Survey published on N Ireland charitable giving
Howard Lake | 9 December 2008 | News
The Northern Ireland Giving Survey 2008 has been published by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action and shows that 91% of individuals made a charitable donation in the last year.
The figures however provide a mixed message for fundraisers, with evidence of some decline since 2005 and a reliance on income for religious causes to boost the overall figures. The survey was carried out in November 2007.
The average donation made is £22.69 per month when religious causes are included but drops to an average of £14.22 in cash donations when churches are excluded.
The survey found that cash donations are the most popular form of giving while 39% of donors use some form of planned giving. Over 70% of eligible donations are not gift aided leading to a loss of £48 million to the charitable sector. Churches appear to be most efficient at reclaiming gift aid.
The figures for internet giving are still very low with only 0.6% making donations in that way.
Females are more likely to give than men, with 45-64 year olds most likely to give. There is no significant difference in giving between Catholics and Protestants except the latter give a higher average donation.
The survey was carried out before the recession but with 54% stating that the amount of money they give to charity is determined by the levels of disposable income there may be some impact in the future.
www.nicva.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.