Securing International Resources, Grants & Donations

Tóm tắt (VN). Tư cách quỹ từ thiện đã đăng ký của Hoa Mặt Trời mở khóa được nhiều nguồn lực quốc tế ngay bây giờ mà không cần pháp nhân Mỹ (501(c)(3)): các nền tảng công nghệ lớn (Google, Microsoft, Adobe… qua TechSoup Việt Nam), quảng cáo Google Ad Grants tới 10.000 USD/tháng, và ưu đãi Claude for Nonprofits. Để tiếp cận tiền tài trợ từ quỹ và nhà hảo tâm quốc tế (đặc biệt là Mỹ và kiều bào), cần một đơn vị bảo trợ tài chính (fiscal sponsor, ví dụ Give2Asia) và phải tuân thủ Nghị định 80/2020 (nay được thay/điều chỉnh bởi Nghị định 313/2025) về tiếp nhận viện trợ nước ngoài: mọi khoản viện trợ phải được cơ quan có thẩm quyền phê duyệt trước khi nhận và sử dụng.

Contents

1 · Why your status matters — the eligibility foundation

The single most important finding: most of the global tech-nonprofit ecosystem does not require a US 501(c)(3) letter. The major validators accept a charity registered with its own government. This is decisive for HMT.

• TechSoup validates on home-country registration, not US tax status. Its public eligibility criteria require an organisation to "be registered as a nonprofit or religious organisation with the relevant government authorities" — jurisdiction-neutral, English translations of registration documents accepted. A competing claim that TechSoup's standard programs require US 501(c)(3) was refuted 0–3 in verification. verified
• Anthropic's Claude for Nonprofits accepts "501(c)(3) designation or equivalent international designations." A registered Vietnamese fund may qualify via that route (case-by-case, no enumerated country list). verified
• Vietnamese law structurally permits it. Decree 80/2020/ND-CP explicitly names "social funds and charity funds established in accordance with Vietnam's laws" as eligible recipients of non-ODA foreign grant aid. HMT is the right kind of entity. verified (see §5 for the catch).

So the picture splits cleanly into three doors:

2 · Track 1 — Tech & in-kind credits (claim now)

These are the quick wins. Low effort, near-zero cost, and several you are already structurally eligible for. The validation hub is TechSoup Vietnam (techsoupvietnam.vn) — part of the global TechSoup network, serving VN nonprofits with discounted/donated software from Microsoft, Google Workspace, Adobe, Asana, Autodesk, Box, Dropbox, Slack, Tableau, and more. verified Get the TechSoup validation done first; it is the credential several other programs lean on.

Deep dive — the developer-infrastructure layer that runs the platform itself

Beyond the productivity software above, the nonprofit programs from the cloud and developer vendors HMT's own management hub already runs on directly offset the cost of operating and renovating the platform. The hub is a Cloud Run service over Google Cloud storage; the public review and donation site is on Cloudflare Pages; the code lives in a private GitHub repository; the AI report and caption engines call Anthropic Claude. Each of those has a nonprofit tier, claimed through the same Google-for-Nonprofits / TechSoup validation the rest of Track 1 uses.

List prices verified Jun 2026 from each vendor's pricing page (GitHub $4 / $21 per user/mo; Claude Team $25/seat/mo, min 5; Cloudflare Pro $20/mo, Business $200/mo, Bot Management Enterprise-only). Sources in §9.

Free tiers vs HMT's expected usage — what the platform actually costs

Most of these vendors have an always-free tier that applies whether or not HMT has nonprofit status; the nonprofit programs sit on top. The question that matters for budgeting is: at HMT's real scale (a handful of staff, ~142 students, a low-traffic ops hub and a static public site), does usage stay inside the free tiers, and what is left to pay? Below, usage figures are planning estimates (estimate); free-tier and price figures are verified Jun 2026.

3 · Track 2 — Cash program grants (institutional)

This is the higher-value, longer-horizon track. The verified spine here is narrow (the harness confirmed the regulatory reality but not each funder's live terms), so every funder row below is verify directly — treat it as a prospect list to validate, not settled fact. Award sizes and eligibility for VN-registered funds shift year to year.

Bilateral / embassy small-grants (best near-term fit for a small fund)

These are the most realistic institutional money for an organisation your size: modest amounts, local decision-making, and they fund exactly the tangible things HMT does (school equipment, facilities, skills programs).

Multilateral & large foundations (partnership, not open grants)

UNICEF Vietnam, the Asia Foundation, ADB and World Bank generally work through partnership and procurement, not open small-grant windows. Realistic path: become a credible local implementing partner over time, not a first-year applicant.

Vietnam-based foundations & corporate CSR (warm, local, underrated)

• VinaCapital Foundation — education/health; Vietnamese; possible partner or co-delivery.
• LIN Center for Community Development (HCMC) — small grants + capacity-building for local nonprofits; good for credibility-building (geography-dependent).
• Dragon Capital, banks, real-estate & tech CSR arms — corporate giving for education is active in VN; relationship-led.
• AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network) — a network to join for funder access across Asia, not a grantmaker itself.

4 · Track 3 — Online giving & the fiscal-sponsorship bridge

Two distinct goals here: (a) reach global individual donors, and (b) give US/diaspora donors a tax deduction — which your VN registration alone cannot do. The mechanism that solves (b) is fiscal sponsorship.

The fiscal-sponsorship mechanism, explained

A US donor only gets a tax deduction for gifts to a US 501(c)(3). HMT is not one and does not need to become one. Instead, a US-registered intermediary receives the gift, gives the donor a US tax receipt, performs due diligence, and re-grants the money to HMT:

US / diaspora donor ──gift──▶ Give2Asia (US 501(c)(3), EIN 94-3373670)
        ▲                          │  · issues US tax receipt to donor
   US tax receipt                  │  · due diligence on HMT
                                   ▼
                          re-grant ──▶ Quỹ Hoa Mặt Trời (Vietnam)
                                        └─▶ must clear Decree 80/313 approval
                                            before receiving & using the funds

Deep dive A — GlobalGiving (donor discovery + a fundability credential)

Think of GlobalGiving as the door to new global individual donors and to corporate-matching money, plus a vetting badge that travels. It is the lighter-barrier, lower-cost bridge, and a Vietnamese fund joins directly — no US entity, no fiscal sponsor.

• Eligibility. "Any registered nonprofit anywhere in the world" can apply; about half of GlobalGiving's partners are internationally registered. verified HMT qualifies as-is.
• How you get in — the Accelerator. You don't just "list"; you enter through the GlobalGiving Accelerator, a structured online-fundraising training + a campaign window. No application fee. verified
• The graduation bar. To earn a permanent spot on the platform you must raise at least $5,000 from a minimum of 40 different donors during the Accelerator. verified This is the real test — it requires you to mobilise your own network (diaspora, friends, local supporters) for the campaign; GlobalGiving supplies the platform and training, not the 40 donors.
• Documents. Registration documents; if not in English, unofficial translations are accepted (even Google Translate). verified Low documentation barrier compared with institutional grants.
• Fees. During the Accelerator, 12% support + 3% processing on the first $5,000 (waived on bonus/match). Ongoing standard for a non-US/UK org: 7% nonprofit-support fee + 3% processing — so roughly 10% all-in, ~85¢ of each $1 reaches HMT. verified
• What it unlocks beyond direct gifts. A GlobalGiving listing plugs you into corporate-giving and payroll-matching ecosystems (Benevity/YourCause-style portals) and disaster/match campaigns — channels that are otherwise closed to a VN-only entity.
• Decree-80 note. Money raised on GlobalGiving is still foreign aid disbursed to HMT, so it sits under the §5 approval regime once it flows to Vietnam. verify treatment with a VN advisor

Deep dive B — Give2Asia (a tax-efficient conduit for donors you already have)

Give2Asia solves a different problem: it makes gifts from US (and Hong Kong / Australia) donors tax-deductible. Critically, it is not a fundraising service — its own FAQ states "Friends Funds are intended for receiving gifts from your own donors." verified So it monetises a diaspora/major-donor network you bring; it does not find donors for you. That is the exact complement to GlobalGiving.

• The mechanism. Give2Asia is a US 501(c)(3) (also a registered HK charity). Your US donor gives to your named Friends Fund, receives a US tax receipt, and Give2Asia re-grants to HMT after due diligence. US employers may match these gifts. verified
• Setup fee. US$1,500 for the first fund (US$500 per additional donation location), non-refundable and payable up front — it funds the due-diligence review "regardless of outcome" and cannot be netted from incoming donations. verified
• Ongoing transaction fee. A tiered fee calculated on the total accumulated donations since 1 January each year (the tier table is on Give2Asia's Resources page; exact percentages verify).
• Due diligence (two levels). (1) Country-level: a local advisor reviews registration, financials, and runs local media/reference checks; (2) US-level: IRS-compliance review plus an international sanctions / negative-news background check on every board member and staff. Required documents: articles of incorporation + bylaws, board & staff lists, annual reports, financial statements and income sources, and program proposals with budgets and metrics. verified
• Bank & tracking prerequisites. You must hold a bank account in the organisation's English name that can receive US dollars, and be able to track Give2Asia funds separately (no commingling). verified HMT already holds a fund account — confirm the USD + exact-English-name specifics.
• Disbursement rules. Funds are released against a Distribution Request Form (activities, timeline, budget); minimum $5,000 per request (exceptions possible); no reimbursement for past activities; usage reports are required and an overdue report blocks further requests; an annual report per grant year + a final report are mandatory. verified
• Tax jurisdictions. Donor tax-deductibility applies where Give2Asia is registered — US, Hong Kong, Australia — though the donation form can process gifts from many countries. verified
• Decree-80 note. A Give2Asia re-grant is foreign aid; it must clear the §5 Vietnamese approval before HMT can use it. Build that into the Distribution Request timing.

Direct online tools: GoFundMe / JustGiving / Meta fundraising have country-restricted payout — a VN bank may not be a supported withdrawal destination, which is exactly why the Give2Asia bridge matters. verify each platform's VN payout support before relying on it. For domestic giving you already have VietQR; the international layer is the gap this track fills.

Claiming nonprofit status on social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok)

Each social platform has a nonprofit / charity account status you register or get verified for. For a Vietnam-registered fund the pattern is consistent: you can claim the nonprofit identity (a verified charity Page, a donate button) almost everywhere, but the on-platform payment rail is country-restricted and generally excludes Vietnam. So social platforms give you reach, credibility, and a "Donate" funnel that points out to your own bilingual donation page (the one Google Ad Grants drives traffic to, and Give2Asia / VietQR settle) — they are not the payout mechanism.

5 · The Vietnam-side gate — Decree 80/2020 (now Decree 313/2025)

The catch that applies to every foreign grant and every re-grant. Decree 80/2020/ND-CP, Article 4: foreign non-ODA grant aid "may only be received, implemented and used after being approved by competent Vietnamese authorities." verified

• You are an eligible recipient. Social funds and charity funds are named in Article 2. verified
• But approval is mandatory and prior. No foreign grant (including a Give2Asia re-grant or an embassy grant) can be used before the competent authority signs off.
• Approval is tiered by amount and subject: Prime Minister for sensitive areas (security, religion, legal-document aid); the Minister of Home Affairs for aid to associations and social/charity funds established under MoHA authority; provincial People's Committee chairs for provincially-established funds. verified Which authority is yours depends on who established HMT (MoHA vs provincial) — confirm this; it sets your whole approval path.
• Decree 313/2025/ND-CP (8 Dec 2025) updates/refines this regime; the approval-before-use principle is unchanged but procedure may have shifted. verify with a VN legal advisor

6 · Grant-readiness — the "data room"

Almost every serious funder, vetting platform (GlobalGiving), and fiscal sponsor (Give2Asia due diligence) asks for the same core pack. Build it once, in English, and reuse it everywhere. This is the highest-leverage internal project.

7 · Sequenced roadmap (0–18 months)

Phase 1 · 0–3 months — claim the free layer

• Validate on TechSoup Vietnam (the gateway credential).
• Apply Google for Nonprofits → Google Ad Grants ($10k/mo) → Workspace for Nonprofits. Make sure the website meets Google's quality policy first.
• Run the Claude for Nonprofits verification (Goodstack/Percent, ~3 min).
• Validate Microsoft for Nonprofits directly, then claim via TechSoup.
• Start the data room (§6): EN translations of registration + a 2-page EN profile. This unblocks everything downstream.
• Outcome: meaningful in-kind value (ads + software + AI) at near-zero cost; foundations of credibility laid.

Phase 2 · 3–9 months — become globally fundable

• Map your Decree 80/313 approving authority with a VN legal advisor; build the template aid dossier.
• Set up the fiscal-sponsorship bridge (Give2Asia Friends Fund) to open US/diaspora tax-deductible giving.
• Apply to GlobalGiving at the next vetting window (credential + platform + corporate-giving access).
• Submit 1–2 bilateral small grants with the best fit — likely Japan GGP (equipment/facilities) and/or Australia DAP.
• Commission the first external audit if not already in hand.
• Outcome: a working international donation path + your first institutional grant in the pipeline.

Phase 3 · 9–18 months — scale institutional

• Run a diaspora giving campaign through the bridge (Ad Grants traffic → bilingual donation page → Give2Asia receipt).
• Cultivate VN/Asia foundations & corporate CSR (VinaCapital Foundation, LIN, AVPN network, corporate partners).
• Pursue a larger institutional grant (US Mission Vietnam, or an EU/consortium role) once you have an audited grant cycle behind you.
• Re-evaluate whether a dedicated "Friends of HMT" 501(c)(3) is now worth the overhead.
• Outcome: a diversified base — in-kind + recurring global individual giving + repeatable institutional grants.

8 · Risks, caveats & what to verify

• "Eligible in principle" ≠ approved. TechSoup, Anthropic/Goodstack and Google each run their own per-country validation; no source confirms a specific VN "Quỹ từ thiện" has cleared each one. The only way to know is to submit. Expect to provide registration docs + EN translations.
• AI-nonprofit terms are new and volatile. Claude for Nonprofits launched 2 Dec 2025; it is a discount, not free credits. Re-check price points, bundled models, and inclusions before budgeting on them.
• Funder rows in §3 are a prospect list, not verified terms. Award sizes/eligibility for embassy and foundation programs change yearly and were not individually fact-checked. Confirm on each program's current page before investing application effort.
• US-only doors stay shut. OpenAI's People-First AI Fund is US-501(c)(3)-only and explicitly excludes fiscal sponsorship — don't spend effort there.
• Decree 80/313 is the real gatekeeper. Get a Vietnamese nonprofit-law advisor to confirm your exact approving authority and the current (post-Decree-313) procedure. This is non-optional for any foreign money.
• Platform payout to VN. GoFundMe/JustGiving/Meta donation tools may not pay out to a Vietnamese bank — verify before promoting any of them; this is the gap the fiscal-sponsor bridge fills.
• Brand & dignity carry over. International fundraising copy must hold the same no-pity / no-white-saviour line as everything else HMT publishes; "disadvantaged children" framing for Western donors is exactly the trap to avoid.

9 · Sources

Primary sources fact-checked during research (Dec 2025–Jun 2026). Items not in this list (most §3 funder details) are general-knowledge prospects to verify directly.

• Google Ad Grants — google.com/grants/faq; google.com/nonprofits/offerings/google-ad-grants
• Google.org AI Opportunity Fund APAC — aiopportunityfund.withgoogle.com/apac
• Claude for Nonprofits — anthropic.com/news/claude-for-nonprofits; support.claude.com/.../12893767
• OpenAI People-First AI Fund — openai.com/index/supporting-nonprofit-and-community-innovation
• TechSoup eligibility — techsoup.global/eligibility-criteria; TechSoup Vietnam — techsoupvietnam.vn; Microsoft handoff — TechSoup support art. 12968116130075
• Decree 80/2020/ND-CP & Decree 313/2025/ND-CP — english.luatvietnam.vn; thuvienphapluat.vn; nonprofit-law note — cof.org/country-notes/nonprofit-law-vietnam
• Give2Asia — give2asia.org/charity-faq, /application, /due-diligence-for-international-donors-how-it-works-why-it-matters
• GlobalGiving — non-US application support.globalgiving.org/.../360026455231; Accelerator globalgiving.org/accelerator; fees globalgiving.org/aboutus/fee & support.globalgiving.org/.../360033731831; Equivalency Determination — cafamerica.org/fundamentals/what-is-equivalency-determination
• Added 2026-06-11 (developer-infrastructure deep dive, §2): Cloudflare Project Galileo & nonprofit startup credits — cloudflare.com/galileo, blog.cloudflare.com/expanding-startups-for-nonprofits; GitHub for Nonprofits — github.com/solutions/industry/nonprofits, docs.github.com/en/nonprofit; Google Cloud for Nonprofits credits — support.google.com/nonprofits/answer/16245748; AWS Nonprofit Credit Program — aws.amazon.com/government-education/nonprofits/nonprofit-credit-program, techsoup.org/amazon-web-services
• Added 2026-06-11 (social-platform nonprofit status, §4): Meta fundraising eligibility & countries — facebook.com/help/1251484118194936, facebook.com/help/252443996270739; YouTube Nonprofit Program — support.google.com/nonprofits/answer/3367463; TikTok NGO/NPO advertising — ads.tiktok.com/help/article/non-governmental-organization-and-non-profit-organization
• Added 2026-06-11 (standard costs + free-tier analysis, §2): GitHub pricing — github.com/pricing; Claude plans & API pricing — claude.com/pricing, platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing; Claude for Nonprofits scope (subscription-only) — support.claude.com/en/articles/12893767; Cloudflare plans & Pages limits — cloudflare.com/plans, developers.cloudflare.com/pages/platform/limits; Cloud Run pricing/free tier — cloud.google.com/run/pricing; Cloud Storage free-tier regions — cloud.google.com/free