This paper draws attention on the current situation of voluntary organizations in Calabria. In details, it is based on data from a research carried out on 553 organizations situated in this southern Italian region. The analysis is mainly based on the needs of social groups, on their characteristic features, their relations with Institutions and with other voluntary organizations as they appear from the survey. The main findings concern the specific nature of no-profit organizations such as their self-reference basis centred on service activities as opposed to the «politic» dimension. The trend towards bureaucratization is not combined with a professionalization of services. Furthermore, is clear the fragmentation of the associative sector; it does not seem to be a coherent picture but pieces of organizations that do not have defined paths. Finally, it emerges the weak and particularistic nature of relationships that organizations have with local institutions as well as with other no-profit organizations. Starting from this considerations we argue that it is necessary a more analytic approach based on the study of single organizations’ biographies in order to better understand their origins, their choices, their believes and mainly their views about the future.