Abstract
The purposes of this paper are to explain the structure and the designing process of assessment system for “Excellence of Nonprofit”, and to discuss the role of assessment as a problem-solving measure. Firstly, we analyzed the current status of the NPO sector in Japan and identified considerable problems in relation to citizenship, social innovation and organizational management. Subsequently, we developed the structure and the procedure for designing the assessment system, and discussed these three problems through the developed procedure. Finally, we developed 33 standards with assessment tool. However, in order for the assessment system to functions as a vehicle for problem-solving, continuous analysis of the sector, discussion among stakeholders and revision of the assessment system are necessary.
