Piero Fusco, head of the Religious Bodies and Third Sector Business Unit of Generali Italia and vice-president of the Cattolica Foundation, at the presentation of the 2024 Third Sector Report
The non-profit has an economic value of 84 billion euros a year, equal to 4.4% of GDP. But it is a rapidly evolving world: increasingly “liquid” volunteering, the need for qualified human capital, economic sustainability and partnership with the public administration and private companies involved in social issues.
This is the photograph taken by Third Sector Report 2024 made by Generali Italy with the coordination of Country Sustainability and Social Responsibility and the Religious Bodies and Third Sector Business Unit and recently presented at Verona as part of the review “Social Poets”created by the Veronese diocese through its Toniolo Foundation.
The reform is promoting the recognition of entities but also the transparency of their management. And it is also strengthening collaboration with the public administration and with private companies themselves. We are talking about a reality of 129 thousand entities registered in the Single Register, with 530 thousand collaborators employed and with 2.8 million volunteers (which however are progressively decreasing).
However, the potential of the Third Sector remains to be developed if we consider the over 300 thousand entities not yet registered in the Register, but authorized to do so, with 830 thousand employees and 4.2 million volunteers. Well, to meet the needs of the present and the future, Catholic Foundation has launched two new tenders with a total value of 500 thousand euros each: the first, “A hand to those who support”is an initiative dedicated to projects that promote inclusion and social cohesion; the second, “People raising 2024”aims to facilitate the selection processes of qualified human resources for institutions.
Generali’s objective is to meet these two needs by soliciting and supporting projects that strengthen the skills and organizational and managerial capabilities of entities operating in the non-profit area, as explained Piero Fuscohead of the Religious Bodies and Third Sector Business Unit of Generali Italia and vice-president of the Cattolica Foundation: «Thanks to the skills of our Business Unit we listen to the bodies and dialogue with them we create synergies to develop paths aimed at raising their awareness of fair and effective risk management that contributes to stability and effectiveness, for a peaceful conduct of your activities. Precisely starting from listening to their needs, to stay close to the communities in the territories, through the Cattolica Foundation we have launched these two calls for tenders which respond to the priorities of the Third sector indicated in the Report: the finding of resources both from an economic point of view, but also and above all human.” Another aspect that emerged from the Report, in fact, is linked to the issue of generational turnover which many institutions are already facing. One of the crucial challenges for the future is to mobilize young people. Only 22.8% of those under 35 are involved in volunteering. The survey highlights that the difficulty in involving young people is mainly cultural, because the Third sector appears to have remained tied to motivations and organizational models that do not seem to meet the motivations, relational models and language of the younger generations, despite expressing social, environmental values and behaviors very close to them. To attract young people, the main challenges will be: reconciling work with the needs of personal life, aligning salary levels with the market and promoting dedicated training courses.
«In a context characterized by rapid technological and social changes that risk fragmenting society, the Third Sector generates cohesion», he concludes Barbara Lucini, responsible for Country Sustainability & Social Responsibility of Generali Italia, «This second edition of the Report highlights the decisive contribution of the reform of the Third Sector in promoting the professionalization of this universe which contributes decisively to the growth, well-being and social innovation of the Village”.
