Portugal

Introduction to Philanthropy Research in Portugal

By Madalena Eça de Abreu, Ana Simaens and Pedro Calado

Research on philanthropy in Portugal remains relatively limited, particularly when it comes to systematically measuring contributions from individuals, households, corporations, foundations and lotteries. Data are collected through a range of studies and administrative sources, but there is no regular and comprehensive national system bringing these different forms of philanthropy together.

The National Statistics Institute provides information on the social economy but does not offer detailed national estimates of philanthropy. Its most recent relevant data indicate that donations account for approximately 5% of the funding of social-economy organisations and 7.4% of the funding of altruistic associations.

Individual giving has historically been particularly difficult to measure. A major development is a national survey conducted as part of Pedro Calado’s doctoral research at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and implemented by Ipsos, it provides one of the first public datasets specifically focused on individual philanthropy in Portugal.

The survey shows that 85% of respondents consider philanthropy important. At the same time, the proportion donating money declined from 54% in 2017 to 38% in 2023, although the average amount donated increased. Volunteering also declined, from 17% to 13% of respondents, while average annual volunteering time fell from 93 to 75 hours. Social inclusion, health and humanitarian causes were among the most commonly supported areas.

Corporate philanthropy is considerably better documented. Research by Informa D&B provides detailed information on corporate giving, while recent research supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has improved knowledge of Portugal’s foundation sector. Data on social games are available through Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

Overview of Giving in Portugal

Giving by individuals

Portuguese taxpayers can support charitable organisations through fiscal consignment. Taxpayers may allocate 0.5% of their assessed personal income tax to an eligible nonprofit organisation working in areas such as social welfare, religion, the environment or culture, without any additional cost to themselves. They can also assign certain VAT deductions to eligible organisations, although this reduces the taxpayer’s refund or increases the amount of tax payable.

In 2022, €30.5 million was transferred through these two mechanisms. Income-tax consignment accounted for €29.1 million and VAT consignment for €1.4 million. A total of 4,566 organisations benefited. Approximately 860,000 households participated, down from around one million in 2021.

Direct giving is considerably larger. The national survey conducted as part of Pedro Calado’s research estimates that individuals donated approximately €639 million in 2023. Because the estimate is based on survey research rather than comprehensive administrative data, it should be regarded as indicative.

The survey also indicates substantial changes in giving behaviour. The proportion of people donating money fell from 54% in 2017 to 38% in 2023, even though the average amount donated increased. Giving methods have increasingly shifted away from cash toward digital channels, direct debit, ATM payments and tax allocation. Trust in organisations, commitment to particular causes and a desire to create positive impact are important motivations, while limited financial resources, distrust in the management of donations and donation fatigue are significant barriers.

International comparisons also suggest relatively low participation in monetary giving. The 2023 World Giving Index reported that 24% of people in Portugal had donated money to charity, placing the country in the lower quintile internationally.

Bequest giving

There are currently no official national statistics on charitable bequests in Portugal. No known data source systematically records either the total value of charitable legacies or how they are distributed across different causes.

As a result, no monetary estimate for bequest giving can be included in the national overview.

Corporate giving

Corporate philanthropy is one of the better documented components of giving in Portugal. The most comprehensive recent study, produced by Informa D&B, covers corporate giving in 2022.

Approximately 65,000 companies, representing around 18% of the corporate sector, made donations. Non-financial companies contributed €217 million. When donations from banking and insurance companies are included, the estimated total rises to approximately €238 million.

Large companies play a disproportionate role. Although they represent only around 1% of donor companies, they accounted for almost half of the total value of donations. Banking and insurance companies contributed approximately €21 million, or 9% of the expanded corporate total.

Retail accounted for approximately one-third of donations. Together, retail, business services, manufacturing and wholesale represented about two-thirds of the total value donated. Geographically, the North and Centre had the largest number of donor companies, but the Lisbon Metropolitan Area accounted for around half of the total value of corporate donations because of its concentration of large companies.

Corporate giving also appears relatively persistent. Between 2018 and 2022, around 131,000 companies donated approximately €1.12 billion. Twenty-eight per cent gave in every year during this period, and 81% of donations in 2022 came from companies that had donated during the preceding five years.

Most corporate gifts are small: 94% of donor companies contributed no more than €5,000. At the other end of the scale, 40 companies donated more than €500,000 each. Family-owned businesses represented more than one-third of donor companies and accounted for 23% of the total value donated.

The available corporate data do not identify the organisations or causes that ultimately received these contributions.

Foundations

Recent research has substantially improved knowledge of the Portuguese foundation sector. A 2024 study funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and conducted by the Catholic University of Porto identified 618 active foundations in Portugal.

Earlier research identified 873 foundations in 2020 and distinguished between operative foundations, grantmaking foundations and organisations combining the two models. Social services were the most common field of activity, accounting for 30%, followed by culture, communication and recreation at 21%, health at 17%, and education at 9%.

The 2024 study reports €865.8 million associated with Portuguese foundations. However, this figure represents overall revenue or turnover rather than the amount foundations donated. It therefore cannot be used as an estimate of foundation giving. There is currently no data source that isolates grants financed from foundation endowments.

For this reason, the national overview does not include a monetary estimate for foundation giving.

Charity lotteries

Social games in Portugal are operated exclusively on behalf of the State by Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa through its Games Department. Their revenues are redistributed through prizes, retailer commissions, taxes and allocations supporting social policy and other public-benefit purposes.

In 2022, approximately €2.974 billion, equivalent to 97.1% of the amount wagered, was returned to society in different forms. This figure includes prizes, commissions, taxes and other legally mandated expenditures and should therefore not be interpreted as charitable giving.

Within this amount, €681 million, or 22.2% of gross sales, was allocated to good causes and sponsorships. Of this, €666 million was specifically directed toward charitable causes. Beneficiaries included older people, disadvantaged families, children and young people, people with disabilities and victims of violence, alongside initiatives in culture, education and sport.

Despite these substantial allocations, the national source table does not include charity-lottery funding in its estimate of philanthropic contributions.

Sources of Contributions in Portugal

The available source-based estimate amounts to approximately €877 million, consisting of €639 million in estimated individual giving and €238 million in corporate donations. The individual estimate refers to 2023, while the corporate figure refers to 2022. Bequests and foundation giving cannot currently be quantified using comparable data.

The €865.8 million reported for foundations in 2024 is not included because it represents total foundation revenue or turnover rather than philanthropic distributions. Likewise, although €666 million from social games was directed to charitable causes in 2022, charity lotteries are marked as not included in the chapter’s national contribution table.

The data landscape is improving, particularly through new national research on individual giving. Nevertheless, Portugal still lacks recurring and systematically comparable data across the major sources of philanthropy. Existing datasets also cannot readily be linked because they lack common identifiers and compatible formats.

Source

Eça de Abreu, M., Simaens, A., & Calado, P. (2026). Philanthropy in Portugal. In B. Hoolwerf & J. Vamstad (Eds.), Philanthropy in Europe: Mapping Research and Data on Donations by Households, Bequests, Foundations, Corporations and Charity Lotteries (pp. 239–248). European Research Network on Philanthropy.

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