4
Message from Acting Executive Director
E
ven before I took over the
a year or, at least, until their household
helm at AMP, I knew the job
and financial situations stabilise.
was a challenging one. I just had no idea how unprecedented the
Within weeks of its launch, we received
challenges would turn out to be.
hundreds of applications from those who had lost their jobs or suffered pay
Just within a few weeks into my
cuts. We also saw a 13% increase in the
new role, the COVID-19 pandemic
number of those who need assistance
hit us. Like many organisations and
this year as compared to the same
businesses, we had to respond
period last year.
swiftly to the new challenges, both within AMP and in our services to
It should be noted that there was also
the community.
a 150% increase in the number of underprivileged students who sought
AMP then ramped up our business
help with their education expenses this
continuity plans (BCP) and hygiene
year compared to the last.
practices to safeguard our staff and beneficiaries. Operationally, we also
Needless to say, the current landscape
scale up digital solutions in our
set it to be a tough year for fund raising.
operations to facilitate those working
Our service provider recently terminated
from home.
their telepoll service, one that we had relied upon for our fund raising
The pandemic reared its ugly head. It
campaigns for more than a decade.
impacted our economy badly, making the low-income group even more
Physical events were also not allowed;
vulnerable. To help this group of people,
this further limited our fund raising
AMP introduced the Temporary
options. Despite the challenges,
Assistance Package (TAP) 2.0 in April
we found ways to tackle them head
this year.
on. We ramped up our digital fund raising efforts to appeal for help for
TAP was first introduced during the
those in need. We were also heartened
economic downturn in 2009 to help
by ground-up initiatives like Team
those who were retrenched. This time,
Solidarity, who championed the
it provided support to those affected
efforts to raise funds for organisations
by the pandemic and their families for
like ours and help the vulnerable groups.
