Correspondence: Tamaki Onishi, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 550 West North Street, Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. E-mail: tonishi@iupui.edu

¹is a Ph.D. candidate of The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She has an M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University and gained fundraising experience at Thirteen/WNET New York. She teaches graduate students fundraising at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. She has frequently been invited to make presentations in Japan and has appeared in national publications such as Yomiuri Newspaper, in which she also has a regular column. Her current research topics include charitable trusts (for Trust Companies Association of Japan) and financial resources of social entrepreneurs.

Received 17 September 2007; Revised 17 September 2007.

Abstract

The enactment of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities in 1998 has resulted not only in a rapid increase in the number of specified nonprofit corporations (NPO corporations) but also in an urgent need for effective fundraising in Japan. Despite Japan's long and rich tradition of philanthropy and a serious need for fundraising, very little research on Japanese fundraising has been available. With original data collected via surveys and interviews from fundraisers in Japan and the United States, this paper analyzes the application of fundraising techniques by Japanese fundraisers and identifies their primary practices. Given the differing views on fundraising between the two countries, which the author ascribes to issues of cross-national comparability, the study investigates fundraising current practices in Japan by using the US fundraising model as the baseline. Comparisons of fundraising practices among the Japanese, Japanese Americans, and non-Japanese Americans are also examined to determine whether or not fundraising practices are influenced by cultural and societal factors.