Non-profit sector: organisations and staff numbers are on the rise

The paper by Sabrina Stoppiello, Stefania Della Queva and Manuela Nicosia, also from Istat, analyses the outcomes of non-profit organisations’ activities and the role they play in fostering social cohesion. The aim is to understand the role of the non-profit sector in building an inclusive development model capable of strengthening communities and reducing inequalities.

There is a strong emphasis on objectives geared towards the public interest. In 2024, 70.1 per cent of non-profit organisations – approximately 258,000 organisations – stated that they pursued one or more specific objectives. Among these, providing assistance and support to vulnerable and/or disadvantaged individuals accounts for 48.3 per cent of organisations, the promotion and protection of rights for 43.3 per cent, and the care and development of common goods for 43.1 per cent.

In 2024, 90.5 per cent of non-profit organisations had established meaningful relationships with local stakeholders, a figure that has risen since 2021. Nine out of ten organisations, therefore, operate through connections with other stakeholders, mobilising resources, fostering collaboration and building trust, and helping to build what the analysis describes as the connective tissue of a community.

The issue of relationships takes on particular significance when viewed within the broader context of trust in Italian society. In 2024, generalised trust stood at 22.5 per cent of the population, whilst civic and political participation had fallen to 59.6 per cent, compared with 68.7 per cent in 2013. Family, friends and personal networks continue to be important points of reference, but it appears more difficult to translate these relationships into membership of organisations, voluntary work and sustained forms of collective engagement.