The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

s that are

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

nonprofit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit sector, in contrast to the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The p ...

. Civic sector or social sector are other terms for the sector, emphasizing its relationship to

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Richard Cornuelle coined the term "independent sector" and was one of the first scholars to point out the vast impact and unique mechanisms of this sector. Given the diversity of organizations that comprise the sector, Peter Frumkin prefers "non-profit and voluntary sector".

Significance to society and the economy

The presence of a large non-profit sector is sometimes seen as an indicator of a healthy economy in local and national financial measurements. With a growing number of non-profit organizations focused on

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, the environment,

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

and other unmet needs throughout society, the nonprofit sector is increasingly central to the health and well-being of society.

Peter Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business c ...

suggests that the nonprofit sector provides an excellent outlet for a variety of society's labor and skills. The first two decades of the 20th century were characterized by a public zeal for social reform and social justice known as the Progressive Era. The newly founded National Association of Societies for Organizing Charity had immediate influence during that era. Its extensive field work helped organize new societies and strengthen others. Smaller cities became well-organized, with the South and Northwest particular areas of focus. To permit membership of Canadian societies, the association changed its name in 1912 to the American Association of Societies for Organizing Charity. In 1917, it became the American Association for Organizing Charity. These agencies increasingly were providing direct service to individuals and families. Pauperism, child welfare, juvenile justice, sanitation, tuberculosis, and other health issues were emergent problems for new and existing agencies. The American Red Cross fueled a nationwide fervor for social service. Founded in the United States in 1881, it was reorganized in 1905 to focus on military personnel. With this pivotal decision, the business of organizing charities quickly evolved into the business of social work. In 1976,

Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading Am ...

predicted that the third sector would become the predominant sector in society, as the knowledge class overcame the effects of the private sector. This presently holds true in a number of European countries. According to a recent study by

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

, the Netherlands has the largest third sector of 20 countries across Europe. Ireland's non-profit fundraised income formed 0.33% of Irish

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

, less than the UK and US, in 2016. In Sweden, the nonprofit sector is attributed with fostering a nationwide

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

towards progressive economic, social and cultural policies, while in Italy the third sector is increasingly viewed as a primary employment source for the entire country. In the United States, approximately 10% of GDP is attributable to the third sector. Donating to private religious organizations remains the most popular American cause, and all religious organizations are entirely privately funded because the government is limited from establishing or prohibiting a religion under the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Sub-sectors

Although the voluntary, community and not-for-personal-profit sectors are frequently taken to compose the "Third Sector" each of these sectors or sub-sectors have quite different characteristics. The community sector is assumed to comprise volunteers (unpaid) while the voluntary sector are considered (confusingly) to employ staff working for a social or community purpose. In addition however, the not-for-personal-profit sector is also considered to include social firms (such as cooperatives and mutuals) and more recently governmental institutions (such as Housing Associations) that have been ''spun off'' from government, although still operating fundamentally as public service delivery organisations. These other types of institutions may be considered to be quasi-private or quasi-public sector rather than stemming from direct community benefit motivations.

Concerns

There have been long-ranging arguments regarding the financial accountability of the nonprofit sector throughout

Western society Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. There is also ongoing concern whether the nonprofit sector will unequally draw retiring workers from the private sector as the currently large

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

age. Development of the third sector, it is argued, is linked to restructuring of the welfare state and further globalization of that process through neo-liberal strategies of the

Washington consensus The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monet ...

.Pawel Zaleski ''Global Non-governmental Administrative System: Geosociology of the Third Sector'', n:Gawin, Dariusz & Glinski, Piotr d. "Civil Society in the Making", IFiS Publishers, Warszawa 2006 In a 2013 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' op-ed and radio podcast, ''The Charitable-Industrial Complex'',

Peter Buffett Peter Andrew Buffett (born May 4, 1958) is an American musician, composer, author and philanthropist. With a career that spans more than 30 years, Buffett is an Regional Emmy Award winner, New York Times best-selling author and co-chair of the ...

uses the terms "philanthropic colonialism" and "conscience laundering," and describes his insights into "searching for answers with their right hand to problems that others in the room have created with their left" rather than systemic change.

Country-specific

France

Discourse on the "third sector" began in the 1970s in France as a result of the crisis in the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

India

In India this sector is commonly called the "joint sector", and includes the industries run in partnership by the state and

Private Sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The p ...

. In a wider sense the initial investment is made by the state and later the handling is done by the private sector. But here the private sector is responsible to the state when it comes to handling.

Israel

In Israel this sector is commonly called the "Third Sector", ( he, המגזר השלישי) and generally refers to non-profit organizations (NPOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the line between the two quite fine. These organizations generally fill a gap in the existing government or municipal service provision. Examples include

United Hatzalah United Hatzalah ("united rescue" in Hebrew: איחוד הצלה) is an Israeli free, volunteer-based emergency medical services (EMS) organization throughout Israel with its headquarters based in Jerusalem. Its mission is to provide immediate me ...

for emergency medical first response,

Yad Sarah Yad Sarah ( he, יד שרה) is the largest national volunteer organization in Israel. Employing over 6,000 volunteers, with a salaried staff of 150, Yad Sarah serves over 350,000 clients each year. It is best known for its free loans of over 244,0 ...

for free loan of medical equipment,

Yad Eliezer Yad Eliezer ( he, אגודת יד אליעזר, "Yad Eliezer Association") is a Jewish poverty-relief organization in Israel. It is best known for its monthly distribution of thousands of family food packages, baby formula and baby food packages. I ...

for poverty relief efforts, Akim for assistance for the mentally handicapped, and

SHALVA Shalva ( he, שַׁלְוָה, ''lit.'' Security) is a moshav shitufi in southern Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah near Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The m ...

for children with special needs.

United Kingdom

The

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

of the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

until 2010 had an Office of the Third Sector that defined the "third sector" as "the place between State and (the) private sector." The Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government renamed the department the Office for Civil Society. The term third sector has now been replaced in Government usage by the term Civil Society, or for while under the Cameron government, the term

Big Society The Big Society was a sociopolitical concept of the first 15 years of the 21st century, that was developed by the populist Steve Hilton, that sought to integrate free market economics with a conservative paternalist conception of the social co ...

, which was devised by political advisers and which featured prominently in the Conservative Party's 2010 election campaign.

United States

The U.S. nonprofit sector consisted of approximately 1.56 million organizations registered with the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

in 2015. These reporting nonprofits identified $2.54 trillion in revenues and $5.79 trillion in assets in 2015. Over $400 billion in revenue comes through private support and

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

. The U.S. nonprofit sector contributed an estimated $985.4 billion to the U.S. economy in 2015, composing 5.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product and employed 11 percent of the U.S. workforce in 2015. Each year, seven out of ten Americans donate to at least one charitable cause. Contributions are from two to 20 times higher in the U.S. than in other countries of comparable wealth and modernity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voluntary Sector Social philosophy Non-profit organizations Volunteering Economic sectors