Introduction

The Japan NPO Research Association, JANPORA was founded in 1999. The objectives are to strengthen the nonprofit, volunteering and philanthropy research, to create wider networks, and to disseminate the Nonprofit study. Principal activities include an annual conference, research seminars, publications, and awards.

Brief History

In 1995, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake hit Japan, and it was the time that people began to pay attention to the role of the Non-profit sector in the country. However, there was no sufficient scientific analysis and discussion on issues surrounding NPOs' activities such as law, governance, and sustainability. Moreover, there was a lack of communication between researchers and practitioners. In order to improve the situation, in March 1999, the Japan NPO Research Association, JANPORA was established, supported by many people from various back ground. Yuujirou Hayashi （the president of Japan Philanthropy Association）was elected as the first president. At the time of establishment, the number of members was around 600, which is now doubled.

Activities

Main activities are: holding an annual conference and regular research seminars, distributing newsletters, publishing journals and awarding outstanding research works. The first annual conference was held in March 1999 inviting Professor Lester Salmon as a guest speaker. Since then, the meeting was becoming more and more dynamic exploring latest issues, presenting the research findings and bringing up stimulating discussions. Regular research seminars, being held once a month, have been focusing on up-to date issues such as civil society, social capital and CSR. The Association's journal, "Non-Profit Review" has been published twice a year since 2001containing the latest theoretical and empirical research work. Newsletters have been published quarterly to provide interest articles and latest information since 2000. In addition to these activities, JANPORA have been presenting the awards to distinctive research works since 2002 to promote research development. JANPORA also offers members to use Association's mailing list for promoting communications between members. Structure and Governance Currently (2009 at the present), JANPORA has about 1,200members, in which 20% of scholars, 18% of students, 14% of nonprofit sector workers, 10% of business sector workers, 9% of think-tank based researchers, and 7% of public sector workers. It has 25 boards of directors and 2 auditors. In 2008, Naoto Yamauchi was elected as 5th president.

Funding

The annual budget has been around 12million Japanese Yen since the establishment, which is mainly funded by the annual membership fees.

Major Accomplishments

The major achievement of JANPORA is to bring all the researchers, students and practitioners together to create the community of the people who are dedicated to the research and dissemination of nonprofit studies for the purpose of improving public wealth. As there were no such organizations before, the establishment of this community had a significant impact on development of NPOs/NGOs activities and the research by creating wider and deeper networks.