90% of Irish people have donated to a charity over the past year

Due to the pandemic, giving money to a charity's website by debit/credit cards was one of the most popular means of donation. File picture

Some 90% of Irish people have donated to a charity over the past year.

That’s according to a new survey conducted by the Charities Regulator, examining people in Ireland’s attitudes towards and engagement with charities here

In total, 2,001 people responded to the survey.

In terms of causes, 56% percent of respondents donated to homeless or refuge services – more than any other type of charity.

Next most popular was medical or health-related charities, to whom 46% of people donated.

Local community organisations received contributions from 43% of respondents.

A breakdown of other charitable causes people donated to can be read below:

• Children or youth-focused organisations – 37% 
• Animal rescue or welfare – 36%
• Physical or intellectual disabilities – 28%
• Overseas aid or disaster relief – 21%
• School, colleges or other education – 20%
• Senior citizens – 17%
• Religious organisations – 15%
• Environment and conservation – 9%
• Arts, culture or heritage – 6%

Reasons 

The Charities Regulator survey also asked respondents for their reasons for donating to a given charity.

Nearly half of all respondents (48%) said they donated to help people worse off than themselves.

Forty one per cent chose to give because they felt the work of their charity of choice was important, while more than a third of respondents (37%) said they donated because they felt that they should do so.

Other reasons given for donating included: the enjoyment of giving and making a difference (29%); supporting an emergency or a disaster (25%); and giving back to a charity that had helped the respondent directly, or one of their family members or friends.

The survey also showed that 40% of respondents donated more than €100 as part of their pledge.

Attitudes and trust 

Overall, 88% of those surveyed said they had not changed the type of charity they support as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The most popular means of donation were buying a lottery ticket, sponsoring someone, or donating with a credit/debit card through a charity’s website. Fifty two per cent of people said they gave to charity at least every two months.

As for trust and confidence in the sector in general, 91% of respondents reported a "reasonable level of trust and confidence" in the charity sector; 36% of people rated their level of trust in Irish charities as "high". 

Two-thirds (66%) said their trust and confidence in the sector had "increased or stayed the same over the past two years".

Chief executive of the Charities Regulator Helen Martin said the survey’s results demonstrated a “high level of public support for charities in Ireland today.” 

She said it was "heartening to see" that people in Ireland were becoming progressively more aware of the importance of regulation and of looking into a charity before they considered making a donation. 

“Eighty six per cent of respondents to the survey recognised the role of charities as an important one and the majority of respondents (72%) recognised that there is a difference between a registered charity and a charitable cause, the difference being that only registered charities are regulated," she said. 

According to the survey, 57% of people said they check if a charity is registered before donating. Ms Martin she would like to see this figure grow.  

"There is a lot in this research that we as a regulator will learn from and our hope is that charities and the public find it equally useful as we all work towards a vibrant, trusted charity sector that is valued for the public benefit it provides,” she added.