Mind the Gap (MTG) is an initiative that was formed in April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result of the public’s desire to donate to those who were financially affected due to the pandemic. The partners in the coalition include social service agencies (SSAs) and ground-up community groups. The coalition approached the Social Service Research Centre (SSR) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to provide an independent documentation on the fund disbursement processes and the learning experiences among the member agencies. This report aims to fulfil this objective.

This report was based on the data gathered through two rounds of engagement with the MTG members. In the first round, SSR administered a semi-structured survey to the MTG coalition members. This survey aimed to gather factual information on the guiding principles for the use of the funds, the target beneficiaries, documentation required from the applicants and the conditions tied to the assistance. Representatives from eight social service agencies and ground-up groups had submitted their responses. This was followed by a focus group discussion (FGD) conducted over Zoom in the second round of data collection. Twelve individuals from six MTG member agencies/groups attended the FGD, moderated by SSR. Both the semi-structured survey and FGD were conducted in December 2020.

After the FGD was conducted, SSR organised the information provided and drafted a report that was shared with the MTG members. The members provided feedback and clarifications to the draft report. The completed report incorporates the comments and feedback from the MTG members.

SSR is grateful to the MTG coalition for the opportunity to learn and document the members’ work and experiences in disbursing funds to families who need financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to thank all the MTG members for their participation during the data-collection and their extensive feedback given to this report