Japanese Charities Urged to Do More to Spur Giving

Japanese nonprofit organizations should do more to improve the country’s “culture of giving,” says a new report.

The average dollar amount donated by Japanese is far less than the figure for their U.S. counterparts, says the report by the Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizens’ Organizations, in Tokyo. The coalition advocates changes in the Japanese tax code and other government policies to help charities raise funds.

The average annual donation by households in Japan is $26.67, according to a Japanese government survey, while in the United States it is $1,620. But the disparity doesn’t mean Japanese are not philanthropic, the report says. Ninety percent of the country’s 126 million people make contributions annually, the report notes.

“Most Japanese NPOs do not actively seek to raise contributions or have not developed ways of raising contributions well,” the report says. Some nonprofit groups prefer not to ask for money from the public because it seems like “begging,” the report adds.

The report urges charities to overcome their dislike of fund raising and to adopt accountability practices similar to those used in the United States. For example, Japanese charities should communicate to supporters how donations advance an organization’s cause and what is done with the money, the report recommends.

While charities can improve the Japanese fund-raising environment, the report also says that several bureaucratic and cultural barriers either prevent charities from embracing fund raising or stymie the public’s ability to give. Among them:

• Government requirements make it difficult for many charities to get certification allowing them to receive tax-deductible contributions.
• Many Japanese citizens consider social-welfare work to be the responsibility of the government and not private organizations.
• A Japanese tradition known as intoku-youhou, or “secret good deeds bearing good fruit,” encourages people to perform acts of good will, but in private. This tradition prevents some people from making big donations to nonprofit organizations that might draw attention.
• The postal system does not give discounts on nonprofit mailers, as are offered in the United States. Such a system discourages the use of direct-mail solicitations to raise money.

The report, “Japan’s Culture of Giving and Nonprofit Organizations,” is available free at http://www.npoweb.gr.jp/english/cgp.html. Printed copies can be obtained free by contacting the Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizens’ Organizations, Katsuta Building, 3F 2-22 Kagurazaka Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-085 Japan; npoweb@abelia.ocn.ne.jp; fax: (81) 3-5227-2009.