Charities report 27% drop in corporate donations

Corporate donations to charities during the Christmas period were down by 27 per cent last year, according to a new survey.

Comparisons between Christmas 2011 and Christmas 2012 revealed that there were fewer corporate donors and they were giving less money while donations from the public held up by comparison.

Some 26 charities responded to a survey by Fundraising Ireland and carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes (B&A). The charities who responded to the survey ranged in size from around €1 million to more than €10 million.

Smaller charities were disproportionately affected and those charities that fared better were local ones rather than those that had an international dimension.

Medical-related charities, particularly those concerned with cancer, accounted for more than a quarter of all donations.

The charities reported a fall off in donations from the corporate sector from €1.7 million in 2011 to €1.2 million last year, a fall of 27 per cent. The fall off in the number of corporate donations was 11 per cent.

Though there was a 4.3 per cent decrease in the number of public donations, those who donated were more generous than in previous years.

As a consequence, the decline in Christmas income from private donations, which totalled €9 million, was only 1 per cent down on Christmas 2011.

Anne Hanniffy, chief executive of Fundraising Ireland, the association for professional fundraisers, said the fall off in corporate donations was worrying.

She described corporate philanthropy as “the lifeblood of Irish charitable work” and suggested that businesses who could not afford an annual lump sum, instead consider staff giving or cause related marketing.