2024 Financial Report - The Istituto degli Innocenti Reaffirms its Commitment to the Community

The Istituto degli Innocenti confirms its financial and economic stability despite challenges caused by the reduction of government funding for technical and scientific support to the activities of the National Documentation and Analysis Centre for Childhood and Adolescence. The 2024 Financial Report, while showing a decrease in production value - amounting to €13,081,137 (an 11% drop compared to the previous year) due precisely to the reduction in government funding mentioned above - also highlights an overall increase in other revenues and income (+9%) and closes with a balanced budget.

Overall, the Report demonstrates once again the Institute’s commitment to consolidating its cultural standing and ensuring high-quality activities and services essential to the community, supported by a complex system of partnerships with key institutional stakeholders who continue to invest in the offerings of the Florence-based institution.

2024 Financial Report

The 2024 Budget Law provided for a drastic reduction (45%) of the annual funds to the Istituto degli Innocenti for the activities carried out under Article 1, paragraph 215, of Law no. 205 of 27 December 2017, related to the management of the National Documentation and Analysis Centre for Childhood and Adolescence. Funding has been reduced to €2,750,000 per year for the 2024–2026 three-year period (compared to €5,000,000 per year allocated in the previous three-year period). Furthermore, in the early months of 2024, the extraordinary emergency reception offered to a group of Ukrainian minors fleeing the conflict, who have been hosted by the Institute since March 2022, concluded. This effort, however, was not supported by the allocation of dedicated resources during the fiscal year under review. Both of these factors have made it necessary to maintain constant monitoring and implement appropriate measures to review activities and contain expenses in order to ensure overall sustainability and safeguard budgetary balance.

On a positive note, the partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies has been strengthened through the launch of a new three-year agreement worth €1,250,000 annually. This agreement is aimed at specialist support activities, as well as the methodological and organisational strengthening of the beneficiaries of the resources from the National Programme on Inclusion and Fight Against Poverty, dedicated to the implementation of the European Child Guarantee. The commitment with the Tuscany Region has also been confirmed for the functions of the Regional Documentation Centre for Childhood and Adolescence, as established by Regional Law no. 31 of 2000, with agreements renewed in both social and educational fields through the end of 2026.

What can still be considered the Institute’s core business - namely activities related to documentation, research, training, information, and promotion - thus remains at a significant level, thanks to the many relationships the Institute has managed to strengthen over the past twenty years.

Another positive fact is the start of collaboration with the Municipality and the Società della Salute di Firenze (Florence Health Society), which has led to the establishment of the new Centro Famiglie Firenze (Florence Family Centre), inaugurated last February. The Family Centre is a new service managed by the Istituto degli Innocenti in collaboration with the two above mentioned organisations to bring together and introduce a series of activities to meet the various needs of families through the integration of social, educational, psycho-pedagogical and health services. The Centre integrates the institutional offer which has also been made possible by a major investment in the renovation of previously unused premises.

The Centre is an additional step in confirming and strengthening the role of the Institute as an active participant in the integrated system of personal services, primarily reflected in the opportunities offered by reception communities for children and mother-child units, which operated at full capacity throughout 2024, as well as in the protection conferences service and other educational activities of the Innocenti 0-6 Centre, thanks to the agreements in place with the Municipality of Florence over several years.

During 2024, the Institute, through the activities of the Innocenti Museum, reaffirmed its commitment as a centre for cultural promotion, and carried out important investment to protect and promote its heritage. In this context, it is worth highlighting the renovation of the Frescoes Gallery, which will be inaugurated shortly. The renovation was carried out thanks also to the funding obtained under the Ministry of Culture project PNRR M1C3-3 / Investment 1.2, for the "Removal of physical and cognitive barriers in museums, libraries and archives", which covered part of the costs.

Thanks to the commitment of the Foundation Istituto degli Innocenti ETS, resources were also found for further interventions aimed at developing institutional activities, and, in particular, for the renovation of additional rooms that will be used to expand the reception capacity. Investments in expanding services for children and families, as well as those for the care and popularisation of the cultural and historical heritage preserved by the Institute, are made possible also thanks to the ongoing support from the community through private bequests and donations, toward an institution that continues to place the value of childhood at the centre of public discourse.

Despite the challenges, thanks to constant and careful monitoring and cost containment measures, the 2024 financial statements are in line with the levels of recent years, showing a profit of €72,768. The fiscal year ending 31 December 2024 represents the third financial report linked to the mandate of the Board of Directors, which took office on 24 January 2022.