The success of the Zevent was therefore only the tip of the iceberg. With the coronavirus crisis and confinement, the French did not hesitate to take out the checkbook to make a nice gesture. Donations declared to taxes in 2020 and the number of donors during the pandemic have increased, without it being a “tidal wave of generosity”, according to a
study carried out by the Research and Solidarity expert network published Friday.
the # ZEVENT2021 It’s finish ! Thank you for this crazy weekend and spread love everywhere around you, it’s important💚 pic.twitter.com/Vw5ZYfhbbU
– Z Event (@ZEventfr) November 1, 2021
“After the drop in 2018, and the slight rebound in 2019 (2.4%), the amounts of donations for the year 2020 increased by 7.1%, almost as much as in 2014 (7.2% ) ”, Note the authors. The number of households declaring a donation, “in constant decline throughout the period 2013-2019”, is up by 3.4% in 2020. Thus, the study relates to five million tax households declaring a donation to the under income tax, and 28,000 under real estate wealth tax.
The aid to people in difficulty
“The average annual donation declared rose from 404 euros in 2013 to 570 euros in 2020”, an increase that the study explains by a “tax effect”, namely the increase in the ceiling from 546 to 1,000 euros decided by the government for donations to organizations helping people in difficulty or victims of domestic violence. “The number of donors declaring themselves for aid to people in difficulty increased overall by 7.8% between 2019 and 2020”.
Problem, “by wanting to give priority to donations to organizations helping people in difficulty, the government has dried up other donations”, analyzes Jacques Malet, president of Recherches et Solidarité. For him, “we cannot speak of a tidal wave of generosity in 2020”, noting that “the number of donors declaring themselves for other donations has increased by only 0.8%”, and the average donation of 0, 2%.
Young people make an effort, not wealthy households
The study also looks at generosity by age and shows that among donors, “more than half (53.6%) are 60 years old and over,” a slight increase in 2020. This age group is concentrated nearly 60% of the amounts declared. “The average donation is all the higher as the donors are advanced in age”, shows the study, at 665 euros for those over 70 years old against 347 for those under 30 years old. However, if we correlate donation and average income, the “generosity effort” of the under 30s is to be underlined, “in second place, just behind the over 70s”.
On the other hand, the study notes that over the period 2017-2020, the “density of collective generosity” decreased in three income brackets: less than 23,000 euros, and income between 39,000 and 78,000 euros. In other words, wealthy households gave less than others. “We can therefore see that the year 2020 was not particularly good,” said the study.
Over five billion euros in total
Regarding the geography of donations, the ranking by region is very stable from year to year with always the same four regions in the first places: “Ile-de-France is for the first time in the lead in 2020, Brittany alternates between first and second place, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is very well placed and the Grand-Est region is a little behind this year ”.
A little more than five billion euros: it is finally the estimate of the totality of donations made by individuals in 2020. The study arrives at this figure by adding the amount of declared donations (2.8 billion), undeclared donations which could have been declared (1.2 billion), and donations which cannot be declared due to lack of a tax receipt (hand to hand, rounded in cash, donations by SMS…) around a billion.