New analysis published today by nonprofit data specialist Benefacts has found that financial donations to charities by individuals in Ireland have halved over recent decades, with significant differences in charitable giving based on household income, age, gender and location.
This analysis was published today as Benefacts launched a new section of its free public website - www.benefacts.ie/philanthropy - including a new listing and analysis of ‘giving’ by philanthropies in Ireland, the first ever detailed profile of this little-analysed sector.
The main findings of the report included the following:
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Irish households donate just €3.74 per week to charitable organisations, half the amount donated in 2004.
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Percentage of households donating weekly drops from 79 per cent to 38 per cent.
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Relative to income, lowest income households significantly more generous than highest income households
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Benefacts publishes first-ever listing of institutional philanthropies in Ireland, detailing 164 entities providing combined grants of €65 million per annum.
Patricia Quinn, managing director and Founder of Benefacts said that this new data and analysis on giving in Ireland continues Benefacts mission to shine a light on Ireland’s nonprofit sector, providing publicly-available data and insights to aid discussion, planning and policymaking in Ireland’s €14.2 billion social economy.
“In Ireland, we pride ourselves as being a nation of givers, but when it comes to financial donations the figures suggest this may no longer be the case. Analysis of almost 30 years of Household Budget Survey data by Dr. James Carroll and Professor Oonagh Breen has found Irish households donate just €3.74 per week to charitable organisations, half the amount donated in 2004. There has also been a reduction in the number of households donating weekly, down from 79% of households in 1987 to just 38% in 2015.”
