TWO IN FIVE Irish people say they have donated more than €100 to charities in the past year, according to a new survey. 

The survey was carried out on 2,001 people by Amárach on behalf of the Charities Regulator to gauge the public’s attitudes and engagement with registered charities in Ireland. 

The survey found that 90% of Irish people have donated to charity in the past year. 

40% of people who responded to the survey said that they donated more than €100 to charities in the past year, with the most popular ways of donating being buying a raffle/lottery ticket, sponsoring someone and donating through a charity’s website. 

Of those donating, 52% are donating to charity at least every two months. 

88% of respondents said they had not changed the type of charity they support as a result of Covid-19. 

The breakdown of charitable causes people donated to is as follows:

• Homeless or refuge services – 56%
• Medical or health related – 46%
• Local community organisations – 43%
• Children or youth – 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%

“These findings demonstrate the high level of public support for charities in Ireland today,” Helen Martin, chief executive of the Charities Regulator, said. 

“What’s particularly heartening to see is that people are becoming more aware of the importance of regulation and of checking out a charity before they make a donation,” Martin said. 

“86% of respondents to the survey recognised the role of charities as an important one and the majority of respondents (72%) recognised being that only registered charities are regulated,” she said. 

“However, while 57% of those we surveyed said they check if a charity is registered before donating, we would like this figure to be higher.” 

Martin said any member of the public wishing to donate their time, money or any items to charity should check that the charity is listed on the Register of Charities, which is available to view here.