JANPORA
Japan NPO Research Association
Discussion Papers

Role of Information in Mobilizing the Public towards
Voluntary Actions in Times of Disaster*

Aya Okada
Naoto Yamauchi

Discussion Paper 2014-004-E

Japan NPO Research Association*

This research was conducted as part of “The Private Aid Initiatives in the Great East Japan Earthquake”
co-organized by the Japan NPO Research Association (JANPORA)” and the Japan NPO Center (JNPOC). The
project is supported by “Takeda Inochi to Kurashi Saisei Program Grant.” Part of this paper is based on apresentation made by Okada on April 20, 2014 at NPO Research Forum organized by Japan NPO Association(JANPORA) at Osaka University.

*本稿は、日本 NPO 学会と日本 NPO センターの連携事業による「東日本大震災における民間支援の軌跡と動向調査」（タケダ・いのちとくらし再生プログラム）の研究成果として発表されたものである。

Role of Information in Mobilizing the Public towards Voluntary Actions inTimes of Disaster

Aya Okada
Naoto Yamauchi

Discussion Paper 2014-004-E
August 2014

Japan NPO Research Association

2

JANPORA Discussion Paper

Role of Information in Mobilizing the Public towards Voluntary Actions
in Times of Disaster*
Aya Okada†and Naoto Yamauchi‡

When a major disaster occurs, people become highly motivated to provide resources for those directly affected by
the tragedy. In this paper, we argue that nonprofit organizations have a special role to play in mobilizing thesepotential supporters by providing opportunities to transform their desire into actual actions. The key in doing solies in how nonprofits transmit information about the opportunities to take voluntary actions. We present thefindings from an online survey conducted to nonprofit organizations that mobilized the public towards voluntaryactions in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations, Information Transmission, Disaster, Great East Japan Earthquake, Media,
Social Media

大規模な災害が発生すると、金銭や時間、労働力など、自らが所有する資源を直接的な被害を受けた人々のために提供したいと願う人々が増加する。本稿では、こうしたボランタリーな行動に対して高いモチベーションを持つ人々に対し、実際に行動を起こす機会を提供する非営利組織（NPO）の役割に注目する。その鍵は、寄付やボランティア、物資の送付といったボランタ
リーな行動に関して、NPO がどのような情報発信を行うかにあるのではないか。このような視点から、東日本大震災（2011 年）に際して NPO が行ったボランタリーな行動に関する情報発信の実態調査を行った。本稿は、その結果を報告するものである。
キーワード：非営利組織（NPO）、情報発信、災害、東日本大震災、メディア、ソーシャル・メディア*This research was conducted as part of “The Private Aid Initiatives in the Great East Japan Earthquake” co-organized by the Japan NPO

Research Association (JANPORA)” and the Japan NPO Center (JNPOC). The project is supported by “Takeda Inochi to Kurashi Saisei
Program Grant.” Part of this paper is based on a presentation made by Okada on April 20, 2014 at NPO Research Forum organized by JapanNPO Association (JANPORA) at Osaka University.
†Assistant Professor, Faculty of Policy Studies, Doshisha University
Keisuikan #208 Imadegawa-Noboru, Shinmachi-Dori, Kamigyo-Ku, Kyoto 602-0057
Email: aokada@mail.doshisha.ac.jp‡Professor, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University
1-31 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043 JAPAN
Email: yamauchi@osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp

1.

Information on Voluntary Actions

actions. We shed light to the way nonprofit organizations inJapan provided information following the Great East Japan
Earthquake to the people willing to help those in need. We argue
that in times of disaster, information is what links desires ofpotential supporters to help and financial or labor needs ofnonprofit organizations. When a disaster strikes, many
nonprofits immediately being to organize response actions. In
the process, many of these organizations look for donations,
volunteers, and/or in-kind giving.
Findings from the aforementioned surveys also revealed that
information indeed played a key role in leading the potential
supporters to actual actions. Figure 1 shows factors that directly
triggered people to make financial contributions for relief
activities following the Great East Japan Earthquake(JANPORA, 2012). While being interested was the major
reason, answers that followed indicate the high level ofimportance that information has in encouraging financial giving.
It was the information that came through the Internet,
newspapers, and/or televisions that led the potential supporters
to transform their desire into actual actions. Information thatcame from places close to one’s daily life - on the street, atworkplaces, schools, or in a neighborhood – were also effectivein encouraging people to make financial contributions. These
triggers directly related to information, interestingly, contributed
far more than whether the donor was able to financially afford
making a donation. Figure 2 further shows that information was
also an important trigger for those who sent or delivered goods
to communities affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Disasters are one of the uncommon events that stimulate thewillingness of the people to help those in need. Be it anearthquake, tsunami, or volcano eruption, these catastrophes
trigger shocks among the people who observe the tragedy,
leading many of them to immediately consider what they can doto help those in need. Solnit, in her 2009 book, call suchphenomenon “A Paradise Built in Hell.”
The triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear threatthat struck Northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 was indeed
one of such events. The disaster, or what came to be known as
the Great East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku Dai-Shinsai),encouraged a fair amount of people across the world to takevoluntary actions for those who suffered from the disaster. For
example, in a post-disaster survey by Japan NPO Research
Association (2012), 75.6 percent of the respondents took some
sort of voluntary actions including making donations,
volunteering, purchasing products of affected regions,sending/delivering goods to affected regions, and volunteering.
In another post-disaster survey by the Cabinet Office of Japan(2013), 59.5 percent of the respondents had taken some sort ofvoluntary actions in the aftermath of the Great East Japan
Earthquake.
In this paper, we argue that nonprofit organizations have a
special role to play in mobilizing these potential supporters byproviding actual opportunities to transform their desires to help
into actual actions. The key in doing so lies in how nonprofitstransmit information about the opportunities of voluntary

Figure 1 Direct Triggers for Making Financial Contributions (N=3,481)
Source: Graph created by Okada from JANPORA (2012)

4

Figure 2 Direct Triggers for Sending Goods (N=422)
Source: Graph created by Okada from JANPORA (2012)
Survey by the Cabinet Office of Japan (2013) also showed –rather paradoxically – the importance of information in
mobilizing the public towards voluntary actions. When asked
about the reasons for not taking voluntary actions in theaftermath of the disaster, 36.5 percent of the respondents
answered that they did not know what to do. Another 12.6
percent mentioned lack of information. Had these people
learned about specific opportunities to take voluntary actions,
their motivations may have turned into actual actions.
Despite the key role that information play in mobilizing the
public towards voluntary actions in times of disaster, little is
known about how information are transmitted from those who
provide voluntary opportunities. In this paper, we highlight
nonprofit organizations as such source of information. To
understand how nonprofits transmit information to potential
supporters, we conducted an online survey to organizations thatwere engaged in response operations following the Great East
Japan Earthquake. When a disaster struck, how did thesenonprofit organizations transmit information about voluntaryactions? What media or communication channels did they use?
How often did they try to reach those willing to give a helping
hand? How effective were their information transmission?
Following a brief review of related literature, we present thefindings of these questions.
2.

subject of discussion in the context of disasters. Information is
critical for saving lives in unexpected catastrophes – thequestion of how to provide effective warning, as well as how toorganize evacuation is all about how effectively relevant
agencies can transmit information to those under risk (e.g.
Yamori, 2013). Some also argue that information sharing holds
the key in facilitating communication among respondingorganizations for effective relief activities (Comfort et al., 2004).
Studies from the field of communication also argue that
information holds the key in facilitating voluntary actions
among the public when a disaster happen. Particular focus has
been on the effect of information transmitted through mass
media, including televisions and newspapers, on giving behavior.
Benthall (1993), for example, argued that media broadcasts
about a particular disaster determines the intent of giving among
potential contributors. Studies have also highlighted the volumeof television broadcasting as an influential factor on giving(Simon, 1997), as well as exposure to disaster-related news
(Oosterhof et al., 2009).
In the context of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Miura(2012), using data provided by Matsuyama, examined
relationships between the number of times the name of affectedmunicipalities was mentioned in key news television shows(counted as “Appearance in TV News”) and the amount ofrelief money4 as well as the number of volunteers that flowed

Information and Voluntary Actions: Literature Review
4 “Relief money” refers to condolence money that are directly given to

Information is one of the buzz words that often become theresidents affected by the disaster in from of cash by the municipalities.

5

into specific municipalities. As shown in Table 1, we learn thatappearance in TV news is not determined by percentage ofdeaths or those missing within the population. However, theamount of relief money and the number volunteers do seem toflow into municipalities that were frequently mentioned in TV
news. Miura reports that preliminary correlation analysis
revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.96 for relief money, and0.69 for volunteers. While data on donation and volunteer are
incomplete in Miura’s analysis, the study does imply that media
broadcast have an influence on where the public choose toprovide their voluntary actions.

about how information leads the audience or the viewers to takevoluntary actions in times of disaster, little has been understood
about involvement of nonprofits in such mobilization. Massmedia, indeed, are not the only actors that provide information
about disasters. Nonprofit organizations, who seek to fulfill
financial and labor needs for its relief activities, also provide andtransmit information about disasters and opportunities forvoluntary actions.
Waters and Tindall (2011) is one of the few studies thathighlight nonprofit organizations in mobilizing voluntaryactions in disaster context. Given the influence of mass media instimulating such actions, they recommend nonprofit
organizations to seek for mediated-crisis model of fundraising as
illustrated in Figure 3. Analyzing charitable giving in responseto the December 2004 Asian tsunami, the study found thatmedia coverage impacts traditional giving, i.e. donations madedirectly to nonprofit organizations, as well as e-philanthropy
through third party outlets such as Amazon.com and eBay
auctions. Nonprofit organizations (labeled as 1 below) are to use
traditional media such as televisions and newspapers (labeled as2) as well as digital media to approach the public (labeled as 3).

Table 1 Comparison of Top Five Municipalities in
Appearance in TV News

Sendai City,
Miyagi Prefecture
Ishinomaki City,
Miyagi Prefecture
Minamisanriku Town,
Miyagi Prefecture
Rikuzentakata City,
Iwate Prefecture
Kesennuma City,
Miyagi Prefecture

Appearance in
TV News

DonatedRelief Money(10 thousands)

Number of
Volunteers

Percentage of
Deaths/Missing

2,789

95,46654,302

0.10%

2,789

90,545

108,760

2.40%

2,180

67,90547,514

5.20%

1,786

-

90,697

8.40%

1,764

64,10030,254

1.90%

Source: Created by Okada from Miura (2012), p.53.
Not only are quantity of information about the disaster
important, but quality of information also affects people’s
prosocial behaviors. Bendapudi et al. (1996) found that
presentation of information affects the viewers’ charitable
impulse. Likewise, Benett and Kottasz (2000) argued that what
is presented in the news - indigency of aid recipients, portrayalsof people helping themselves, and highly emotive advertising
imagery – matters in one’s determination to make financial
contribution. They also argue that focusing on factual
information and presenting the crisis’s positive stories during
news broadcasts is effective in attracting interests of individuals
living in distance from where the event is taking place.
Some studies delve deeper into the mechanism throughwhich people are motivated to give when exposed to media
reports on disasters. Waters (2009), for example, argue that it is
the cognitive dissonance – felt psychological discomfort thattriggers inconsistent mental state – that motivates people todonate to disaster relief efforts to reduce such feelings to restore
mental balance.
While rich implications can be drawn from these studies

Figure 3 The Mediated-Crisis Model of Fundraising
Source: Waters and Tindall, 2011, p.33
While nonprofits may well consider use of multiple types of
media or communication channels, our understanding about
how nonprofit organizations actually transmit information intimes of disaster is limited. To what extent are nonprofits able toapply mediate-crisis model of fundraising advocated by Waters
and Tindall? What communication channels do they use, andhow effective are their approach? What types of media orcommunication channels do nonprofits wish to use but are
unable to do so? To examine these questions, we conduct an

6online survey to nonprofit organizations that engaged in relief
activities in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake
and transmitted information to mobilize voluntary actions. To
our knowledge, this is the first study that attempt to understandnonprofit organizations in Japan as transmitters of information
on voluntary actions in times of disaster.
3.

Study

In this section, we explain the details about the online survey
conducted to understand how nonprofit organizationstransmitted information to mobilize the public towards
voluntary actions for relief activities in Northeastern Japan.
3.1. Target Organizations
To understand the range of nonprofit organizations thatsolicited voluntary actions at the time of the Great East Japan
Earthquake, we first developed a list of organizations
participating in Japan Civil Network for Disaster Relief in the
East Japan (JCN). JCN is “a broad coalition of Japanese NPOs,
NGOs, CBOs, and Private Enterprises providing disaster relief,
formed in order to support those affected by the March 11, 2011
East Japan Earthquake” (JCN, 2014). We believe that member
organizations of JCN is the best possible list of nonprofit
organizations that were active in the aftermath of the Great East
Japan Earthquake.
From this list, we identified nonprofit organizations that haveone of the following legal status in Japan: “specified non-profit
corporation,” “public interest incorporated association,” “public
interest incorporated foundation,” “general incorporated
association,” and “general incorporated foundation.” For 434 ofthese organizations, we were able to extract an active email
address.
A request for survey participation was sent to these 434
organizations via email with a link to the survey constructedusing SurveyMonkey. We opened the site between February 3,
2014 and March 24, 2014. A total of 143 organizations provided
answers, resulting in a collection rate of 32.9 percent. Because
five organizations skipped the question that asked for the nameof the organization, we were unable to identify their attributions.
Analyses provided below thus excludes these five organizations.
Figure 4 shows the legal status of nonprofit organizations thatparticipated in our survey. 80 percent of the respondents were
specified non-profit corporation, while 10 percent were generalincorporated associations.

Figure 4 Legal Status (N=138)
Looking at location of respondents, we see that a little lessthan half of the responding organizations are based in Kanto,
around Tokyo metropolitan area. Please note that in case theorganization has multiple branches, location of its headquarter
was coded. Following Kanto was Tohoku, or NortheasternJapan, majority of which were based in the three affected
prefectures: Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima.

Figure 5 Location of Headquarters (N=138)
Also worth noting among the respondents is the timing offounding. While 73 percent of the respondents had existed prior
to the catastrophe, 27 percent (37 organizations) were newly
established after the disaster.

7

What kinds of voluntary actions did responding nonprofit
organizations solicit among the public? In the survey, we mainly
focus on three voluntary actions: collecting donations, recruiting
volunteers, and collecting goods to be delivered to affected
regions. Figure 7 shows that approximately 65 percent of theorganizations were involved in collecting donations andrecruiting volunteers, while 54 percent were involved incollecting goods. In the section below, we focus on collecting
donations and recruiting volunteers in analyzing informationtransmission of nonprofit organizations.

Figure 6 Timing of Founding (N=138)

Figure 7 Solicited Voluntary Actions (N=138)
4.

Results

was followed by organization’s newsletters and magazines, blog,
and listserv. In case of volunteer recruitment, organization’s blog,
listserv, and Twitter followed.
These results reveal the tendency of nonprofit organizations
to use “in-house” media, or communication channels that
nonprofit organizations have within the organization to directlytransmit information to the public.
Due to its immediacy in spreading information to masses,
social media has attracted much attention as effective
communication channels particularly in times of disaster(Sekiya, 2012; Smith, 2010). Looking at what we found in thesurvey, we see that about 22 to 23 percent of the organizations
used Facebook and Twitter. Only one organization used LINE.
The number of organizations that were able to use mass
media – televisions and newspapers – was rather limited. 20
percent of the respondents, or 22 organizations appeared innewspaper articles for the purpose of collecting donations, and
14 organizations were able to use television news. The use ofmass media by was further limited in case of volunteer
recruitment.

In this section, we provide the results obtained of the survey
conducted to nonprofit organizations engaged in relief activities
in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. We
organize the findings in three perspectives: media use, frequency
of information transmission, points to emphasize, and perceived
effectiveness.
4.1. Use of Communication Channels
When a disaster strikes, nonprofit have variety of media touse. Available tools range from websites, blogs, listserv,
televisions, newspapers, and to social media such as Facebook
and Twitter. Holding an event is also an option.
Figure 8 shows the number of organizations that used a
specific media during the first three months after the initialshake (March to June 2011). The most often used media wasorganization’s website, where a little less than half of the
respondents used for both collecting donations and recruiting
volunteers. In case of approaches to collection donations, this8Figure 8 Use of Communication Channels During the First 3 Months(N=110 for collecting donations, N=99 for recruiting volunteers)
4.1.1. Use of Communication Channels among Local
Nonprofits
Focusing on 44 nonprofit organizations that have their
headquarter in the three most-affected regions – Iwate, Miyagi,
and Fukushima - we learn that organization’s website, blogs,
and Twitter were the top three media used by multiple
organizations. Use of organization’s listserv, newsletters andmagazines were rather limited. We see a tendency among these
local nonprofit organizations to use communication channels
that approach the general public, rather than those who alreadyhave some sort of a relationship with the audience.

4.1.2. Use of Communication Channels in Newly
Founded Organizations
Looking specifically at media use of 37 organizations founded
after the Great East Japan Earthquake, we see a similar trend in
the use of organization’s website, blogs, and Twitter. Facebook
was also another communication channel used by these newly
founded organizations. 13.5 percent of the organizations used
Facebook to collect donations, while 18.9 percent used it to
recruit volunteers.

Figure 10 Use of Communication Channels by Newly
Founded Organizations During the First 3
Months (N=37)

Figure 9 Use of Communication Channels by Organizationsin the 3 Affected Prefectures During the First 3 Months (N=44)9

4.1.3. Change in Trends of Used Communication
Channels
How did the trends of media use change after three months?
Figure 11, 12, and 13 show the number of organizations thatused specific media during the second three months (between
July and September 2011, until six months after the initialshake), between October 2011 to March 2012 (until a year after
the disaster), and between April 2012 to March 2013 (until two
years after the disaster).
Comparing these two graphs with Figure 8, we learn that
more nonprofits began to organize events to collect donations
and recruit volunteers. This trend is particularly observed

towards a year after the initial shake.
Furthermore, use of Facebook also increased as time passed
by, to the point where it took over the other frequently usedsocial media, Twitter. It is also interesting to note that moreorganizations use Facebook to recruit volunteers than to collect
donations. Because Facebook places more important on
providing information to those already connected to theorganization via “friend” function, we can speculate that
nonprofit organizations place more importance on trust
relationship in recruiting volunteers than in asking for financial
contributions.

Figure 11 Use of Communication Channels Between July and September 2011
(N=110 for collecting donations, N=99 for recruiting volunteers)

10Figure 12 Use of Communication Channels Between October 2011 to March 2012
(N=110 for collecting donations, N=99 for recruiting volunteers)

Figure 13 Use of Communication Channels Between April 2012 to March 2013
(N=110 for collecting donations, N=99 for recruiting volunteers)114.1.4. Reasons for Choosing Communication Channels
What were the reasons for choosing specific media orcommunication channels in soliciting donations and recruiting
volunteers? Figure 14 shows that many organizations choose
communication channels that they have been using in daily
operations. This is by far the main reason for choosing
organization’s website, blogs, listserv, newsletter and magazines.

Low cost followed as the second reason in selection of media
to use. Figure 14 further shows that nonprofit organizations
choose social media (Facebook and Twitter) for its speed. Whilelimited in number, mass media including newspapers,
magazines and televisions are chosen with an expectation toreach more people.

Figure 14 Reasons for Choosing Communication Channels (N=99)
4.1.5. Desired Media or Communication Channels
There were two types of media that nonprofit organizations
wished to use, but were unable to do so: mass media and social
media. As shown in Figure 15, 32.4 percent of the organizations
that responded to this question had the desire to use televisions,magazines and newspapers. This shows that nonprofit
organizations are willing to reach out to broad range of audiencethrough mass media.
Results also reveal that nonprofit organizations are seeking fora way to use LINE and Twitter. Interestingly, no nonprofits
brought up Facebook in answering this question. This is aninteresting finding when examined along with media used prior
to the disaster (Figure 16). During the three months before thedisaster, 20.9 percent of the organizations used Facebook forcollecting donations, and 18.2 percent for recruiting volunteers.

The figures for Twitter were 17.3 percent and 15.2 percent,respectively. Given small difference in use of these two social
media, question remain as to why more organizations founddifficulty in using Twitter after the disaster.

Figure 15 Media or Communication Channels that
Organizations Wished to Use (N=34)

12Figure 16 Use of Communication Channels During 3 Months Before the Disaster(N=110 for collecting donations, N=99 for recruiting volunteers)
4-2. Frequency of Information Transmissions
Another important question to ask in thinking about the use ofvarious kinds of media is how many times nonprofit
organizations transmit information using respective media. One
would assume that frequency of information transmission
would differ depending on individual media’s characteristics.
For example, updating or posting new information throughin-house media such as organization’s websites, blogs, andlisterv may not be as difficult as transmitting information
through external media like televisions, newspapers, ormagazines. Procedures to provide information may be mucheasier for some of the social media. Updating status in Facebook
or tweeting in Twitter is quite a simple task that can becompleted anywhere with a communication device and Internet
access.
Indeed, survey results showed that organization’s websites,
blogs, listserv, other Internet use, Facebook, and Twitter were
the six types of media through which nonprofits transmitted
information most frequently. Figure 17 shows this finding alongwith how frequently nonprofits used, updated, published, posted,or hosted events during the first three months after the disaster,i.e. from March to June 2011.

Figure 17 Frequency of Information Transmission between
March and June 2011 (N=96)
It is interesting to note that in all types of media, information
was transmitted one to five times a week. Taking advantage ofthe easiness of using social media, a limited number oforganizations posted information more than eleven times a
week.
How did the frequency of information transmission changeover time? One would assume that interval between information
provision is shorter in the early stage of relief activities. Days
and weeks that follow an initial outbreak of the disaster is whenwaves of new information flow and situations change rapidly.
Under such conditions, sharing updated information more
frequently with the public may be effective in soliciting
donations or volunteers. The six graphs shown as Figure 18

13

indicate the change in frequency of information transmission
over time, from three months after the initial shake (March toJune 2011), six months (July to September 2011), a year
(October 2011 to March 2012), and two years (April 2012 toMarch 2013). Graphs reveal that in general, nonprofit
organizations transmitted information more frequency after six
months or a year after the disaster. For social media and blogs,
the number kept on rising towards the second anniversary in
2013.
Another interesting findings from these graphs is that thetrend of frequency of information transmission remained rather
constant throughout the two years – organizations updated orposted information only once to five times a week, even whenusing Facebook and Twitter.

Figure 18 Frequency of Information Transmissionin Six Media (N=96)

14

4.3. Points to Emphasize
Using these different types of communication channels, whatkinds of information do nonprofit organizations intend toemphasize in order to mobilize the audience to take voluntaryactions? Figure 19 shows points in which nonprofits placed
importance in information they presented. In the survey, we
pre-established five points for nonprofit to choose from, andasked to rank them.
Findings reveal that nonprofit organizations place importanceon clearly showing the need for support. This was followed bypresenting information that’s easy to understand. Interestingly,
nonprofit organizations were also careful to present themselves
as trustworthy organizations. Less emphasized was apresentation of emotional appeals using tragic photos and/or
stories, as well as use of specific statistics or data.

4.4. Perceived Effectiveness
Given the types of media used as well as frequency of
information transmission, the next question becomes whether
they were effective in mobilizing the public towards voluntaryactions. Studies on communication campaigns have long argued
the difficulty of conducting evaluations (Atkins and Freimuth,
2013; Valente and Kwan, 2013). Provided information indeed isconsidered to be an important factor that contributed to leading
one to make financial contributions or to volunteer; however,there are countless number of other contributing factors thatexamining the exact effect of communicative approaches isdifficult. Understanding valid effectiveness of informationtransmission thus requires careful design in collecting data,
which goes beyond the scope of this paper.
However, it is possible to seek how nonprofit organizations
perceived the effect of their information transmission. Figure 20
shows the types of media that nonprofit perceived as effective incollecting donations, and Figure 21 shows the same but in thecontext of recruiting volunteers. We asked the respondingorganizations to choose three media that they found mosteffective in mobilizing the public towards voluntary actions, andto rank than from first to third.

Figure 19 Points to Emphasize in Presented Information(N=78)

Figure 20 Communication Channels Perceived Effective in Collecting Donations (N=87)15

Figure 21 Communication Channels Perceived Effective in Recruiting Volunteers (N=86)
We find that majority of the organizations foundorganization’s website effective. 66.5 percent found it useful incollecting donations, and 64.0 percent found websites effectivefor volunteer recruitment. Other in-house media includingorganization’s blogs, listserv, newspapers and magazines werealso perceived effective by nonprofit organizations. Facebook
was also perceived as an effective tool for mobilizing people
towards voluntary actions. This is an interesting finding whencompared to perceived effectiveness of Twitter. Among mass
media, perceived effectiveness of articles in newspapers wereperceived most effective by nonprofit organizations.
5.

and those already connected to the organization. While
information provided through organization’s website, blog,
posters and flyers, as well as Twitter reach wider range ofaudience, several nonprofit organizations used organization’s
newsletters and magazines, and organization’s listserv, whichmainly target the people with some sort of connections with theorganization. These people may include members of theorganizations, those who made financial contributions or
volunteered with the organization before, and people who
simply contacted the nonprofit to seek for informational packet
in the past. Facebook may also be open to the general public, but
it is more likely to reach those who are “friends” of theorganization.
Looking at the perceived effectiveness of these media, wefound that nonprofit organizations did receive positive response
from both types of audiences. Further analyses in examining
which information source proved effective would reveal
which of the two types of audience nonprofit organizations
should target in case of a disaster in the future.

Discussions

Marketing and public relations are indeed important tasks fornonprofit organizations in normal times. However, theimportance increases sharply in time of disasters, whenorganizations face financial and labor needs in a short period oftime. In such times, motivation to take voluntary actions also
rapidly rise among the public. There is no reason for nonprofit
organizations to take leverage of such situation. To extract
lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake that canwell be utilized in future disasters, I discuss four aspects thatemerge from the findings in our survey.

5.2. Use of Social MediaThe Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 was the firstlarge-scale disaster after social media had become popularamong the public in Japan. According to a report by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (2013), 57.1
percent of the people in Japan today use some sort of social
media. Social media is also no longer a tool for young
generations only; more than half of the people in their 30s and
40s also use LINE, Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter and other

5.1. Target Audience
Findings from used media show that nonprofit organizations
had two sets of audience in soliciting voluntary actions in theaftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake: general public,16

kinds of social media.
Our survey revealed that there were only about 20 to 23
percent of organizations that used Facebook and/or Twitter in
the aftermath of the disaster. Given that 26.1 percent of thepeople use Facebook and 17.5 percent use Twitter (Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communication, 2013), nonprofit usage ofthese social media may not be surprising. However, considering
the advantage that these social media may have in early stage ofrelief activities when situations develop and constantly change,
we see that their usage was rather limited. In fact, one nonprofit
practitioner shared with us the experience of intentionally notusing these social media to solicit voluntary actions5. Nonprofits
indeed realized the possibility of reaching wider range of people
through Facebook and Twitter, but they also realized that they
do not have the capacity to respond to the expected surge of
responses. If nonprofits are to leverage the advantage of social
media in future disasters, they must invest in their ability toadapt and prepare the organization to respond to whatsometimes may be an overwhelming reactions.

communication strategies (Okada , 2013). Most organizations
worked with ad hoc strategies, taking in whatever media
opportunity that popped out, given limited amount of time andhuman resource to develop a well-thought plan.
However, some organizations were able to utilize theirexperience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995,
leading them to realize what was to be done in terms of
information provision. Lesson learned from the experience of
the Great East Japan Earthquake should thus be recorded andshared among nonprofit practitioners to better prepare fordisasters in the future.

6.

Conclusion and Future Research Questions

When a disaster strikes, we often observe a rise of thosewilling to help others in need. In this paper, we presented
nonprofit organizations as agents that provide these people anactual opportunity to take voluntary actions throughtransmission of information. Findings presented in this paper
leads to several questions for future research questions thatwould lead us to draw more concrete lessons for disasters in the
future.
First, further analyses should be pursued about media use by
nonprofits in disaster-affected regions. Some of the respondentsof our survey were very keen on this point, emphasizing theneed to understand the difference between those that operated inchaos and those who were based in more calm regions. Because
this paper focused on presenting findings that capture a broad
picture of the nonprofit sector in Japan, our analyses of these
local organizations were limited. What types of informationtransmission did these local organizations perceive effective?
What media did they desire to use, and what were they actuallyable to use? How large were the differences? We plan toelaborate these questions in another discussion paper.
Second, focused analyses should also be conducted onorganizations founded after the disaster. Again, we presented alimited examination of their media use in this paper. However,given the unique conditions under which these neworganizations operate, detailed analyses is worthwhile.
Third, further studies should be conducted on evaluation, i.e.
to understand what went well and what didn’t. In this paper, we
examined media use that nonprofit organizations perceived as
effective. There is a need to elaborate an evaluation design thatbest captures that the types of information provision that
contributed in mobilizing the public towards taking voluntary

5.3. From In-House Communication Channels to
Mediated Crisis Model
Findings from the frequently used communication channels
showed that nonprofit organizations had the tendency to use
in-house media or communication tools that nonprofits hadaccess to within the organization to directly reach the audience.
Were nonprofit organizations in Japan able to use
communication channels that exist outside the organizations to
amply the effect through “mediated crisis model” advocated by
Waters and Tindal (2011)? In other words, where they able toreach the public via use of mass media, and make effective useof linking multiple types of media?
Because only a limited number of organizations were able touse mass media to provide information about opportunities forvoluntary action, we assume that nonprofits were unable toimplement strategies to effectively link multiple media in
mobilizing the public.
Although the survey did not ask questions about specificcommunication and media strategies that nonprofits may have
had, semi-structured interviews conducted by Okada to elevennonprofit organizations working in the field of international
development support this point. In the interviews, nonprofit
practitioners discussed their concerns about lack of clear
5From a discussion at the NPO Research Forum organized by JapanNPO Research Association (JANPORA) at Osaka University on April
20, 2014.

17

actions in times of disaster.
Finally, further examination of the nature of information
presented by our target nonprofit organizations as well as how
the decisions were made with regard to communication
strategies would lead us to extract key lessons for nonprofit
organizations in future disasters. Studies analyzing what waspresented in the websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, as well ascase studies of specific organization may merit attention.
Natural disasters, in particular, are something that humanbeings cannot avoid. Yet, what emerges in such chaotic situation
is “A Paradise in Hell,” where people are more willing to help
those in need. Nonprofit organizations in Japan should realize
the key role they play in providing these motivated people actual
opportunities to take voluntary actions through provision of
information. An ideal way to do so can only be extracted fromlessons learned in past disasters. What is needed is an effort torecord and accumulate the experience of informationtransmission by nonprofit organizations in response to the Great
East Japan Earthquake, and we believe that this study has taken
a firm first step.

Cabinet Office of Japan. (2013). Survey Report on Support
Activities on Mutual Assistance in the Great East Japan
Earthquake: Awareness Change of Those Supporting andThose Supported.（内閣府（2013）「東日本大震災における共助による支援活動に関する調査報告書～支援側及び 受 援 側 の 意 識 の 変 化 に つ い て ～ 」）
(http://www.bousai-vol.go.jp/kyojo/201310report.pdf)
2014/7/10.
Comfort, Louise K., Ko, Kilkong, and Zagorecki, Adam. (2004).
Coordination in rapidly evolving disaster response systems: therole of information. American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 48,
pp.295-313.
Japan Civil Network for Disaster Relief in the East Japan (JCN)
Profile. (http://www.jpn-civil.net/english/profile/) 2014/7/10.
Japan NPO Research Association (JANPORA) (2012) Reporton Awareness Survey on Donation and Volunteering after theGreat East Japan Disaster.（日本 NPO 学会（2012）「日本
NPO 学会震災特別プロジェクト 震災後の寄付・ボラン
ティア等に関する意識調査報告書」）(http://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/janpora/shinsaitokubetsuproje
ct/seika/seika1208.pdf) 2014/7/10.

Acknowledgment
We appreciate nonprofit practitioners from 143 organizations fortaking the time to participate in our survey.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication (2013) Reporton Time Used for Information Communication Media andBehaviors on Information （総務省（2013）『平成 25 年度
情報通信メディアの利用時間と情報行動に関する調査＜速報＞』）(http://www.soumu.go.jp/iicp/chousakenkyu/data/research/sur
vey/telecom/2014/h25mediariyou_1sokuhou.pdf ) 2014/7/10.

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