Putting integrated reporting where it was not: The case of the not-for-profit sector

Abstract

Nowadays we are facing a new phase of capitalism. Information that is beyond financial capital and able to provide a more comprehensive picture of the path towards better transparency and accountability is increasingly needed and requested. A remarkable body of evidence already exists on how large, listed companies are facing this change, but very little is known about the not-for-profit sec-tor. This work aims to analyse if and how new forms of reporting, such as integrat-ed reporting, can be adopted by not-for-profit organisations to illustrate their ef-forts towards an improvement in their accountability processes. To this end, through an interventionist approach, the case of an Italian not-for-profit organisa-tion operating in the collection and redistribution of food is examined. It emerges that, integrated reporting can represent a valuable device that can be adopted also by the not-for-profit sector to improve its accountability. However, in order to be successfully implemented, some modifications have to be made in order to better encounter the specificities of these organisational settings.