Accountability of Nonprofit Organizations to Beneficiaries

Abstract

　This study focused on certified nonprofit organizations in Japan and investigated the accountability of nonprofit organizations to their beneficiaries. The survey results showed that more than half （55.9%） of the certified NPOs recognize the beneficiaries as the targets of their accountability. As for the contents that certified nonprofit organizations emphasize in their explanations to beneficiaries, 75.7% of the respondents answered that the specifics of their work activities were the most important, and 68.9% of the respondents answered that written explanations of their achievements and status were the most important means of explanation. The results of the analysis on the factors that determine how accountability is fulfilled showed that the area of activity and whether the beneficiaries are perceived as accountability recipients tend to influence the content and means of explanation. On the other hand, there was no evidence that the size of the organization had an effect on how accountability to the beneficiaries was fulfilled.