# Online service reports drop in Irish giving

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/02/22/online-service-reports-drop-irish-giving/
- Published: 2009-02-22T12:57:32+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Online fundraising service mycharity.ie has reported a 14 per cent decrease in the
average value of donations for last year compared to 2007. November alone was down
22 per cent on the same month a year previously, indicating that the situation worsened
during the year.

 

 

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Chief executive of my charity.ie Niall Devine said the organisation started to notice
a trend of fewer donations from last August/September. As well as fewer donations,
the average value of the donations dropped.

 

 

 

“The average donation value in November 2007 was €88 through the site, which goes
direct to the charity, whereas the average for last November was €52,” he said.

 

 

 

Around 200 charities are registered on the mycharity.ie website, which has raised
more than €2.8 million for charities. Despite the fall in donations, it hopes to
raise €2.5 million in 2009. Devine hopes the number of charities on the website 
will increase to around 280 within the year.

 

 

 

“Growth is continuing on mycharity.ie, regardless of the recession, but we are now
finding that charities have to work harder and be more clever to get the donor and
the fundraisers on board,” said Devine. Things have also changed where large donations
are concerned.

 

 

 

“The days of corporations having large amounts of cash to donate to charities, no
matter how worthy the cause, are all but gone for now. Many charities will be forced
to reduce their services in line with their new and reduced incomes – and all at
a time when the public’s reliance on help from charities is at unprecedented levels.”

 

 

 

Devine believes that events based fundraising will become even more important in
the downturn. “People are much more likely to engage and get involved in charities
if they take on a challenge like a marathon, a run or a mountain climb,” he said.

 

 

 

“It’s a much more successful way of fund-raising. If, for example, a random charity
asked you for a donation of €100, you’re most likely to say no, but if friends ask
you to sponsor them for a walk, swim or hike, chances are you’re going to give that
donation. In the end it’s the charity that benefits.”

 

 

 

www.mycharity.ie

 

 

 

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