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Scrutiny of charities register up by almost 90%

Access and viewing of charity records on the public Register of Charities jumped significantly last year.

The Charities Regulator's annual report 2023 shows that there were almost a quarter of a million (248,858) views of records of Irish-registered charities on the register last year.

This is an increase of 87% on the previous year (133,428).

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The records provide information on the charity finances and activities, taken from the statutory annual reports that charities are required to submit to the Charities Regulator within ten months of the end of their financial year.

At year-end 2023, there were 11,516 charities registered in Ireland.

These range from small volunteer-only charities to multi-national organisations.

A total of 130 new charities were registered during 2023. An estimated 281,250 people were employed within the charity sector in 2023 – equivalent to almost one in eight workers in Ireland.

Interim chief executive Madeleine Delaney said: “Public trust underpins the charity sector and is linked to transparency and accountability within the sector."

Transparency

“Filing annual reports is a simple way for charities to show their commitment to transparency and accountability while also providing important information to donors, funders, and others who check the Register of Charities.” 

Delaney said that a significant number of charities were still failing to file their annual reports on time.

A targeted compliance programme began in autumn 2023. Over 1,700 charities that were late, or had not filed at least one annual report, were contacted.

“We also initiated prosecutions during the year against eight charities that had failed to file at least one annual report with us.

“The compliance programme is continuing into 2024, alongside our primary work of providing support to charities through guidance and materials to promote good governance,” said Delaney.

She added: “We also delivered a significant programme of work during 2023 aimed at increasing public trust and confidence in the charity sector. This included an information campaign to promote and support informed giving to charities by encouraging people to check the Register of Charities before donating through checkacharity.ie.”

Increase

“The campaign contributed to a 33% increase in visits to the search the register webpage, and over a quarter of a million views of charity records, a year-on-year increase of 87%. 

“This shows that accountability is important to the Irish public. It also highlights why it is crucial charity trustees make sure their charity’s record on the public Register is up to date,” Delaney said.

The annual report shows:

• ‘Advancement of education’ is the most common charitable purpose, cited by 32% of registered charities,
• Some 52% of registered charities (excluding schools) are volunteer-only organisations,
• The majority of charities (60%) (excluding schools) have annual income of less than €250,000,
• 58% of registered charities filed their statutory annual reports with the Charities Regulator on time (on par with 2022 figures), and 78% had filed by the end of 2023 (up from 73% in 2022),
• During the year 632 concerns were raised with the Charities Regulator, a slight drop on 2022, while the Charities Regulator closed 654 concerns in 2023 – an 18.1% increase in the number of concerns closed compared to 2022. It opened one statutory investigation.