Croatia

Introduction to Philanthropy Research in Croatia

By Gojko Bezovan and Jelena Matancevic

Philanthropy research in Croatia remains limited, and reliable data are scarce. The topic receives little attention in university curricula and the media, and there is no comprehensive national system for monitoring charitable giving. The available picture therefore has to be constructed from tax records, foundation accounts, official statistics, media monitoring and a small number of academic and sector-based studies.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb and CERANEO, the Centre for Development of Non-Profit Organisations, are among the principal institutions conducting research on philanthropy and foundations. In 2023, they surveyed the development of Croatian foundations, examining their current position, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and their main achievements and challenges. The research also incorporated Tax Administration data on donations reported by individuals and corporations as tax-deductible contributions.

In 2024, CERANEO conducted a further study of the financial sustainability and grantmaking activities of foundations. This analysis was based on publicly available financial statements covering the period 2019–2023 and provides one of the most systematic recent sources on institutional philanthropy in Croatia.

Catalyst Balkans is another important source. Its Giving Balkans platform uses media monitoring to record publicly reported donations and fundraising activities across the Western Balkans. This provides relatively timely information on Croatian philanthropy, but donations that receive little or no media attention may be missed.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics collects data on nonprofit institutions serving households, including associations, foundations and private public-benefit companies. These statistics provide information on the economic size of civil society, including organisational income and employment, but offer limited detail on philanthropy itself.

Overview of Giving in Croatia

Giving by individuals

Croatian residents have been able to claim a personal tax deduction for charitable donations since 2001. Donations in money or in kind can generally be deducted up to 2% of annual taxable income, with exceptions possible for contributions approved by the relevant ministries. However, only a small proportion of citizens use this facility. In 2022, 4,251 taxpayers reported donations with a total value of approximately €1.04 million.

Tax data capture only donations claimed through annual returns and therefore represent a small part of total individual giving. According to the CAF World Giving Index cited in the chapter, 17% of Croatian adults reported donating money, 11% volunteered and 43% had helped a stranger. Croatia ranked 137th out of the 142 countries covered.

Giving Balkans recorded a substantial rise in publicly visible donations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the earthquakes that affected Zagreb, Petrinja, Sisak and Glina. Recorded donations increased from €15.5 million in 2019 to €38.2 million in 2020 and €39 million in 2021. In 2022, the recorded total fell to €19.6 million, approximately half the previous year’s figure.

Donations are commonly directed towards marginalised groups, healthcare, education and poverty alleviation. In 2022, nonprofit organisations received 49% of recorded donation actions and approximately 51.8% of the total value. Public-benefit organisations received 25.1% of the value, while individuals and households received 14.1%. Nonprofit organisations were estimated to have collected approximately €10.1 million that year.

Humanitarian telephone numbers are an important channel for mass giving. Their allocation is regulated by the Law on Humanitarian Aid, and approved campaigns must have a humanitarian purpose and a communication plan capable of reaching a broad audience. Seven such numbers were assigned in 2023 and 2024, with donations made by telephone exempt from VAT.

Bequest giving

Croatian law allows people to leave part or all of their estate for a lawful purpose, including establishing or supporting a foundation. Public-benefit companies, religious communities, foundations, the Red Cross and registered humanitarian organisations are exempt from inheritance, gift and real-estate transaction taxes.

Despite this enabling legal framework, no open or systematic data source exists for charitable bequests in Croatia. Available information is limited to individual cases and voluntary disclosures by recipient organisations.

Corporate giving

Corporate donations in money, goods or services are generally deductible up to 2% of the company’s income in the preceding financial year. Donations above this threshold may also qualify when made under decisions by the relevant ministries for specific programmes or initiatives.

Tax Administration figures for donations above the 2% threshold fluctuate considerably. In 2022, 781 companies reported approximately €7.19 million in such donations. Giving Balkans estimated total corporate donations at approximately €13.5 million in 2021, mainly from large corporations.

Corporate donations are directed mainly towards nonprofit and public-benefit organisations, particularly those serving marginalised groups or working in education and healthcare. Large companies increasingly use competitive grant programmes, and a small number have established corporate foundations. Employee volunteering is also becoming more prominent: by the time of the study, 47 employers had signed the Croatian Charter on Employee Volunteering.

Foundations

At the end of 2023, Croatia had 330 registered foundations. A 2023 survey found that 36% described themselves as fundraising foundations, 32% as endowed foundations, 19% as community foundations and 7% as corporate foundations. Most were relatively young: 27% had been created since 2021.

The financial resources of many foundations remain limited. The average reported endowment was approximately €142,150, but 52% of foundations had endowments below €10,000 and 38% below €5,000.

In 2022, foundations reported receiving support from domestic individuals, domestic companies, local authorities, other foundations and civil society organisations, European and international funds, and foreign donors. Domestic individuals were mentioned by 53% of foundations and domestic companies by 50%. Education and research was the most frequently supported field.

Financial-report data indicate substantial recent growth. Total income among reporting foundations increased from €8.7 million in 2019 to €14.1 million in 2023. Donation income rose from approximately €6.3 million to €10.7 million over the same period. In 2023, 32 foundations awarded scholarships worth approximately €848,000.

Prominent examples include the Solidarna Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity, which raised more than €2.3 million through its earthquake-relief campaign, and the Adris Foundation, one of the region’s largest corporate foundations.

Gambling-revenue allocations

Croatia does not have charity lotteries operated directly by nonprofit organisations. Instead, legislation allocates 50% of revenues collected from games-of-chance operators to socially beneficial purposes. This amounted to approximately €97 million in 2022 and €117 million in 2023.

The funds are distributed through ministries, public bodies and state foundations. The 2024 allocation included support for sport, social and humanitarian activities, people with disabilities, culture, youth education and civil society development. These funds are publicly allocated and therefore do not constitute private philanthropy in the same way as household or corporate donations.

Sources of Contributions in Croatia

The chapter brings together the following indicative figures for 2022, although the individual and corporate amounts are based on 2021 data:

These figures should be interpreted cautiously because they come from different years and methodologies. The largest documented flow consists of statutory gambling-revenue allocations rather than voluntary private donations.

Overall, Croatian philanthropy appears to be developing, particularly through crisis giving, corporate initiatives and a growing foundation sector. However, the evidence base remains incomplete. Data on the sources of contributions are stronger than data on how those resources are used, while bequests and less visible forms of individual giving remain largely undocumented.

Source

Bezovan, G., & Matancevic, J. (2026). Philanthropy in Croatia. In B. Hoolwerf & J. Vamstad (Eds.), Philanthropy in Europe: Mapping Research and Data on Donations by Households, Bequests, Foundations, Corporations and Charity Lotteries (pp. 65–78). European Research Network on Philanthropy.

You can download the full publication here: Philanthropy in Europe.