“There Is Positive Progress On Preference and Perception Towards Civil Society”

TÜSEV’s (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey ) " Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2019 Report" was published. According to the results of the research, the total per capita value of all aids and donations made in a year in Turkey is about 303 TL. TÜSEV Secretary General Rana Kotan stated that individual donators are key actors for the development of civil society and said, “We can say that there is positive progress in the choice and perception towards civil society.”

Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TÜSEV) Chairman Deniz Ataç made the opening speech at the “Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2019 Report” introductory meeting. TÜSEV Secretary General Rana Kotan also evaluated the report results. In the program, Betül Selcen Özer from Tohum Autism Foundation, Liana Varon from the Support Foundation for Civil Society and Zeynep Ecer from AKUT answered the questions after sharing their views on the subject.

The report published by TÜSEV that covers many topics such as trends in individual donation, donation areas and on the motivations of donation in Turkey was prepared under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ali Çarkoğlu and Dr. Faculty Member Selim Erdem Aytaç from Koç University Civil Society and Philanthropy Research Center, with the participation of a total of 2,502 people in 67 provinces. Individual Giving and Philanthropy Turkey 2019 Report, which is a guide resource in the field of individual donation, reveals trends in the field of individual donation, among the donation areas and changes in donation motivations. The report also includes the findings of the reports previously prepared in 2004 and 2015, and the changes observed in the field of individual donation are presented comparatively. 

Direct Aid Is Preferred Instead of Donating To Institutions

The total of all individual aids and donations made within a year in Turkey is estimated as 17.6 billion TL. This amount corresponds to 0.5 percent of Turkey’s 2018 gross domestic product. While 262.7 TL of the total per capita value of all aids and donations in a year in Turkey is made as direct aid (to relatives, neighbors, to other people, to beggars or as islamic charity), 40.2 TL is given to non-governmental organizations. This amount was 26.7 TL in 2015. People state that they prefer to make direct aids rather than donating to an organization, because their aid is very small in quantity and they do it irregularly.

NGOs Being Transparent Is The Reason for Donating

The report, which also includes findings about the reasons for donations and about the methods preferred also examines the reasons that encourage individuals to donate. More than half of the interviewees state that they will donate if they are sure of how their donation is spent, while 52 percent consider NGOs being transparent as a reason to donate.

Individual giving and aid amount per person is 303 TL

According to the results of the research, the total per capita value of all aids and donations made in a year in turkey is about 303 TL. This amount was determined as 228 TL according to the research findings in 2015. Considering the inflation value in the past 4 years, this amount is calculated to be 360 TL in 2019. When these data are analyzed, it is seen that there is a real decrease in the total value of each aid and donations made in a year in Turkey.

“There Is Positive Progress On Trusting Civil Society”

Speaking to Civil Pages after the program, TÜSEV Secretary General Rana Kotan stated that they will continue working to increase individual donations in Turkey. Stating that the program had been very effective with a wide participation, Kotan said: “There has been a very good participation, we were happy with the attention we received. Many people and non-governmental organizations had an interest and curiosity in increasing individual donation. The event was both efficient for the report and the questions were asked to panel speakers showed that there is a need to think and talk about. In the next period, we need to think about what we can do with individual donation collectively in cooperation because individual donors are key actors for the development of civil society. We can say that there is a positive progress on the preference and perception towards civil society. It seems that there is a need to think deeper about how civil society will mobilize individual givers. We think that everyone benefited from the event as the participants stayed until the end of the program and as the program was interactive.

You can click here buraya for the report.