How Irish nonprofits are funded

What is the evidence for State funding of nonprofits?

Receipts from State sources are reported in the financial statements of nonprofits

It is a condition of State funding that every grant or service fee be itemised in the financial statements of grantees.

In many cases nonprofits comply with this requirement, although some aggregate rather than itemise their funding from each individual State source.

Sometimes, State funding data is not publicly available – either because the nonprofit’s accounts have been filed in abridged form, or because the nonprofits in question are unincorporated charities, in which case their accounts are not published by the Charities Regulator.

State funding to nonprofits is sometimes reported in the financial statements of public sector bodies

Some State funders provide a list of grantees, although this is often subject to a financial threshold – for example the HSE does not report S.39 grants below €100,000. Benefacts harvests this data where it is publicly available, and uses it to augment the data available from other reported sources.

Ireland’s 31 local authorities are an important source of small grants. However these are not routinely publicly reported by local authorities, and few of the recipients are incorporated, which means their receipts from the State are not publicly disclosed.  This means there is currently no readily accessible source of information about this expenditure.

Most State funding is provided in the form of fees not grants

Most State funding is provided in the form of fees for services, not grants. For example, wherever HSE or Tusla funding exceeds €250,000 it is treated as a fee for services, not a grant.

 

Last updated 21 May 2020

 

Back to Help page

Similar help topics