Non-Profit Incubators (NPI) is China’s support to social entrepreneurs and social innovation. Founded in 2006, NPI wants to promote social good by giving small-medium NGOs and social enterprises a boost through grants and other resources. It hopes to apply the knowledge from China’s fast-growing private sector to meet the demands of community service.
It is a unique situation in China. Economic reform in the late 1970s that opened up the country to foreign investment and the growth of businesses led to huge advancements in the private sector. While some businesses made many Chinese wealthy, others focused on developing citizen sector. The economic growth in China is complemented with a highly competitive landscape where support from organizations such as NPI is vital to the development of social startups.
NPI is currently able to incubate 30 organizations in China each year. With headquarters in Shanghai, it has branches and local corporate partners across China including Lenovo and Intel. Aside from leading projects and conferences, it also works with other non-profit organizations in the country such as YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation. Together, they created the first Social Innovation Carnival in 2010 attempted to raise awareness of new NGOs and social enterprises. NPI continues to explore ways for helping changemakers achieve their goals to create a better country.