TechSoup Japan Disaster Relief Program Launches to Assist Local NGOs
Guest post by Rachel Weidinger, TechSoup, Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications - Global Network
The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred 7 weeks and 4 days ago. Japanese culture, following Buddhist tradition, often marks the 49 days after a death as a formal period of mourning. As the weeks pass, the disaster recovery is increasingly shifting out of the hands of professional first-responder organizations into the hands of the local NGO community.
The TechSoup Global Network believes a strong civil society is always important. In times of need, nonprofits provide an infrastructure of critical support. The nonprofit sector in Japan has a major role to play now in providing services and support to the devastated local communities. Unfortunately, many of the nonprofits that will help communities recover have themselves been affected by the disaster.
In order to assist with the recovery, TechSoup Japan, a program of the Japan NPO Center, is working with Microsoft, Adobe, and Symantec to aid local nonprofit organizations whose facilities are damaged in the earthquake by providing software donations. This Disaster Relief Program is administered in addition to the standard TechSoup Japan product donation program and provides free software without any administrative fees to qualifying nonprofits that have been affected by the earthquake. More information is available here in Japanese. A joint press release in English is posted in the TechSoup Global press room.
Please share this Disaster Relief Program announcement with organizations in Japan that may need this support.
To apply, organizations can download an application form at the TechSoup Japan site and submit it via email to admin@techsoupjapan.org (subject: Local Earthquake Reconstruction East NPO Donation Program) or by fax to 03-3510-0856. TechSoup Japan will contact the organization regarding its eligibility in about one week. Eligible organizations are NPOs located in Japan (including specified nonprofit corporations, social welfare corporations, or public benefit corporations) registered in the designated Disaster Relief Act areas of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Aomori, Ibaragi, Tochigi, Nagano, and Chiba that are either affected by the disaster or engaging in relief/rehabilitation efforts in the affected communities.
About TechSoup Japan
The Japan NPO Center, in partnership with the nonprofit organization TechSoup Global has run a software donation program for NPOs since June 2009. Software products, provided by IT corporations as a part of their social contribution, are donated to qualified NPOs for a small administrative fee. The program supports the IT development of Japanese NPOs and their activities that aim to solve societal problems.
Cross posted from the TechSoup Blog. Photo by John Downs.