The average donation increases each year according to statistics from the General Directorate of Public Finances, used by the Research & Solidarities network of experts. The 5 million tax households declaring donations to the tax authorities have crossed the threshold of 600 euros donated per year.
The average donation is growing, but not as fast as inflation. Exactly 2.3%, according to the Recherches & Solidarités associative network. The 5 million tax households having declared donations giving entitlement to income tax reduction (of 66% or 75%) in spring 2023, therefore donations made during 2022, gave more than 3 billion euros to organizations such as the Red Cross, Restos du coeur, AFM-Téléthon, etc. The milestone of 3 billion euros was thus crossed, as was that of 600 euros in average donations over a year.
Donations declared for income tax: more than 600 euros per year
Precisely, more than 4.9 million households declared donations. These are households, which means that the number of donors is much higher, since each household potentially brings together several people. The number of donor households is increasing after falling from 5.5 million in 2013 to 4.7 million in 2019. As a proportion of income, this network estimates that those under 30 give 2.5% of what they earn, those in their forties 1.6% of their income and those in their sixties 2% of their various remunerations.
| Year | Average donation over the whole year |
|---|---|
| 2013 | €404 |
| 2014 | €437 |
| 2015 | €450 |
| 2016 | €472 |
| 2017 | €497 |
| 2018 | €507 |
| 2019 | €550 |
| 2020 | €570 |
| 2021 | €591 |
| 2022 | €605 |
Source: DGFiP and Recherches & Solidarités. Donations from taxed and untaxed taxpayers, declared to the tax authorities.
Donations declared for real estate wealth tax: more than 6,000 euros per year
Taxpayers subject to the IFI can choose to allocate the donations they have made to the reduction of this tax, provided that they are not allocated to the reduction of income tax at the same time. Taxpayers benefit from an IFI reduction equal to 75% of donations made, up to a limit of 50,000 euros. In 2022, more than 33,000 households declared “IFI donations”.
| Year | Average donation over the whole year |
|---|---|
| 2018 | €5,628 |
| 2019 | €5,621 |
| 2020 | €5,878 |
| 2021 | €6,000 |
| 2022 | €6,114 for 33,200 tax households subject to the IFI having tax exemption via donations |
Source: DGFiP and Recherches & Solidarités. Donations from taxed and untaxed taxpayers, declared to the tax authorities.
Donations to political parties: 333 euros on average
Donating to political parties entitles you to an income tax reduction equivalent to 66% of the donation, up to a limit of 7,500 euros. The number of donors is reduced, to 187,000 in 2022: it was more than double in 2014.
| Year | Average donation over the whole year |
|---|---|
| 2018 | €302 |
| 2019 | €356 |
| 2020 | €363 |
| 2021 | €344 |
| 2022 | €333 for 187,000 tax households |
Source: DGFiP and Recherches & Solidarités. Donations from taxed and untaxed taxpayers, declared to the tax authorities.
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Who receives these donations?
The main beneficiary associations were in 2022 – a year marked by the war in Ukraine – the Red Cross, Restos du coeur and Secours catholique. But the total donations made to the top 5 beneficiary organizations is less than 9% of what the French gave in 2022, which shows that the range of associations receiving donations is much wider.
Red Cross, Restos du coeur, Telethon… The top 20 donations from the French