Non profit
5 million people volunteer in Spain
Figures from a recent study by FUNCAS Foundation point out the level of Spaniards’ involvement in the Third Sector
di Staff
Around 5 million people are engaged in volunteering in Spain, according to a latest survey by the Fundación de las Cajas de Ahorros (FUNCAS), in which 16 experts have reviewed various aspects of the Third Sector, the social economy and volunteering in Spain.
Three professors from the University of Zaragoza, Chaime Marcuello, Carmen Marcuello and Inmaculada García Mainar, have reviewed the strategies designed by the European institutions to promote volunteering.
They found out that 17.6% of Spaniards volunteer; percentages for Sweden, Netherlands and Greece are 56%, 49% and 40% respectively.
1 out of 4 Spaniards is part of a third sector’s organization, compared to 9 out of 10 Danes and Swedes, and 7 out of 10 Germans, Belgians, British and Irish.
According to the Director of the Observatorio Español de Economía Social del Centro de Investigación e Información sobre la Economía Pública, Social y Cooperativa (CIRIEC), Jose Luis Monzón, Social Economy in Spain employs over 670,000 people. If people who work in cooperatives, labor companies, mutual funds, foundations and associations are also considered, this figure arises to 1.2 million people.
400 NGOs registered in Spain
In Spain, the registered NGO with the largest number of members is the Red Cross, which has approximately 750.00 members; it is followed by Medecins Sans Frontieres (370,000 members) and Oxfam-Intermón (257,000 members). In addition, in 2008 Red Cross operated with almost 483 million euros, more than double than Cáritas (185 million), and seven times more than Intermón Oxfam, with a 68 million euro budget.
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