Altruism Ireland
Irish donors and registered Irish charities that want zero-platform-fee giving with a strong emphasis on charity transparency and accountability.
An Irish donation platform and registered charity, launched in 2016, that lets donors give directly to Irish charities at a 0% platform fee, with a strong focus on charity transparency.
- Headquartered in
- IE
- Funding model
- Keep What You Raise
- Platform fee
- 0%
- Payment processing fee
- 1.2% + €0.25
- Recipient gets
- €98.55 / €100
- Data residency
- EU
- Countries
- 1
- Languages
- 1
- Last updated
- 2026-06-10
Our overall editorial assessment. Full weights are published in the methodology.
The review
Altruism Ireland is an Irish donation platform that operates as a registered charity in its own right (CRA number 20082475). It was created in 2014 and officially launched in January 2016, built around a simple premise: helping donors discover and give to Irish charities that commit to financial transparency.
The platform charges a 0% platform fee, so the causes listed keep the full value of each gift apart from unavoidable payment-processing costs. Because Altruism is itself a charity, it is funded by its founders and by voluntary contributions from individuals and companies that value the service, rather than by margins taken from donations.
Its distinguishing feature is a transparency focus applied to listed charities, with education programmes offered to high-performing organisations, a model aimed at donors who want assurance about where their money goes. The trade-off is scope: Altruism is built specifically around the Irish charity sector and the euro, so it is less suited to international campaigns or to personal individual fundraising.
Donations are made in euro and the service is presented in English for an Irish audience. The platform pairs each charity profile with transparency information, positioning itself as a curated, trust-first option rather than a general-purpose fundraising site.
What’s good, what’s not.
- ✓0% platform fee, so listed charities keep the full donation apart from payment-processing costs.
- ✓Operated by a registered Irish charity (CRA 20082475), aligning its incentives with the causes it lists.
- ✓Transparency focus helps donors assess how charities use their funds.
- ✓Education programmes offered to high-performing charities.
- ✓Focused entirely on the Irish charity sector and euro donations.
- −Narrow scope: limited to Irish registered charities, not individual or international fundraisers.
- −Single-currency (euro) and English-only interface limit cross-border use.
- −Smaller, less-known platform than international competitors, with limited brand reach.
- −Payment-processing costs still apply on top of the 0% platform fee.
Where each €100 actually goes.
Fees vary by payment method. We default to Credit card because that’s the dominant method in Australia.
Altruism Ireland doesn’t process payments in AUD. Pricing is shown in EUR, its native currency.
1 countries · 1 languages · 1 payment methods.
Better-fit alternatives to Altruism Ireland.
Our curated shortlist — the platforms we’d actively recommend instead of Altruism Ireland for fundraising in Australia, with the figures behind the call. For the full, neutral index of every side-by-side, see Compare with below.
WhyDonate operates in more countries than Altruism Ireland (115 vs 1), so it reaches donors Altruism Ireland can’t.
Zeffy lets more of each donation through than Altruism Ireland — A$100.00 reaches the recipient per 100, against A$98.55.
JustGiving operates in more countries than Altruism Ireland (6 vs 1), so it reaches donors Altruism Ireland can’t.
See how Altruism Ireland stacks up head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
What does Altruism Ireland charge?
Altruism Ireland charges a 0% platform fee and 1.2% + €0.25 in payment processing per donation.
Where is Altruism Ireland based?
Altruism Ireland was founded in — and is headquartered in IE. Data residency is EU.
Which countries does Altruism Ireland operate in?
Altruism Ireland operates in 1 countries including major European markets and English-speaking markets.
Is Altruism Ireland suitable for nonprofits?
Altruism Ireland’s primary audience is individual fundraisers and groups; nonprofits can use the platform but may find specialized alternatives better suited.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.