Saturday, September 09, 2006

Japan-US Fund Raising Forum

As I have posted previously, I am exploring to look for financial sources and to found an officially accredited NPO. The agenda is to make Japan more actively involved in global affairs as a key US ally and a leading Western democracy. This is stated on the homepage and this blog.

For this purpose, I attended the US-Japanese Fund Raising Forum on September 6. This is the day when Princess Kiko gave birth to new prince. It was a very good day for a special event to pursue further step toward brighter future.

This forum is held at Tokyo American Center in Shiba Koen. The Council of Law Making to Support Civil Activities (C’s) chaired this event. Co-sponsors are US Embassy, Japanese funding organizations, and University of Indiana.

The agenda of this forum is strategic method of fund raising. Lecturers are invited from Philanthropy Center at the University of Indiana: Dr. Dwight Burlingame, Dr. Lilya Wagner, and Ms. Tamaki Onishi. They emphasized the basic concept of fund raising as follows.

The right person asking, the right prospect, for the right gift, for the right program, at the right time, in the right way.

They discussed this principle from various aspects.

Dr. Burlingame and Dr. Wagner explained American style systematic fund raising in detail. Despite cultural differences, fundamental ideas can be applied to anywhere in the world, they argue.

Ms. Onishi mentioned some differences over philanthropy between Japan and the United States. Also, she gave some advice on better communication to potential funders.

Their lectures were very helpful to have basic ideas of fund raising. Probably, advanced learners could find the forum useful. How should I adjust basic principles to my own program? At this stage, I do not feel cultural gaps between Japan and the United States. Adapt general theories to specific cases. That is a question.

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