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Requirements and Practices of Social Reporting in Italian Not-for-Profit Organisations

The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe

ISBN: 978-1-78756-150-2, eISBN: 978-1-78756-149-6

Publication date: 19 July 2018

Abstract

Purpose

Recently Italy has engaged in an extensive promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for not-for-profit organisations (NPOs). A major reform of the sector was approved in 2016, with the aim of combating corruption. Accordingly, NPOs will be eligible to receive public funds and tax benefits only when they demonstrate that they produce social impacts through their activities. To give an account of the social impacts produced, the reform introduced mandatory reporting requirements: the formulation of a social report (SR) that has to be published on the NPO’s website along with its financial statement.

Design/methodology/approach

The chapter first reviews the Italian ongoing path of reform for NPOs, focusing on the mandatory reporting requirements. Second, it reviews the previous empirical research on SRs in Italian NPOs to provide a picture of the voluntarily reporting practices before the recent reform entered into force.

Findings

The chapter finds that SRs in Italian NPOs are in their infancy. They are not used to disclose social impacts or to legitimate NPOs. SR practices usually lack common frameworks, disclosure of outputs and outcomes, stakeholder engagement, dissemination and assurance by third parties.

Originality/value

The chapter contributes to the international debate on CSR by providing the perspective of reporting requirements and practices in Italian NPOs. It analyses the ongoing reform of NPOs and gives the stock of SR practices prior to the reform entering into force. This makes it possible for future research to assess the impact produced by the reform.

Keywords

Citation

Nardo, M.T. and Siboni, B. (2018), "Requirements and Practices of Social Reporting in Italian Not-for-Profit Organisations", The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 12), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 299-317. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-905920180000012015

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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