Slight Decline in Donations in Austria
With 1.075 billion euros, the result of the donations was lower than the 1.1 billion euros from 2022. This is according to the Donation Report 2024, which was presented on Wednesday by the Fundraising Association Austria in Vienna. For 2024, the association predicts a further declining result of 1.03 billion euros, which could put pressure on the affected organisations.
Donations in Austria: Decline in Support for Ukraine
While support for the victims of the Ukraine war has waned, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, as well as domestic disaster relief, were central causes for donations, it was said at the press conference. Systematically, the volume for environmental and animal protection could significantly increase. Regarding the forecast for 2024, it was said that the commitment during the Christmas season decides more than ever about the outcome of the donation year.
Ruth Williams, Managing Director of the Fundraising Association, called the result for 2023 "an extremely pleasing result in times of the highest inflation in 50 years". Around 80 percent of all donations in Austria are from private individuals: "Despite economic restrictions, the population has once again shown how high the value of charitable work is in Austria," emphasised Williams. "Although only minimal, the trend in donations is negative for the first time. Fewer donations with significantly increased costs for the organisations unfortunately mean in practice that less money is available for charitable services."
International Decline in Donations
In numerous countries, there were significant declines in donation income last year. Examples according to the association are Switzerland, Sweden or the Czech Republic, where each showed a minus in the double-digit range. The decline in Austria can also be partly attributed to expenditures for Ukraine: While "Neighbour in Need" still collected the record sum of 52.5 million euros for Ukraine aid in 2022, the corresponding donations in 2023 were only 5.6 million euros.
The social and health sector as well as international aid lost one percent compared to the previous year. However, with a share of 29 and 25 percent respectively, by far the most donations continue to go to these two areas. 15 percent of all donation funds were dedicated to science, research and universities last year, eleven percent to environmental and animal protection, which allowed the sector to grow by three percent.
(APA/Red)
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