Norwegian
Frivillig sektor i Norge 1997-2004
Pages: 70
English Keywords
Voluntary activity
Voluntary sector
The report presents an update of the Norwegian part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project with data for 2004. This includes volunteering, number of members and organizations, paid employ-ment, operating expenditures and income from different sources, role in society, and the voluntary organiza-tions importance for democracy. The results are comparted with the first Norwegian, mapping from 1997 and on some areas with other countries. The voluntary sector in Norway is vital, still growing in many areas, but also changing in structure and con-tent. The number of hours volunteering for nonprofit organizations is at about the same level or lower than in 1997. Seen in relation to the size of the populatin, the numbers are high. The share of the population that reports volunteering during the last year has increased from 52 to 58 percent from 1997 to 2004. Norway already had one of the highest participation rates of all the countries reported in the Johns Hopkins-study in the nineties. If we look at operating expenditures and paid employment, the voluntary sector has grown considerably, although not as fast as the Norwegian economy in total. The high level of income generated from the organizations own activities, is another indicator of the Norwegian voluntary sector’s vitality. It is still able to get 57 percent of its revenue from membership fees, charges and sales of goods and services. This means less dependence on public sector transfers than what we see in many other countries. One of the reasons for this is that the voluntary sector in Norway performs less welfare services, which in most cases to a very large extent are financed by the public sector.