I L L U M I N AT I N G V O I C E S
T E X T B Y H I R O S H I N A K AYA A N D D AV I D S C H A E F E R

The dividends of generosity
FIT For Charity Run
Motivated by the devastating Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004,
a group of employees working for financial
services firms and companies in relatedindustries resolved to do something to make ameaningful difference in our community. Theirdetermination and vision led to the creation ofthe annual Financial Industry in Tokyo (FIT) ForCharity Run in 2005.
At the inaugural run on 4 September 2005, a
total of 1,500 participants from over 50 firms,
along with their families and friends, ran
or walked 5km or 10km courses around theImperial Palace. The event was a great success,raising ¥17 million for local charities. It also
attracted a great deal of attention, which led torapid growth in scale and participation, withcontributions doubling in 2006 and doubling
again in 2007. From 2008 to 2019, the event washeld in and around the old National OlympicStadium.
Mission and identity
The FIT For Charity Run is a powerful expression of the financial industry’s collective commitment to making a positive contribution to
our community, to foster teamwork within firms,and to build relationships across the industry. It
raises funds for local non-profit organisations(NPOs) that serve important needs that are notnecessarily well-recognised or well-understood.
Many of the organisations have limited fundraising capabilities, so contributions from the FIT
For Charity Run make a significant impact on
their efforts to address social issues.
The FIT For Charity Run is organised and run
entirely by volunteers. It is supported by donations from sponsor companies and participants,
as well as sales of FIT T-shirts and raffle tickets.
The beneficiary organisations are nominatedby, and voted on, by the sponsor firms. The FIT
Charity Team conducts due diligence on thenominated charities to ensure they comply with
the FIT guidelines, which define what cause
areas are eligible and require the exclusion oforganisations with religious and/or political ties.

It also collects and evaluatesdetails about how the organisations plan to spend FIT
donations.
Significant scale and impact,even during the pandemic
Over its 16-year history, theannual FIT For Charity Run
has attracted some 85,000
participants, raised more than¥900 million, and supported
over 120 NPOs. By 2019, the run
was being supported each year
by more than 100 firms and over
5,000 participants, consistently
raising close to ¥60 million forbeneficiary organisations.
After the Covid-19 pandemic
struck, it was decided to holdFIT 2020 online to prioritise
participant safety, and theentire month of December was
made “FIT month”. An app wasdeveloped with a vendor thatallowed participants to register,
pay the participant fee, and post
their time records online toshare with fellow participants.
In addition to running andwalking, cycling was added as
an option, which proved very
popular. But overall participation fell by half to just over
2,500 and donations dropped
to ¥36.5m. Under the stateof emergency, many charities’ financial situations wereexacerbated, so it was important to continue supportingthese organisations, even on a
reduced scale.
A way forward
We learned a lot in 2020.
One of the benefits of moving
online was that participants
could choose where and when
to participate. We also hadparticipants join from all over Japan,
as well as from overseas, including
China, India, the US, and a numberof countries in Europe. More than
14,000 posts were recorded on theFIT 2020 app.
Despite the challenges createdby the coronavirus pandemic, wehave seen continued engagement
and support from Tokyo’s financialcommunity. Many business leaders
see the value of making a collective
impact, while providing their staff
with an opportunity to learn aboutsocial issues and engage with NPOs.
Preparations for FIT 2021 kick off
this month. We invite both regularand new participants to join us in
making a difference to the community in which we live and work. •Please follow FIT For Charity on Facebookand visit our website www.fitforcharity.org

Hiroshi Nakaya volunteers
as vice chair of the FIT For
Charity Run Communications Team. He isa systems engineer at
Mitsubishi UFJ Information
Technology, part of MUFG.

David Schaefer volunteers
as vice chair of the FIT For
Charity Run SponsorshipTeam. He is senior vicepresident and deputy headof international businessand sustainability at SMBC
Nikko Securities.

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