A Culture of Giving - The Story of Donegal Giving

Donegal Giving is a seed. With the support of people, communities, and businesses, it can grow into something even more powerful.

Donegal is a county known for its landscape and its people. With around 180,000 people living there (Central Statistics Office, April 2025), making it one of the most rural parts of Ireland. Towns and villages are scattered across the county, and for generations neighbours have depended on each other, helped each other out and shared what they had.

Life has changed, of course, but there is still a warmth and friendliness in Donegal and a strong sense of looking out for one another. That was really where the idea for Donegal Giving came from.

We wanted to recognise the giving that was already happening all around us, celebrate it and encourage more of it.

Donegal Giving didn’t start with a big budget or a set plan. It started with conversations and with people offering their time, skills, knowledge and ideas.

That’s what giving can look like. Both sides can gain something from it.

And that’s still at the heart of what we are doing.

A business might give someone their first opportunity or internship. Someone with years of experience might share a little of what they have learned. You might make an introduction that opens a door, share a skill, help a community organisation, give somebody an hour of your time or simply be there for someone who needs you.

It doesn’t have to involve money.

And then something happened…

Donegal Giving officially launched in November 2025 and, in our first year, the idea grew much faster than we could have imagined.

Hundreds of people came together at An Grianán Theatre for our first county-wide event. We developed and delivered our first Transition Year programme, worked with young people, schools, businesses and community organisations, collaborated with ATU on research into giving in Donegal, joined the RiSE Social Enterprise Programme and were delighted to receive recognition at the Donegal Volunteer Awards.

We have since become a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) and now have a voluntary Board helping to guide Donegal Giving into its next chapter.

We’ve welcomed new partners, developed new education and community ideas and created Footprints of Giving, our first journal, looking at the people who have shaped our lives and the footprints we leave for others.

And this November we’ll bring everyone together again at An Grianán Theatre for Footprints of Giving 2026.

A lot has changed in a year.

But the idea behind Donegal Giving hasn’t.

The Idea is Simple

People in Donegal already give in so many different ways.

We give our time. We share what we know. We pass on skills and experience. We create opportunities. We make introductions. We look after each other. We give to our communities, to ourselves and to the environment around us.

Sometimes we don’t even recognise these things as giving.

Donegal Giving wants to change that.

We want people to stop occasionally and think about what they have received from others, but also to ask themselves:

What do I have that I could give?

You might have an hour. You might have 40 years of experience. You might know someone who could open a door for a young person. You might run a business that could offer an opportunity. You might have a skill somebody else needs. Or you might simply have a little kindness to give.

It all counts.

Where Does the Money Go?

Donegal Giving is a not-for-profit organisation and our Board gives its time on a voluntary basis.

Any money we raise goes back into Donegal Giving and the work we are developing here in Donegal.

That could mean an education programme for young people, a community project, research, an event that brings people together, new resources or simply giving a good idea the chance to happen.

The more support we receive, the more we can do.

And ultimately, that’s what we want Donegal Giving to be about. Turning people’s goodwill, knowledge, time, connections and support into something positive for Donegal.

Something That Has Always Been Here

There is a lovely connection between all of this and Donegal’s own motto.

Mutuam Habeatis Caritatem.

“Have Love For One Another.”

Perhaps Donegal Giving isn’t really about creating something completely new.

Maybe it’s about putting a name around something Donegal people have been doing for generations, valuing it, sharing it and making sure we pass it on.

From one generation to the next.