Panasonic NPO Support Fund 2012 Strengthens NPO Organizations

This fund is one of Panasonic's most important corporate citizenship activities, and focuses on the key fields of "the environment" and "supporting the development of the next generation" with the ultimate aim of helping to realize a sustainable society. The fund was launched in 2001 in recognition of the fact that NPOs needed to strengthen their organizational foundations in order to develop their citizenship activities toward the solution of social issues. Every since, Panasonic has worked to develop this program to be of support to these NPOs and help them to strengthen their organizational foundations.

2012 recipients

Earthwatch Institute Japan
Earthwatch Institute Japan is an organization working to provide funding support for scientific investigation and research into environmental conservation in Japan and overseas, as well as human support through the provision of volunteers. It will use the assistance from the Support Fund to plan and develop new programs designed to attract a broader range of participants.

Play-Park Setagaya
This organization is working to deliver the message it has cultivated at its play park in Setagaya, "play freely at your own responsibility," to wider society, and to help build a more exciting society for children through the operation and further development of play areas and other spaces that children can enjoy. It will use the assistance from the Support Fund to train human resources for sustainable organization design and to improve the social standing of "play."

Yoshinori Yamaoka, advisor to the Japan NPO Center, offered a message of encouragement at the ceremony, saying, "The Panasonic NPO Support Fund is now in its 12th year. This highly significant program has grown at an ever faster pace than the NPO sector as a whole, and offers great stimulus to the citizenship sector. I ask those of you in the NPOs receiving support this time to appreciate this, and to widely tell the stories of your own future efforts to strengthen your organizational foundations and solve social problems. In doing so, I hope that the importance of strong organizational foundations will become more widely understood and lead to further growth in the NPO sector.

Capacity Building Forum held

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, the same venue played host to the "Capacity Building Forum -- What organizations can achieve results? What structures can support them?" A total of 100 people took part in the forum, during which members of the organizations receiving support from the Panasonic NGO Support Fund were joined by executives from support organizations for a panel discussion, looking back on the previous results of the fund's activities and discussing issues such as "What is necessary in order to build effective organizations for NPOs to change society?," "What can NPO support organizations achieve?," and "Structures of support for organizational strengthening." The day served to introduce a number of examples of the fund's activities and communicate the importance of organizational strengthening within the sustainable development of NPOs to wider society.

The following comments were received from participants at the forum:

"It was clear that the parties offering support have a strong awareness of the issues and are working hard to solve them. On the side of the NPOs receiving their support, this was a great source of encouragement. I now have a deeper understanding of the importance and necessity of strengthening our organizational foundations." (NPO manager)

 

"The detailed presentations formed a basis for discussion, which offered many hints about the issues with which we are facing. I want people from more different NPOs to hear about this forum." (NPO staff member)

 

"As a support program promoter myself, there were many things today that I could strongly agree with. I realized just how much preparedness and energy we need on our side to support the NPOs with their organizational strengthening." (Support program promoter at another company)

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