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Hungary

European Research Network on Philanthropy
Éva Kuti
Budapest College of Management
email: kuti.eva@ upcmail.hu

Current research projects on philanthropy in Hungary

An annual survey of nonprofit organizations has been carried out by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office for more than fifteen years. Its questionnaire includes questions on individual and corporate donations. Detailed information on this ongoing project (its content, methodology, results) is available in a recent publication. Its authors are Renáta Nagy and István Sebestény. The paper can be downloaded from the official website of the Statistical Office:

A research project on corporate donations to culture is in progress in Hungary. It covers the history of corporate patronage and sponsorship, the statistical evidence on the size of donations before and after the economic crisis, the motivations and communication aspects of business sponsorship. The present project is based on the results of a former, more general research of corporate philanthropy. A short English summary of the major findings can be downloaded from the website of the Nonprofit Kutatócsoport (a research association specialized in nonprofit research, the host organization of the project):
The EU Civis project has been carried out by the European House, Hungary. Its aim is to analyze the history, current situation, and perspectives of civil society in some EU countries paying special attention to European issues and also looking for common roots as well as common challenges of today in order to strengthen the European identity. Detailed information on the project is available at the website:
The first results of the EU Civis project have been published in three volumes which describe the Austrian, Hungarian and Romanian third sectors. They all include a chapter on private donations. These books can be downloaded from:
The European House is planning to enlarge the project. The next country studies will probably report on the Belgian and Spanish third sectors.

Current state of Giving Research in Hungary

Data sources for individual donations in Hungary

Two different sources of empirical information on individual charitable giving are available in Hungary. Both the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) and some nonprofit organisations have been involved in the data collection for the last 15 years.
First of all, the HCSO has been carrying out an annual survey of nonprofit organisations since 1993. Its questionnaire includes detailed questions on the components of revenue sources, including a separate item of individual donations. As a result, not only a time-series of the overall amount of individual donations is available, but the breakdown of this amount (by types and size of nonprofit organisations, fields of activities, regions, etc.) can also be analysed on the basis of statistical data (HCSO, 1995–2008).

Secondly, a population survey was initiated by the Nonprofit Kutatócsoport Egyesület (Association for Nonprofit Research) and carried out in partnership with the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (Czakó et al, 1995). This sample survey collected data on the giving habits and voluntary activities of 14,833, randomly selected adults (18 years of age or over) in 1993. Respondents were questioned using the in-home personal interview technique. The questionnaire was broadly similar to those of several other European and North American research projects. The respondents were regarded as individual donors if they supported foundations, voluntary associations, churches, public institutions or private persons other than their family members, relatives and close friends.

A follow-up survey of 5,000 randomly selected Hungarian citizens (14 years of age or over) was conducted in 2004, using almost the same questionnaire. This second survey was the result of the co-operation between the Önkéntes Központ Alapítvány (National Volunteer Centre Foundation) and the Nonprofit Kutatócsoport Egyesület (Czike and Kuti, 2006).
Descriptive statistics
According to the results of the last sample survey, in 2004 nearly four-fifths of the population aged fourteen and over were involved in making at least one kind of donation out of the following: financial donations, donations in kind, unpaid voluntary activities, and blood donations. This means that almost 7 million people did something, even if it was on a small scale, for the sake of their wider community. Most of them helped people and various nonprofit, governmental, and local governmental institutions, denominations and parties outside their circle of family and friends in more than one way.
In 2004, the most popular form of donations was financial donations. Two-thirds of the population aged 14 or over donated money. The percentage of donors of in kind donations was nearly 50%. The comparison of the results of the surveys of 1993 and 2004 indicate significant growth:
·         The percentage of donors of different forms of donations rose from 51 to 68 percent between 1993 and 2004. The share of adults who made monetary donations was 45 and 65 percent, respectively. This growth is probably explained by the fact that the Hungarian nonprofit sector has been extended considerably since 1993. The number of organisations asking for support has also multiplied, as have the opportunities for offering help.
·         The percentage of donors making donations only occasionally has dropped and the percentage of donors making regular donations has grown within in-kind donors. The reverse has happened in the case of financial donors, probably due to the proliferation of occasional collections
·         Citizens’ support preferences have slightly changed over the last decade. Nonprofit organisations specialised in health and social care have a bigger share of the donations than before. Most donors and the largest amount of donations are attracted by churches. The major recipients among secular nonprofit organisations are those working in the field of education, health care, and social care. The support given to cultural, sport, and leisure organisations is also sizable. The rest of the fields can only expect an insignificant percentage of citizens to make donations.
·         The socio-demographic composition of supporters has not changed since 1993. The best donors are the middle-aged, married or co-habiting, educated people with 2 or 3 children at the most, high social statuses and are members of civil organisations. Within this group, women participate more in making donations. The influential role of commitment to the church on charitable behaviour has grown perceptibly.
·         The number of people emphasising the individual’s responsibility for the community is growing. More than half of the donors intend to help people in need by making a donation. More than a third of the donors say that their donation serves the general interest of their community. Only a fraction of the donors refer to their own interest.
The regularly published statistical figures also reflect a significant growth of individual donations to nonprofit organisations:
Table 1. Secular nonprofit organisations’ revenues from individual donations by fields of activity in Hungary, 1993–2006 (Million HUF)
Year
Education & research
Health & social care
Culture & religion*
Sports & recreation
Other
Total
1993
751.4
530.4
530.3
411.2
346.2
2,569.5
1994
983.7
848.7
795.0
323.2
477.8
3,428.4
1995
1,403.8
1,020.3
950.3
422.1
534.6
4,331.1
1996
1,896.5
1,546.6
1,310.9
666.7
603.0
6,023.7
1997
2,388.1
1,390.9
1,436.3
576.9
776.6
6,568.8
1998
2,434.1
1,859.0
1,595.8
639.3
744.4
7,272.6
1999
2,832.1
2,948.7
1,800.9
716.0
792.0
9,089.7
2000
3,093.8
3,196.8
2,545.3
785.0
1,547.8
11,168.7
2003
3,829.1
3,302.4
2,586.2
1,321.9
2,202.3
13,241.9
2005
5,218.0
5,160.2
2,253.2
1,651.9
2,638.6
16,921.9
2006
6,091.1
5,400.6
3,523.3
2,462.5
2,729.6
20,207.1
* Faith-based charities are included, but churches are not.
Sources: HCSO (1995–2008)

Source: Wiepking, P. (Ed.) The State of Giving Research in Europe. Household donations to Charitable Organizations in Twelve Countries. Pallas Publications: Amsterdam, the Netherlands. order here.

References

Czakó, Ágnes – Harsányi, László – Kuti, Éva – Vajda, Ágnes (1995): Individual giving and volunteering Központi Statisztikai Hivatal & Nonprofit Kutatócsoport Egyesület, Budapest.  http://www.nonprofitkutatas.hu/letoltendo/adoang.doc
Czike, Klára – Kuti, Éva (2006): Önkéntesség, jótékonyság, társadalmi integráció (Volunteering, charity, social integration) – Nonprofit Kutatócsoport Egyesület, Önkéntes Központ Alapítvány, Budapest.
HCSO (1995–2008). Nonprofit szervezetek Magyarországon, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 (Nonprofit organizations in Hungary, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006), Központi Statisztikai Hivatal, Budapest.
Kuti, Éva – Czike, Klára (2005): Citizens’ Donations and Voluntary Activities (Flash report on the findings of the 2004 survey) http://www.nonprofitkutatas.hu/letoltendo/citizens.pdf
Kuti, Éva (2008): Differences and similarities between corporate, individual and 1% philanthropy – Their relevance to fund raising efficiency, In, ISTR Conference Working Papers, Volume VI, Barcelona Conference 2008 http://www.istr.org/conferences/barcelona/WPVolume/Kuti.pdf