Ms Denise Charlton:

I thank the Chairman and members for their interest and attendance. The Community Foundation for Ireland, on behalf of the 30 cross-Border civil society partnerships that were formed through our new pilot all-island fund, warmly welcomes the opportunity to talk to them about our work. We are an impact-driven philanthropic hub working with professional expertise and experience developed over 21 years of supporting donors and communities to deliver positive, sustainable and strategic impact. We are recognised as a trusted organisation working with leaders from public, private and philanthropic sectors to achieve positive change. We do this because we connect the generosity and the purposeful giving of donors with the energy, ideas and commitment of people and communities on the ground.

The foundation is connected with every part of the country. We work and support more than 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable organisations. Those links put us in a unique position whereby we can identify the issues on the ground that are emerging for communities.

With the support of our donors, we are able to provide responses which are not just immediate and fire-fighting in nature - although we recognise the importance of that - but which can also identify and move us towards solutions, both system change and systemic.

The connectivity to communities and the ability to listen and of our donors to respond has seen us at the forefront of many challenges Ireland has had and continues to deal with: youth mental health and well-being; the needs of our older community; inequality in all its forms, whether driven by gender, sexual orientation or racial inequality; the response to climate change; and the biodiversity challenge. We at the Community Foundation for Ireland and our partners are there. When civil society is seeking, demanding or implementing change, so are we. The foundation has been a strong partner of communities for more than 21 years. In the first half of next year, we expect to pass an incredible milestone of having granted more than €100 million to communities since we came into in existence.

The €100 million landmark and our 21 years of existence have brought us to a point of reflection; to look not just at the contribution of our donors, our partnerships on the ground in communities, but also the wider role of philanthropy and how it might be leveraged more actively and appropriately in Ireland. Every day, we see the role philanthropy plays and its impact. We see it first-hand in communities throughout Ireland. Ms Haworth and Ms Kelly will talk more about that. We recognise the pressure there will be on public finances going forward post Covid. Philanthropy and our donors have a serious role to play in addressing that.

We are delighted that the Government will be developing a national philanthropy policy in the coming months. It is very important to develop this policy in order that we can grow and nurture gift-giving in Ireland and add to the impact it can have. There are a couple of important areas in philanthropy and in that policy. They are just some examples of where we could be developing philanthropy in Ireland. Less than 1% of the donations to volunteers, communities and charities are for more than €5,000. In New Zealand, which is a very similar country in terms of population, make-up and size, the figure is more than 30%. Imagine the difference we could make if we could grow philanthropy here in the same way.

Match-funding is a mechanism that really helps to grow philanthropy. We, along with our donors, have invested €75 million in communities and that could be significantly grown and leveraged if the Government, Departments and State agencies were to embrace match-funding arrangements. Match-funding is public and private money working together, often in respect of challenging, complex and difficult issues that may otherwise never be funded.

In the past while, we have seen philanthropists stepping up to the plate, looking at their local communities and, informed by the leaders of those communities, identifying where they can make a difference. Whether it is a place to which they are personally connected because of living or business or somewhere from where they came, we have seen philanthropists from Monaghan to Kerry to Cork to Sligo to Tallaght and on to Dún Laoghaire stepping up to the plate and trying to invest locally. The national policy on philanthropy can encourage and promote this place-based giving.

The Community Foundation for Ireland is a philanthropic hub that really listens to communities and hears about what is happening on the ground. We are one of 1,800 community foundations globally. That is one aspect of our unique selling point. It is unique to our model, along with how we know what is happening on the ground. That listening has made us aware for some time that there is a major gap in terms of those in civil society having the opportunity to work together on an all-island basis on specific issues that might bring benefits to all the people. This matter has been on our radar for a long time, but was brought more widely into focus by Brexit and the fallout to which it has given rise.

Last year, we again partnered with the Community Foundation Northern Ireland, some of our donors and community across the island in order to look at the shortfall and see whether action in respect of it was merited. The response was extremely positive. Last Easter, we were able to act. Groups operating as cross-Border partners, or with the intention to operate as such, were able to apply to a pilot all-island fund. Demand was very strong and, as always, way exceeded the amount of available funding. We went through the applications with help of our independent panel and assessors. We were in a great position last August to announce the 30 partnerships. Clean air initiatives, sanctuaries for refugees and migrants, progression of women’s rights, a ban on LGBTI+ conversion therapy and a shared initiative to counter human trafficking are among some of cross-Border civil society partnerships in respect of which we gave out just about €500,000. Ms Haworth and Ms Kelly will go into further detail on that.

These partnerships are real. The experiences, research and campaigns are being shared and positive change is beginning to happen. Of course, success often creates its own challenges. The challenge now for us is to meet the demand that exists. We will be working with our founders, new and existing, to try to meet that demand. Awareness is key. In that context, I acknowledge the support of members of this committee who have helped increase that awareness in communities, encouraged applications and got information on the fund out. If they have information on other interested organisations, communities or donors, we would be delighted to hear from them.

Together with my colleagues, Ms Haworth, head of donor care, grants and impact, and Ms Kelly, CEO of the Children's Law Centre in Northern Ireland, which was one of the first beneficiaries of the fund and which works in partnership with like-minded groups in the South such as the Children's Rights Alliance, we would be delighted to listen and consider any questions and observations members may have.