Blazing a trail in the charity sector: Singapore’s Metta Welfare Association raises funds by selling NFTs

• Main Authors: LO, Siaw Ling, NG, Graham, LIM, Thomas
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
• Subjects: Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Organizational Change; Nonprofits; Blockchain; Cryptocurrencies; Asian Studies; Databases and Information Systems
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/465; https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-23-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D/SMU-23-0017%20%5BMetta%5D/SMU-23-0017%20%5BMetta%5D.pdf?CT=1692258085743&OR=ItemsView
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore-based Metta Welfare Association (Metta) had been keenly aware of the need to digitalise, and had taken steps to do so under the leadership of Felicia Wee, the Deputy Executive Director. With the coaching of its partners – NFT Ventures and Mega X World – Metta decided to embark on the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a new avenue for fundraising. The charity’s management committee was originally concerned that it could end up getting embroiled in money laundering. However, after a successful pilot in which transactions were conducted via credit cards in Singapore dollars instead of cryptocurrencies as was usually the case for NFT trading, its unease was allayed. Nevertheless, the question remained: should Metta continue to rely on NFT sales for its fundraising? This case is intended for use in a digital transformation course. Students who have successfully examined the case should be able to distinguish between digitalisation and digital transformation, explain why NFTs are an appropriate digital technology for Metta, demonstrate the difficulties organisations face when dealing in NFTs, show how NFT-related risks can be mitigated, analyse how Metta rebuilt itself, and illustrate alternative real-world use cases for NFTs other than commercial trading.