Online funding platforms are not the same as registered charities, the regulator for the sector has said.
Charities Regulator Chief Executive Helen Martin was speaking as research found some 40% of people believed such funding platforms were charities.
Ms Martin told The Pat Kenny Show people had some misconceptions about what a charity is.
"We did some research and what we found is that around 40% of the public thought that, for example, online funding platforms were charities," she said.
"They're absolutely not, they're commercial entities... they're operating for profit.
"Sports organisations, your local sports clubs, they're not charities.
"Advancing sport in Ireland is not considered to be a charitable purpose, so they wouldn't be regulated by us either".
'There has to be public benefit'
Ms Martin said while such entities can be involved in fundraising, they are not charities.
"We'd often have people coming to us - they're collecting for a particular sick child, maybe - and somebody has told them they need to register with the Charities Regulator.
"That's not actually the case because what you have in that situation is an individual, so it's very much a private to that individual.
"In order to be a charity in Ireland there has to be public benefit, and that's another key aspect of what it means to be a charity in Ireland".
'Number of charities to be removed'
The regulator has published its annual report, which showed only six in 10 charities filled their annual report on time last year.
Under the Charities Act, detailed financial statements and annual reports must be filed each year.
Ms Martin said they are working to target non-compliance with registered charities.
"We are taking action at the moment, so there will be a number of charities that will be removed from the register," she said.
"That's one of the sanctions for failing to meet this obligation, it's also a criminal offence.
"It is something that charities can be prosecuted for - we have one ongoing at the moment.
"We do want to be proportionate in these cases, we're conscious of the sector that we're regulating.
"It consists mainly of volunteers, so our regulatory approach is to actually bring people into compliance," she added.
There are 11,500 registered charities in Ireland.
