Assessment of trends and problems of functioning of the non-profit sector in the market economy: regional context

Social and economic development of the country and its regions within the framework of the established market system of management is determined by the functioning of economic sectors which include the non-profit sector, represented by a set of socially oriented non-governmental non-profit organizations. The purpose of the research is to study the trends in the development of non-profit sector organizations in the regions (the case of the federal districts and regions of the Northwestern Federal District), as well as to search for measures to ensure the sustainable functioning of such organizations in the market economy. In the work, we use general scientific methods of synthesis, comparative, system, functional analysis, time series analysis, methods of induction, deduction, systematization and generalization. The paper studies the socio-economic prerequisites and stages of development of the non-profit sector in Russia, and outlines the theoretical foundations of the functioning of non-profit sector organizations within the framework of the paradigm of the neo-institutional economy. We have proposed a toolkit for assessing the activities of socially oriented non-profit organizations (SONPO) in the regions. It involves the inclusion of two groups of indicators: socio-economic and financial, which makes it possible to identify territorial and economic trends in the development of non-profit organizations. The results of the testing of the proposed tools indicate the positive dynamics of the SONPO functioning in terms of providing social services to the population, ensuring employment and self-employment of people as volunteers, as well as the role in the development of the social infrastructure of the regions. However, we have revealed that the non-profit sector is largely affected by the crisis, caused by the coronavirus pandemic and needs the participation of the state and business. Based on the established need to support the organizations, the article proposes the infrastructural support measures for creating specialized resource organizations - public funds. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility for authorities and management at various levels to use the author’s tools when planning strategic documents, related to monitoring and adjusting regional policy in developing the region’s social infrastructure in general and SONPO in particular.