A new report into funding within the not-for-profit sector has revealed the true extent of the hit that sport took in the first year of Covid lockdowns and restrictions.
As the fourth biggest area within the sector, behind Education, Housing and Religion, sport and recreation took a substantial hit as was the case with all.
The Giving Ireland Report by 2Into3, TU Dublin, and Philanthropy Ireland paints a bleak picture of what the landscape would have looked like without substantial state support but points to the resilience shown after the last major hit of the economic crash of a decade and more ago by way of an optimistic outlook.
The survey is drawn from an analysis of the abridged reports of sample organisations in sport and recreation whose figures are publicly available.
The sector’s total income in 2020 was €20.92 billion. Overall, total income decreased by 5 percent, reflecting the negative impact of Covid-19 on the sector.
Sport was the second hardest hit, behind Arts and Culture with both bearing the brunt of canceled events.
Sport income was down 11 percent versus 25 percent in the Arts and nine percent in international not-for-profits.
The breakdown of where the money came from is interesting with67 percent in public funding in 2020, 14 percent from earned income, 12 percent from fundraising, and seven percent via other means.
Ireland’s reputation as a nation of givers does not stand up to close scrutiny in the report, training as we do behind the United States and the UK.
ils of this event which will be held online on December 1st
On a per capita basis, we give @334 per head a year, as opposed to €421 in Britain and €1,247 in the United States.
Sport for Business will be working with 2Into3 to host a deeper dive into the funding models of sport in particular on December 1st. Watch out on Sport for Business next week for details of how you can be part of this.
