Through the generous support of the United States-Japan Foundation, NGOsource is thrilled to welcome a new partnership with Japan NPO Center (JNPOC) to support Japanese organizations undergoing ED.
Founded in 1996, JNPOC is dedicated to transforming Japan’s civic society by working with nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to strengthen their organizational infrastructures from the bottom up. It partners with both national and international corporations to support NPOs via education, capacity building, and structural problem solving — making it possible for Japanese NPOs to continue to serve their communities and advocate more time and resources to the causes they were founded to address.
JNPOC has long been a member of the TechSoup Global Network, supporting Japanese organizations in accessing technology resources, as well as partnering with Caravan Studios on community-centered design collaborations.
To learn more about JNPOC’s critical work supporting NPOs and strengthening Japan’s civil sector, including its collaboration with TechSoup Japan, we encourage readers to revisit its 2024 guest blog post, Japan NPO Center: Promoting Civil Society Infrastructure in Japan.
Through this new NGOsource partnership, which launches in February, JNPOC will assist Japanese NPOs in navigating the equivalency determination process, offering language support and technical assistance to NPOs that may need extra aid.
NGOsource spoke to Kazuho Tsuchiya, a Senior Program Coordinator at JNPOC, to learn more about both the challenges and the opportunities Japanese nonprofits are facing and JNPOC’s vision for strengthening civic engagement.
NGOsource: What is the number one challenge you see facing civil society organizations in Japan right now?
Tsuchiya: Identifying a single top challenge is difficult … but one major issue for NPOs in Japan is securing sustainable funding. They often rely on unpredictable government subsidies, domestic grants, and donations, which creates financial instability and hinders their ability to plan and execute long-term initiatives. Therefore, I believe that securing grants from overseas, in addition to domestic ones, would significantly enhance the financial stability of Japanese NPOs, which have had limited opportunities in this area in the past.
Another challenge is effectively conveying the outcomes of grants to international grantors, such as those in the U.S. While numerical data is crucial for expressing the impact of grants, many of the issues they try to address are hard to quantify. Additionally, the reporting methods used by domestic grantors might differ. Beyond the language barrier, finding ways to articulate these outcomes is a significant challenge.
Furthermore, there is a need for greater public engagement and awareness, as many Japanese NPOs struggle to attract and retain volunteers and supporters, limiting their impact.
NGOsource: We’d love to hear a bit more about (1) the language barriers; and (2) struggling with articulating outcomes. We hear anecdotally about the language issue, but there is not a great amount of readily accessible data on the Japanese language and gaps in the international social sector when it comes to communicating and including Japanese language and NPOs.
Tsuchiya:
(1) With respect to the language barriers:
According to a survey conducted by a Japanese company that conducts Internet research on market research and marketing in Japan and other Asian countries, 67.0% of Japanese adults feel they have a poor command of English. Of these, 89.5% cited a lack of opportunities to use English as the reason for their discomfort. I think these figures also reflect the reality of domestic NPO staff in general. While some international NGO staff use English and other languages to collaborate with international organizations, and some Japanese NPOs/NGOs utilize overseas fundraising platforms, many domestic NPO staff do not. It is unfortunate that they cannot communicate their meaningful activities to the global community.
During the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, we heard from many people overseas who wanted to support local NPOs in the affected areas but were unable to do so due to a lack of English information. If Japanese NPOs were able to communicate their activities in English on their own websites, it would provide a valuable opportunity for U.S. funders to get to know them better. Perhaps recent advancements in AI can help address this issue.
(2) As for the challenges of articulating outcomes:
Effectively communicating outcomes can be as challenging as language barriers. Many Japanese NPOs, while focused on providing quality services, may not be accustomed to quantifying their impact, setting numerical targets, or publicly sharing their achievements. Given limited resources, evaluation may be seen as an additional burden. Furthermore, quantifying the results of NPO activities, such as changes in awareness and behavior, can be difficult.
Effectively demonstrating nonquantifiable outcomes presents another challenge. While logic models and impact evaluation frameworks have been introduced, their practical application in the NPO sector can be complex. We continue to explore the most suitable approaches for Japanese NPOs to convince and engage stakeholders.
NGOsource: What is the role of intermediary grantmakers in Asia or Japan — where do you see strengths or weaknesses in working with intermediaries?
Tsuchiya: My understanding is that U.S. grantmakers (e.g., grantmaking organizations) make grants based on global themes or themes that they prioritize, and international grantmaking intermediaries coordinate with their country partners on these themes. However, if grant programs are implemented uniformly without regard to the circumstances of each country, or if they are implemented with uniform outcome goals, distortions may occur.
For example, in the case of grants for poverty alleviation or women's empowerment, it is important to consider the position and situation of the country (whether the target country is a developing or developed country, what women's empowerment means, etc.) and tailor the program to the situation. JNPOC can conduct landscape research of the situation in Japan with regard to the issue the client (corporation/corporate foundation) wishes to address and then make recommendations as to which programs or organizations would be good candidates for funding.
That said, JNPOC has several strengths when it comes to providing donations and grants to Japanese NPOs, including those from U.S. corporate granters. First, we have a good understanding of social issues in Japan, allowing us to conduct preliminary research, such as landscape studies, in areas of interest to overseas foundations. We can also identify potential Japanese NPO candidates in specific issue areas and recommend local NPOs through our informal network with regional NPO support centers across the country. Additionally, we can coordinate not only subgrants but also training for organizational capacity building, networking opportunities among grantee organizations, and grant reporting sessions.
NGOsource: Do you feel that civil society in Japan is adequately understood, trusted, and supported among the general public in Japan? What is the reputation of civil society among the general public, and where do you see opportunities for growth or improvement?
Tsuchiya: This is an interesting question. Public trust in NPOs in Japan presents a mixed picture. A 2018 Cabinet Office survey found that 71.5% of respondents either trusted (17.1%) or somewhat trusted (54.3%) NPOs. However, a more recent 2023 survey by the Japan Center for NPO Evaluation revealed that only 20.2% of respondents trusted NPOs, placing them behind private companies, followed by the government at 13.2%, and the mass media at 12.4%. Although trust in NPOs is higher than in the government and the mass media, only one in five people trusts NPOs, which is a figure worth considering.
The Doing Good Index, a comparative survey of the Asian social sector initiated by the Center for Asian Philanthropy and Society, in which JNPOC participated, further highlights this discrepancy. While 44% of social delivery organizations in Asia believe they are fully trusted by society, only 8% of Japanese NPOs reported a high level of trust. According to the World Giving Index 2022 by the Charities Aid Foundation, Japan ranked 118th out of 119 countries. The report suggests that cultural factors may contribute to this low ranking.
While charitable giving is often understood as a voluntary act in Western cultures, it may be perceived as a social responsibility in Japan. One political scientist suggested that the low level of donations in Japan could be attributed to several factors, including a weak connection between religiosity and charitable giving, as well as a general cynicism towards institutions, similar to the distrust often directed towards politics.
Whether this trust deficit stems from NPOs themselves or from societal attitudes is a complex question. However, to build public trust, NPOs must actively engage with the public. This includes transparently disclosing information such as activity reports and financial statements. By doing so, NPOs can foster understanding, empathy, and support from the broader community.
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Kazuho Tsuchiya is a Senior Program Coordinator at Japan NPO Center, a national infrastructure organization for Japan’s civil sector and nonprofit organizations (NPOs). He is responsible for program development and consulting for corporations and foundations. Kazuho has been involved in various needs assessment/landscape research for both domestic and international companies.