(Finance) – The total accounting assets of 86 Foundations of Italian banking origin reached in 2022 i 40.6 billion euros (+0.8%), with financial income of 424.9 million euros (-37.8%). The gross profitability of assets is down to 3.5% (it was 5.7% in 2021) and while the operating surplus drops to 906.6 million euros (-46.4%). These are some of the data contained in the Twenty-eighth Annual Report approved by Council of Acre which contains aggregated data from the 2022 financial statements of foundations of banking origin. growing thedisbursement activity to 962.2 million euros (+5.3%). Disbursements intended for welfare amounted to 332.3 million euros, 34% of the total.
“In the face of a decidedly negative performance of the financial markets, determined by a scenario of polycrisis, characterized by pandemic, war, energy crisis and inflation – he declared Francis Perfume, president of Acri -, the Foundations of banking origin have managed to keep the flow of their disbursements unchanged in the territories (recording, indeed a slight increase). This is due to the now widespread operating method among entities of predicting the size of the institutional activity for the year on the basis of the returns of the previous twelve months”.
“This “anti-cyclical” approach – continues Profumo –, combined with the substantial stabilization funds and with the provision deriving from the reduction of the taxable income on dividends, allows us to guarantee constant financial support to the many socio-cultural projects active in the territories. The strategy of the Foundations is based on a constant dialogue with i territorieswhich is followed by the identification of the most effective measures to accompany institutions and the third sector in developing and implementing timely responses and long-term strategies to address the needs of communities. The objective, in fact, is to promote a progressive empowerment of the territories, fed with a varied supply of economic resources and planning skills”.
The disbursement activity in 2022 amounted to 962.2 million euros, up by 5.3% compared to the previous year. The number of initiatives funded in 2022 it was 21.301 (18,861 interventions in 2021), with an average amount of 45,171 euros (48,459 euros in 2021). In line with previous years, annual disbursements clearly prevail (90.2%) over long-term ones (9.8%).
As for theamount of the single initiative, in line with the picture observed in 2021, annual disbursements exceeding 500 thousand euros are confirmed in first place, with 43.1% of the total, those between 100 and 500 thousand are 26.1%, those between 5 and 100 thousand are 29.8%, those up to 5 thousand euros constitute just 1% of the total disbursed. This last figure, however marginal, highlights the Foundations’ attention also to small initiatives in the Third sector, which are in any case capable of contributing in a significant way to the animation and well-being of the communities of reference.
As for beneficiary organisations of contributions: 81.3% of the resources disbursed are intended for private non-profit entities, 18.7% go to public entities.
As for the distribution of disbursements by sector of intervention, in 2022 the seven priority sectors will always be confirmed. Looking more closely at the amounts approved in each sector, Art, Activities and Cultural Heritage absorbs the highest share of resources, 246.9 million euros (25.7% of total disbursements). They follow: Volunteering, Philanthropy and Charityto which 135.3 million euros were allocated (14.1% of the total); Research and development with an amount of 123.4 million euros (12.8%); Education, Instruction and Training to which 106 million go (11%); Local development with 92.7 million euros (9.6%); Social care with 75.2 million euros (7.8%); Public health with 37.2 million euros (3.9% of the total). The remaining sectors, which together represent 4.7% of the total amounts disbursed, receive a total of 45.6 million euro.
The Fund for the fight against child educational poverty, which accounts for 8.8% of total disbursements, but is not considered in the previous ranking because it is an “intersectoral” line of intervention, which affects various sectors. As of 2022, after seven years of activity, the Fund, through the social enterprise Con i Bambini, an implementing entity identified by Acri and 100% participated by the Con il Sud Foundation, assigning contributions for approximately 387 million euros, has supported 616 initiatives, involving over 8,7000 public and private organizations, reaching more than 500,000 disadvantaged children throughout the country.