# Irish voluntary sector 2018 report published

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/04/27/irish-voluntary-sector-2018-report-published/
- Published: 2018-04-27T08:10:14+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Giving by Irish philanthropies such as foundations and non-government grant bodies
exceeded giving from overseas sources for the first time in 2016, according to third
sector survey body Benefacts.**

Largely reflecting the [wind down of the Atlantic Philanthropies’ grant making](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/07/23/atlantic-philanthropies-publishes-final-grant-policies/)
in Ireland, and the completion of a major giving campaign by the Ireland Funds in
2015, the aggregate trend for international philanthropy over the last three years
shows a contraction each year from 2014 (€79m), 2015 (€70m) 2016 (€41m).

At about €103m, giving by Irish and international philanthropic institutions to 
Irish nonprofits represents a small portion of the sector’s €12.1 billion turnover.
However in 2016 for the first time, giving by Irish philanthropies exceeded giving
from overseas sources by 52%, with most institutional donors giving to nonprofits
already supported by Government.

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**SEE ALSO: [Irish fundraising totals €725m, Benefacts survey finds](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/30/irish-fundraising-totals-e725m-survey-finds/)(
30 April 2017)**

Public fundraising is an important source of revenue for many nonprofits, according
to Benefacts.  At least 545 nonprofits – most of them charities – engage in fundraising
of some kind. Over €700 million is raised annually with religion the largest category
of fundraising income.

Donations are a more significant proportion of the income profile of certain sub‑
sectors than others such as health charities.

 

## Government still largest source of funding

Government is the single greatest source of funding for nonprofits. However, of 
all government funding of €5.7b, 63% is delivered under the terms of contracts or
service level agreements. The value of government grant (non‑fee) income is exceeded
by income earned from other sources and fundraising by the sector.

A small number of charities are established solely to raise funds for other charities.
An analysis of the expenditure of these dedicated fundraising organisations shows
that fundraising has a disproportionate number of higher paid employees relative
to the sector as a whole, and that in this segment, fundraising costs about 14% 
of the value of funds raised, using payroll as an indicator of fundraising costs.

This is [Benefacts](http://www.benefacts.ie)‘ second annual report on Irish nonprofits.
The organisation sees its role as promoting transparency and accessibility of Ireland’s
nonprofit sector.

 * **[Irish government announces €190 million funding programme for deprived communities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/05/22/irish-government-announces-e190-million-funding-programme-for-deprived-communities/)**(
   22 May 2018)
 * **[Irish billionaire’s giving falls](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/06/28/irish-billionaires-giving-falls/)**(
   28 June 2018)
 * **[Irish community foundation reaches €40 million milestone](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/07/19/irish-community-foundation-reaches-e40-million-milestone/)**(
   19 July 2018)

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