How to Find Charities Near Me
While it feels great to support a charity in any way, there is something special about making a difference through local charities in your own community. Helping a local charity can mean going beyond a one-time donation and getting to know your community on a deeper level. You might also gain a better understanding of the organisation and its mission.
Finding charities near you
There are a number of easy and quick ways to find charities supporting a wealth of things near you – from homelessness to helping animals. And, if you want to start raising money for a charity near you, we’ve got a blog with tips on how to do so here.
Search the Register of Charities
The Register of Charities is an easy way to find charities near you to support. You can visit the register, type in your location and leave the ‘Where the charity operates’ filter checked to search for charities in that location. There are more than 11,600 charities on the list, all registered by the Charities Regulator.
Use GoFundMe’s charity finder
Using GoFundMe’s charity finder can also help to inspire you on local charities in your area. If you know of a charity in your area, you can search for it on the site to see what fundraisers are running. But also, if you search by location, you can find any charities that have that location in their name.
Contact charities directly
If you’re inspired by the work of a larger charity, it’s also an option to contact them and ask how they operate in that area. Most larger charities will have an email address on site – or a contact form – so why not drop them a message to ask if they have any location-specific operations in your area?
Our local charities list makes helping easy
If you’d like to get involved with local charities, you might be wondering, “What is the best way to find charities near me?” With thousands of charities in IE there is certainly no shortage of organisations to help.
This charity directory will help you find some of the most prominent charities operating in different areas of Ireland. If this has inspired you to find more, you can visit our longer list of charities here.
1. Pieta House
Pieta House was first established in Dublin in 2006. They help people who are engaging in self harm, or are in suicidal distress and in the time they have been operating have seen and helped more than 60,000 people. They operate in locations across Ireland now and help those struggling access help via a crisis helpline and through therapy. Those who are worried a loved one is suicidal or self harming can also seek help via Pieta House and they offer support to those bereaved by suicide too.
2. Cork Simon
Cork Simon works with those who are homeless in Cork, offering support and accommodation to help them get back on their feet. Their approach to help has various aspects, from emergency outreach teams who help those sleeping rough to emergency shelter and accommodation. They also have a health team and a hot meal service and also offer things like tenancy support.
3. Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation
Before this foundation in Mayo and Roscommon was established in 1992 there were no specialist services for patients needing palliative care, meaning they often died in hospital. The Foundation was then established as an organisation to serve the two counties to provide palliative and hospice care. They have constructed The Mayo Hospice and The Roscommon Hospice which have beds for those who need this specialist care.
4. Galway Hospice
The Galway Hospice helps patients from Galway, Roscommon and Mayo who need palliative care to ‘attain the best quality of life possible’. They offer a number of services, from an inpatient unit to palliative care in the community and a day centre. Galway Hospice was established in 1986 by a group of doctors and nurses who saw a need for palliative care in the county. They had just two nurses to begin with.
5. Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind helps those who are visually impaired – and families of children with autism – achieve independence through guide and assistance dogs. They help to connect visually impaired people with their dog, plus providing training and support where it’s needed. They also have an Assistance Dog programme for families with autistic children. They provide all their services free of charge and have 400 clients for guide and assistance dogs in Ireland. They work with a network of volunteers raising guide and assistance dog puppies, too.
6. Mater Foundation
The Mater Foundation is the fundraising body for the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, located in Dublin. Their mission is to ‘transform and improve patient care at the Mater Hospital’. They invest in state of the art equipment to help both treatment and diagnosis. They are the largest adult hospital foundation in Ireland.
7. The Alzheimer Society Of Ireland
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland works on raising awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia across the country by campaigning, working groups and policy. They work in communities across Ireland providing support for people living with the condition – or those looking after loved ones. They also help to advocate for the rights of people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their carers.
Do more to help a charity
Besides donating to a nonprofit’s website or volunteering locally, why not spearhead your own fundraising efforts and make a difference in a unique way? Here are just a few people who took action and helped charities in their own communities:
End Loneliness and Isolation amongst the elderly
Freddy McReady decided to raise money for ALONE by running the Barcelona Marathon. ALONE works with older people, including those who are living in poverty or are isolated, ill, frail or facing difficulties to help them connect with the community around them. They provide services like visitation and befriending, telephone calls and age friendly housing. Freddy and his team have raised more than €4,400.
Nichola’s 48 hour run
Nichola started her GoFundMe to raise money for the Beaumont Hospital Cancer Research & Development Trust after her mum was cared for there. She took on a 48 hour run and raised more than €3,600 for the trust. The Beaumont Hospital is a teaching hospital in Dublin.
Make a difference in your community right now
There’s a reason why GoFundMe is one of the top charity fundraising sites around. We offer a fundraising model that allows you to keep more of your funds, and plenty of charity fundraising tips on our blog, not to mention 24/7 customer support from real people. When you’re ready, sign up to create your charity fundraiser on GoFundMe and begin making an even bigger difference in your community.