# Research shows scale of corporate giving in Ireland

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/12/02/research-shows-scale-corporate-giving-ireland/
- Published: 2014-12-02T16:44:24+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Eighty percent of companies in Ireland are engaged in some sort of philanthropy,
according to new research published by Philanthropy Ireland.

Multinational companies having the highest rate of engagement at 94%, followed by
large domestic companies at 88% and SMEs at 70%.

The most popular causes supported by Irish based companies are heath (38%), poverty(
34%), young people (34%) and children (33%). Most companies favour cash giving while
multinationals and larger local companies are more likely to also provide volunteering
opportunities to charities.

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## Who in a company makes the decision on charitable support?

The research showed that the CEO is the most influential decision maker in local
companies when it comes to charities, with 49% of CEOs at large domestic companies
and 62% in SME’s taking a lead in company giving.

In larger multinational companies employees tend to play a bigger role where the
research found only 16% of CEOs make the decision who to support. A core benefit
of corporate philanthropy for multinationals and larger companies is empowering 
their employees by giving them the responsibility for selecting the cause that the
company will ultimately support.

The research found that a high proportion of companies (42%) aim to align their 
philanthropic activity with the company’s overall business goals and objectives 
but the importance of tying in philanthropic activity with business objectives varies
across business categories.

## Measuring impact of philanthropy

Over half of the companies in the survey measure the success of their philanthropy(
53%) and each use different methods to do this. The most popular measurement of 
success for companies is the feedback that they receive from the cause supported.

A copy of the full report can downloaded from [Philanthropy Ireland](http://www.philanthropy.ie)’
s website.

 

_Photo: [corporate giving](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=143704996) by
Syda Productions on Shutterstock.com_

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