AS one of the initiators of Tencent’s controversial charity project “Little Friends Gallery,” Shenzhen Ai You Future Foundation has publicized the budget of the donation fund on its official website, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Tuesday.

According to the budget of the 12.8 million yuan (US$1.96 million) donation fund, 5.85 million yuan will be used for fine arts education for the mentally disabled and to build an online management platform. Another 4 million yuan will be used to construct art centers in 20 cities across the country. While 680,000 yuan will be earmarked for art therapy including training, 1 million yuan is listed as the cost of building a one-year Art Brut Gallery. The remaining 1.27 million yuan will be used for administrative expenses.

However, the administrative expenses, which account for 9.9 percent of the budget, have drawn a lot of criticism from netizens. According to the information publicized, the administrative expenses will include the costs of operation, administration, financial staff, and the foundation’s administrative expenditures.

A staff member with the foundation said that what they had done was legitimate within the legal framework of the Charity Law. Shanghai-based World of Art Brut Culture (WABC), which will implement the projects sponsored by the fund, said that what was publicized was only a budget, and the actual expenditures would be disclosed in the future.

In addition, a staff member with WABC said in an interview that the use of the donation fund would follow certain procedures.

The foundation said it would audit the expenditures according to its internal special fund management regulations and supervise the disclosure of the expenditures regularly.

However, netizens have also expressed dissatisfaction about the fact that less than half of the donation fund was earmarked for the arts curriculum for the mentally disabled. WABC responded that art therapy and art integration are two important parts of helping people with mental disabilities. The organization added that the fine arts curriculum and student training are both within the category of art therapy, and the construction of a one-year Art Brut Gallery is an important part of art integration.

(Zhang Yu)