2025/05/01 by Vincent B. Lesch · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Media Studies and Communication #Public Relations and Crisis Communication
paper · doi:10.1080/18692729.2025.2485623
openalex publication_date 2025/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
In both the international and Japanese nonprofit sectors, competition for financial resources, volunteers, and media attention has increased significantly. This underscores the importance of a stakeholder-specific communication policy for NPOs, including professional marketing, a clear brand image, and strategic fundraising. Guided by Bruhn and Herbst’s theoretical framework for the NPO sector, this paper contextualizes micro-level proceedings within the NPO Ishintai UNESCO Club providing learning support for children from low socio-economic backgrounds. To address specific challenges of smaller NPOs in contemporary Japan, this research combines rich description with theoretical questions of financial stability, actor-stakeholder relations, and organizational agency. While traditional communication channels remain very important, it argues that Japanese NPOs must expand their use of diverse (online) communication instruments, maximizing cost-effectiveness, to successfully interact with stakeholders and develop a diverse donor portfolio. Such diversification is crucial for reducing reliance on government funding and maintaining operations during crises. The paper fills a gap in research on Japanese NPO communication strategies and fundraising, emphasizing the need for systematic assessment of organizational practices to achieve autonomy and stability.