THE VAST MAJORITY of Irish adults made donations to charity in the first three months of this year with 47% of donors giving money to causes supporting Ukraine, a new survey has found.

Despite respondents reporting concerns about the rising cost of living, the research found that 87% of people donated to charities between January and April.

According to the poll, the war in Ukraine has prompted many to make donations with 38% of Irish people giving to charities providing humanitarian support on the ground amid Russia’s invasion.

A further 23% donated to charities supporting Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland. More than one in five (21%) donated money solely to Ukrainian causes, potentially indicating an uptick in charitable giving due to the war.

The poll of over 1,100 adults was published by Enthuse, a fundraising platform which works with several Irish charities.

Other prominent causes that generated considerable donations were local community charities (25%), mental health support services (24%), homelessness (22%), children’s charities (22%) and cancer research (20%).

The survey identified the rising cost of living as one of the defining challenges for Irish households, with 80% citing it as their top concern for 2022.

Despite this, 38% said that they were more likely to give to charity today than they were three months previously.

The three most commonly cited reasons for donating to charity were moral duty (49%), media coverage of humanitarian crises, including the war in Ukraine (29%), and a
friend, family member or individual having personally benefited from the charity’s services
(25%).

Over half of the respondents (58%) said they are willing to participate in fundraising events now that Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed, with fun runs and sponsored walks proving the most popular options.