In partnership with Empact and The Majurity Trust, Temasek Foundation is deepening its commitment to grow the ground-up community where $1.1 million will be committed over five years to launch the (a) OSCAR Mentoring Programme with Empact; and (b) Temasek Foundation New Horizon Fund with The Majurity Trust. The launch was graced by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law.

Key findings from the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre’s (NVPC) Groundup Initiative Study 2023 revealed that ground-ups leaders identified leadership development, long-term planning and collaborations as areas of development to enhance their effectiveness. There is also a need for more systematic capability building, including mentorship and access to funding resources and partnerships opportunities at the various developmental phases of a ground-up growth journey.

Start, Grow and Scale: Comprehensive Support for Ground-up Groups

To build an enabling ground-up movement (Details of the Start, Grow and Scale journey are in Annex), two key initiatives will be launched under this partnership to provide holistic support to ground-up groups and nurture impact organisations in Singapore:

1. Growing ground-up impact with OSCAR Mentoring Programme. In partnership with Empact, this is a year-long mentoring programme that supports ground-up leaders to move beyond their initial projects. The ground-up leaders will be matched with experienced mentors from various sectors, such as the corporate and social sectors, to receive professional guidance for sustainable growth of their ground-ups.
2. Scaling ground-up impact with Temasek Foundation New Horizon Fund. This innovative fund builds on The Majurity Trust’s Lam Soon New Horizon Fund that started in 2022. This seed funding supports the aspirations of ground-ups to transform and jumpstart their next impact phase as new charities or social enterprises. It is also the only fund dedicated to organisational growth for a newly incorporated non-profit. With Temasek Foundation’s latest commitment, the Temasek Foundation New Horizon Fund design was enhanced with:

a. More structured capability building support for grantee partners’ learning;

b. Greater focus on the organisational setup e.g. Board and Management roles and governance requirements;

c. Prioritisation of impact measurement early in the incubation process for better programme decisions; and 

d. A three-year transition support journey to strengthen and stabilise the newly registered charities.

Temasek Foundation’s OSCAR Fund was started in 2020 to start ground-up community initiatives that demonstrate Ownership, Sustainability, Care, Assurance and Resilience of the OSCAR spirit. This Fund has since supported about 400 projects from more than 200 ground-up groups, with approximately $14 million committed in funding, benefiting more than 1 million people in total.

Strengthening the Ground-up Ecosystem through Partnerships

Building a sustainable ground-up ecosystem takes collective effort. This is why Temasek Foundation works closely with stakeholders to help more ground-ups to start, grow and scale, and also strengthen this community of ground-up groups. It includes the close coordination of partners’ support for ground-up groups at different phases of their growth journey. 

This also builds on the “BAGUS (Building All Groundups for Success) Together” initiative, a multi-sectoral partnership between NVPC, Temasek Foundation and Tote Board. This is a go-to-platform with key programmes to enable and empower Singapore’s ground-up movement across all life stages.

Growing Singapore’s Culture of Care

“The Resonance Project (Reso) is about people. It is about being a kor kor, jie jie, or a friend to those we serve and being an inspiring network of support to those we serve alongside. At Reso, we champion a sustainable model of volunteer service that has enabled many thousands of free music lessons to hundreds of beneficiaries, each lesson an opportunity to befriend and show that we are here to stay. Members of our team have been working closely with our mentor, Esther Cheng, through the OSCAR Mentoring Programme. She’s provided meaningful advice and thoughtful mentorship. We deeply appreciate Temasek Foundation and Esther's partnership in our journey to make a lasting difference in the lives of those we serve and those we serve with,” said Mr Elijah Chao, Co-Founder of The Resonance Project.

“The Temasek Foundation New Horizon Fund is critical in this stage of our lifecycle, as organisational growth is not something that partners would typically supports, and more so in the early stages of a new non-profit. It empowers us and offers the flexibility to dedicate our time and energy on strengthening our programme and expanding our reach. As someone whose first job was in volunteerism and philanthropy policy in the civil service and now running my own non-profit on the ground, I feel this funding is such an important enabler for a ground-up to “graduate” and incorporate as a non-profit. We are very grateful for the trust and opportunity that this funding unlocks, so that we can scale our work in empowering students," said Mr Ramzi Babjee, Founder of Break the Wheel.

Ground-up initiatives play a vital role in strengthening the social fabric of Singapore. With this expanded commitment, Temasek Foundation continues to help communities uplift the vulnerable and foster an environment of care through the ground-up movement.