WOMEN AGED between 50 and 64 and living in Dublin are the most charitable group in society, a new survey shows.
People living in Munster are the least generous, donating some €48 on average per year.
Irish people donate about €460 million every year, averaging about €130 per person annually.
Awareness and Understanding of Philanthropy, a survey conducted by the market research company Behaviour and Attitudes, shows that over the past two years people have given to charity on average 11 occasions.
The most frequent contributors to charity tend to be middle-class people living in Dublin or Leinster above the age of 35.
Women tend to give more to charity then men. The average amount given to charity every year by women is€160, compared to €101 for men.
The average amount donated by people between the ages of 50 to 64 is €212. This compares to €175 for people over 65, €160 for people between 35 and 49, €98 for 25 to 34 and €32 for people under 25 years.
People living in Munster are the least generous, donating on average just €48 per year to charity. Dubliners donate the highest amount, on average €207 per year, people living in the rest of Leinster donate €186 per year and those living in Connaught-Ulster donate on average €99 annually.
Six out of 10 people surveyed say they have donated money on a charity “flag day” in the past two years. Half of people say they donated at a specific time of year such as Christmas or Lent, 43 per cent say they donated in response to a friend or family member taking part in a charitable event and a third say they donated in response to an advertising appeal or national appeal such as the Haiti earthquake.
The survey was commissioned by Philanthropy Ireland, an association that represents philanthropic organisations that donate about €70 million annually to good causes. It wanted to get a more in-depth understanding of people’s contributing behaviour and the public’s understanding of philanthropy.
The survey reveals that 52 per cent of people have never heard of the term philanthropy and just a quarter know what the term means. When asked about how much someone would have to donate to be a philanthropist, the survey found the average amount was €130,000.
The survey shows that most adults feel philanthropists are “other people” rather than anyone they might know themselves.
Some 42 per cent of people agree that philanthropy plays an important role in shaping society, while just 7 per cent disagree with that statement.
Séamus Mulconry, executive director of Philanthropy Ireland, said the organisation was fascinated by the vast differences in giving between different regions but could not explain the results.
He said the charity sector was about to go through a very difficult period with further cuts likely due to the economic crisis and he hoped the survey could provide an insight into giving in Ireland.
A representative sample of 1,011 people over the age of 16 years were interviewed for the survey.