Legacy Giving in Ireland: A Blueprint for Growing Charitable Income
- Jul 13
- 4 min read
by: Niall O'Sullivan, MyLegacy
Legacy income is a growing source of income in many countries worldwide. A new report – ‘A Blueprint for Growing Legacy Income in Ireland’, authored by Niall O'Sullivan and supported by CII and My Legacy has identified the potential for Ireland also. As well as reviewing the available data as to the scale of the market presently, the report brings together relevant demographic and wealth data. It also includes international comparisons. It is clear, that, with strategic actions being implemented, Ireland has the best potential of practically any other country in the world, with only New Zealand having a similar level of opportunity.
Did you know:
Only 27% of Irish adults have a Will.
Only around 4% of people who die leave a charitable gift.
Fewer than 500 charities receive bequests in a typical year.
Very few bequests are currently left to foundations – but included in the report is the story of The Katharine Howard Foundation and how legacies to it, grew its endowment.
Annual charity legacy income in Ireland is €100m – In the UK, it is 4.5billion – which pro rata a multiple of three of Ireland.
At the same time, there are some encouraging signs:
25% of people say they intend to leave a charitable gift in their Will (Charities Regulator 2025)
33% would consider including a charity when making or updating a Will if there was a tax incentive (Red C 2024) for My Legacy.
Inspired by the approach taken by Philanthropy Australia for its plan to grow philanthropy dollars there, the report identified key actions. Some are structural, e.g. resourcing of the Probate offices, some are about making fundamental change, e.g. the introduction of a Wills notification service – to ensure confidence that all intended charitable bequests reach their intended target. A key goal is to build confidence among charities and also fundraising foundations that now is the time to invest to grow this income stream. The report is a must-read for leaders – executive and boards – in the for-purpose sectors.
Incentivising Legacy Giving
The report also appeals to government so that Ireland can incentivise and promote legacy giving through Wills by a reduction in the CAT Rate of 33% to 30% for Beneficiaries under a Will where 10% or more of that Estate is left to Charitable Causes. This is inspired by a successful incentive introduced in the UK in 2013. The report recommends that any future changes to the tax rate or threshold would only happen if accompanied by this change. This is fairer to society as either increasing bands or reducing tax rates will likely perpetuate wealth. The tax-free threshold in Ireland has already been increased by over 60% from €250,000 to €400,000 between 2012 and 2024. A key benefit of the UK change has been the greater engagement by professional advisors ‘to have the conversation’ about considering the inclusion of a bequest, when meeting their clients. There is scope to make changes. The State took in a record €1.121bn from inheritance and gift tax revenue in 2025, more than double the €505m total for 2020.
A government funded information campaign about the importance of having a Will would also be beneficial. This has important wider societal benefits as well as opening the door to more people including bequests in the Will. Charities and foundations could piggy-back on such a campaign for maximum impact.
Do Rich(er) People Give (In their Will)?
Included in the report is initial data from yet to be published research, also by Niall O'Sullivan, on the scale of giving in Wills by wealthier people in Ireland. Included in this cohort are people who could have been more likely to establish a foundation or Donor Advised Fund, either in their lifetime or via their Will. The initial findings are quite stark.
For 2024:
607 estates reviewed.
Total combined value €1.6 billion.
13% of this cohort had charitable Wills.
A combined €6.5m was left to charity.
These wealthier individuals left 0.4% of their combined total estate values to charity – below the averages of the population as a whole – which is closer to 1%.
Funding is currently being sought to enable the completion of this research and to continue into 2026 and 2026. The research findings could be crucial in supporting arguments for amendments to inheritance tax as described in this article and other philanthropy tax initiatives currently being sought.
Ambition
Ireland could and should be ambitious for legacy. 2024 legacy income was over €100m. If we do nothing and giving levels remain unchanged, natural population growth alone could mean there is an increase to €200m. However, such growth has not materialised in the early 2020s so growth cannot be taken for granted. If Ireland ‘does nothing’ and wealth levels increase as expected, the total may even increase to €300m. However, the report recommends that Ireland should be aiming for over half a billion euros + legacy income by 2050. Even achieving this would still leave us – pro rata behind the UK, where legacy income is predicted to increase to €10billion by 2050.
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