Foundation is still very much in its infancy and the support of benefactors will be critical to its success and how impactful it will be to the ACS Schools and community. Mr Cheo Chai Hong, an illustrious old boy and former President of the ACSOBA, is the current Chairman of the ACS Foundation and its General Manager is Ms Tjioe Tan. More details on the ACS Foundation and how ACS stakeholders can donate can be found on its website at: https://www. theacsfoundation.org.

Aside from the Church and the BOG, the ACS Foundation would not have been established without the encouragement and support of some people and benefactors who have allowed us to get to where we are today. Special mention should be made of the contributions of Mr. Wan Fook Weng, Mr. Philip Ng, Mr. Dilhan Pillay, Mr. Olivier Lim, Mr Lau Cheng Hock, Ms. Joy-marie Toh and Ms. Vivien Yui in helping to establish ACSF.

¹ The full name of The ACS Foundation is “The Anglo-Chinese Schools Foundation Ltd”.

² Description of a Grantmaker can be found on the IRAS or Charities websites.

³ IPC stands for Institutions of Public Character. Please see charities.gov.sg.