Over the past decade, the global nonprofit landscape has changed dramatically, but one of the most striking shifts has come from Riyadh. Saudi Arabia no longer views the nonprofit space as an extension of traditional charity, but as an economic driver and a strategic partner in delivering sustainable development.
While many countries are only now rediscovering the role of their nonprofit organizations, Saudi Arabia has taken a different route: moving from talk to implementation, from theory to execution, and from open-ended promises to measurable results.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become both a thinking hub and a testing ground, adopting a development model that expands the nonprofit sector’s role into an economic engine, an incubator for social innovation, and a key player in shaping development policies at home and abroad.
Focusing on Impact, Not Just Mechanisms
Saudi Arabia’s approach begins with redefining the sector’s role and integrating it into the national development cycle under Saudi Vision 2030, which emphasizes sustainability, broader participation, and lasting social and economic impact. This direction has helped create an enabling environment where organizations can innovate, adopt advanced tools to measure impact, and explore flexible funding models that blend public and private resources.
The core pillars of this transformation include strengthening ethical governance, embracing data-driven decision-making, empowering supervisory units, expanding volunteering, and developing innovative financing pathways that move the sector beyond traditional methods that once constrained its potential.
Cross-Border Partnerships That Create Real Value
This transformation is not confined within Saudi borders. The Kingdom is now an active voice in global discussions on the future of the nonprofit sector, through meaningful participation in international conferences, a growing presence on global committees, and a series of negotiations and cooperation agreements that deepen the exchange of expertise in governance, financing, and social innovation. This international engagement is no longer incidental; it has become a cornerstone of building a Saudi nonprofit sector that stands among the world’s most influential in development economics.
This direction is backed by strong local momentum. The upcoming forum is a practical expression of the Kingdom’s commitment to the goals of Vision 2030, particularly the ambition to build an effective nonprofit sector that contributes to both economic and social development.
Data from the National Center for Nonprofit Sector shows unprecedented growth. The number of nonprofit organizations in Saudi Arabia has risen from 1,700 to nearly 7,000, including 5,000 specialized entities serving the Kingdom’s development priorities. Over the past two years, the sector’s contribution to GDP has exceeded SR 40 billion, and more than 140,000 people are now employed in the sector across the labor market.
On the volunteering side, the total economic value of volunteering in 2024 reached about SR 138.94 per person, with a total of 80,117,736 volunteer hours. These figures reflect a vibrant sector capable of generating balanced social and economic value, and confirm that nonprofit growth is no longer just a direction, but a fully integrated national path built on impact, empowerment, and sustainability.
Saudi Models Inspiring the Sector at Home and Abroad
The impact of this work is evident in success stories that have become reference points, such as the experience of Zamzam Association, which developed internal policies now seen as a model for local organizations, or the strong Saudi participation at the AVPN Global Conference 2025, where Saudi Arabia showcased its progress in advanced governance frameworks, digital tools for impact measurement, and support for social projects to evolve into engines of meaningful change.
Amid this rapid momentum, Saudi Arabia is cementing its position as a rising force in the global social economy by embracing a new development philosophy based on community empowerment, sustainable solutions, trust-building, and international partnerships. These partnerships equip the sector to grow through innovative financing tools that go beyond traditional models. This trajectory is reinforced by sustained capacity-building, regulatory modernization, advanced digital evaluation systems, and the introduction of a size-based classification for associations, together creating a more flexible and independent regulatory environment grounded in governance, transparency, and accountability.
Riyadh will host the first ‘Beyond Profit’ International Nonprofit Sector Forum from 3 to 5 December 2025, organized by the National Center for Nonprofit Sector. The forum will serve as a global platform bringing together impact leaders, experts, and social innovation pioneers from around the world to discuss the future of the sector from a strategic, results-focused perspective. It will further strengthen the Kingdom’s position as an international hub for knowledge exchange and partnerships that deliver tangible progress in sustainable development worldwide.