Singapore fundraising trust and Flag Day shifts
Singapore is seeing a shift in charitable fundraising as traditional volunteer-led 'Flag Days' are increasingly supplemented or replaced by paid professional fundraisers. This transition has sparked a debate about the nature of community service and the transactional feel of modern donation methods.
Why it matters
It illustrates the evolution of civic engagement and the impact of professionalization on traditional non-profit fundraising models.
Flag Days and collection tins once symbolised community service in Singapore. Today, charities increasingly rely on paid fund-raisers, a regulated but little-understood model that can make giving feel transactional. Hazel Tang reports.
Flag Days were once a fixture of the civic calendar. Today, that model is becoming harder to sustain.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: NG SOR LUAN, KUA CHEE SIONG, MANNY FRANCISCO
Listen “Xin ku le,” the elderly woman says in Mandarin, thanking Lester Ng for his hard work. Then, she dropped a few dollars into his collection tin and offered him more blessings.
The brief encounter took place at Bedok Hawker Centre in May 2025, during the Kidney Dialysis Foundation’s (KDF) annual Flag Day.
“I did not expect many people to donate, especially in today’s largely cashless society,” says the 53-year-old healthcare professional. “But we received donations of $10 and even $50 notes.”
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