Surviving the Disaster Cycle: Financial and Human Resource Strategies among Post-Disaster Nonprofits in Japan

• In Event: Surviving crisis

Abstract

[Empirical/Theoretical Concerns] Nonprofit organizations play an important role in responding to disasters (Simos and Bies, 2007). While some specialize in immediate response, others continue their work in disaster-affected regions through the disaster cycle: response, recovery, mitigation, and preparedness. As the cycle proceeds, nonprofits face changes in available resources. Immediately after the crisis, abundant donations and grants flow into the communities as well as a pool of volunteers and potential staff. Such flow weakens as time passes by, jeopardizing sustainable management of nonprofit organizations. How do nonprofits survive through the disaster cycle? What strategies do they employ? This paper examines these questions with data of 38 nonprofits in communities affected by the 2011 earthquake/tsunami in Northeastern Japan. We highlight how nonprofits dealt with financial and human resource issues through the disaster cycle.

[Literature Review] This study crosses literature on sustainable nonprofit management and nonprofits in disasters. While much has been discussed on strategies to enhance sustainable management - revenue diversification (Froelich, 1999; Carrol and Stater, 2009), enhancing skills of human resources (Baluch and Ridder, 2021; Wiepking and Handy, 2015) - our understanding of such in disaster-context is limited. Although studies highlight nonprofits’ financial resilience in recovering from external shocks (Chen, 2021) as well as human resources (Sugano, 2020), how nonprofits deal with changing environment post-disasters in the long run is underexplored. Empirically studying nonprofit sustainability post-disasters inevitably requires a major crisis and opportunity to gather long-term data. We take advantage of the Japanese context where numbers of nonprofits that actively responded to the 2011 disaster continue to operate after ten-years.

[Data/Methodology] We use both quantitative and qualitative data on 38 nonprofits active post-disaster in Northeastern Japan. First, financial data are analyzed with focus on changes in revenue sources and personnel cost. Second, semi-structured interviews are conducted (2021-2023) to extract typologies of financial and human resource strategies. As of October 2023, all interviews are transcribed and initial analyses are complete.

[Findings] Identified are patterns of strategies that nonprofits implicitly or explicitly employed in surviving the disaster cycle. Here we highlight three aspects. First, variance was observed in the extent the organization distanced itself from the disaster context. While some continued to frame their work as disaster recovery/reconstruction, others re-framed themselves as working on non-disaster community issues. Second, strategies to overcome decreasing flow of financial resources were tackled with exploring opportunities within/outside the communities, investing in human resources for grant-writing skills, or going decent with available revenue sources. Third, variance was observed in strategies to deal with staff/volunteers. Increasing diversity was a phenomena that nonprofits faced as the disaster cycle moved forward. Nonprofits faced a mix of those highly interested in disaster contexts and those without, and more variance in careers pursued. Nonprofits sought for better internal communication to navigate these diversities.

[Implications] Findings contribute to expanding scholarly knowledge on sustainable nonprofit management and nonprofits in disasters. Also drawn are practical implications on options of financial and human resource strategies that nonprofits may employ in surviving the disaster cycle.

References

Baluch, A.M. and Ridder, H.G. (2020). Mapping the Research Landscape of Strategic Human Resource Management in Nonprofit Organizations: A Systematic Review and Avenues for Future Research. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50(3), pp.598-625.

Carroll, D.A. and Stater, K.J. (2009). Diversification in Nonprofit Organizations: Does It Lead to Financial Stability? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory: J-PART, 19(4), pp.947-966.

Chen, X. (2021). Nonprofit Financial Resilience: Recovery from Natural Disasters. Voluntas, 32, pp.1009-1026.

Foelich, K. A. (1999). Diversification of Revenue Strategies: Evolving Resource Dependence in Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28(3), pp.246-68.

Simos, G. and Bies, A.L. (2007). The Role of Nonprofits in Disaster Response: An Expanded Model of Cross-Sector Collaboration. Public Administration Review, 67, pp.125-142.

Sugano, T. (2020). Tunagari Ga Umidasu Innovation (In Japanese, Innovation that Emerge from Connection). Nakanishiya Shuppan.

Wiepking, P. and Handy, F. (2015). The Practice of Philanthropy: The Facilitating Factors from a Cross-National Perspective.“The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy” Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.597-623.

Authors

• Yu Ishida, Sch. Human Welfare Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University

• Aya Okada, Tohoku University

• Takako Nakajima, Osaka University of Commerce