Third sector, the value of the territory rediscovered by organisations and donors

When Italians decide to donate, proximity counts for a lot. For 45.3%, territorial proximity is worth "quite a lot" and in any case more than the notoriety (39%) of an organisation, according to data from the Osservatorio Donare 3.0 conducted by Ipsos Doxa in collaboration with PayPal and Rete del Dono.

Not only that: since last year, direct donations to associations which, since the pandemic, had suffered a setback in favour of direct donations to hospitals and civil protection, have risen again. These are third sector organisations that often have direct relations with the territory and the needs it expresses. But even large non-governmental organisations that traditionally focused on global challenges and international projects are now often involved in the Italian metropolis. 'There is a structural crisis of large organisations in doing big projects, partly due to the debacle of globalisation, partly due to the concentration of the sector around a few 'brands',' explains Paolo Venturi, economist, director of Aiccon, a research centre of the University of Bologna. 'Hence the need to anchor themselves at a territorial level, for a strategic choice to recompose a global vision through local engagement.

The qualitative survey Donate 3.0 shows the role of "territorial proximity", especially when projects directly affect the neighbourhood, the city or places frequented by the donor. The impact of the initiative is more concrete and visible thanks to the possibility of observing the progress made and the effects on the territory over time. It also helps to strengthen the sense of participation and social responsibility'. The trend is also confirmed by the data on culture: almost one Italian in two has donated to culture at least once, and those who did so preferred cultural heritage (24%) and territorial cultural projects (23%).

In the Marche region, donation has become a means of stimulating the planning of organisations and at the same time spreading the culture of giving. "When I arrived at the foundation, I felt the need to respond in a different way to the numerous requests for donations from small associations in our area. I had in mind projects that were concrete, shared, and sustainable in the idea of helping these organisations to grow and become structured," explains Giorgio Gragnola, president of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fano, which has assets of 120 million euro.

Carifano then financed the training carried out by the Centro Servizi del Volontariato and selected the best projects of the associations and with the Rete del Dono platform opened crowdfunding campaigns, a tool that favours bottom-up project selection. The foundation doubled the funds (up to a maximum of EUR 15,000 per project) when the collection target was reached. As of 2021, more than EUR 1.1 million has been raised from 4,700 donors, the annual collection has tripled in five years, and the organisations involved have doubled (24 last year). By adopting the matching gift logic, Carifano has allocated over EUR 764,000 in five years, bringing the total resources benefiting the third sector to almost two million. "Associations from all the relevant municipalities and all areas of interest, family, culture, assistance to the elderly, etc. participated," adds Gragnola. "With this initiative we have not only promoted fundraising, but we have also stimulated the culture of giving. In order to encourage the generational transition for the 2026 call for proposals, preference will be given to those under 35 either as recipients or as those involved in planning and associations.