Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann would welcome- A national debate on the current context and challenges facing the not-for-profit sector with regards to philanthropy, fundraising, sponsorship and private giving in Ireland.notes:- the publication in May 2012 under the auspices of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government of the Report of the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising;
- according to the Irish Non-Profits Knowledge Exchange the not-for-profit sector in Ireland employs over 100,000 people across the community, voluntary, sporting and cultural sector and a pay cost of ¤3.5 billion;
- 32% of the non-for-profit sector in the Irish Non-Profit Database are unincorporated, which means that pending the commencement of the Charities Act, we have no regulatory source of financial information about them;
- with concern that there is no centralised register available on the level of state funding given to the not-for-profit sector;
- that the programme for Government states "We will work with stakeholders in the Arts Community to develop proposals aimed at building support of the Arts in Ireland exploring philanthropic, sponsorship or endowment fund opportunities" - Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht;
- there is a dearth of accurate and robust data on which to base public policy in this area;
- the declining public funding environment and the exiting of two major foundations from Ireland (One Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies) puts the sustainability of the sector in doubt;
- that approximately 20% of the National Lottery Fund goes to arts and heritage funding, with 19.4% going to sports and 36% going to community organisations.welcomes:- the initiatives within the voluntary, community and the arts sector across public and private organisations to build on capacity and leveraging for fundraising; in particular:

- the philanthropy leverage initiative by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht;
- pilot raise scheme by the Arts Council;
- new stream by business to arts;

- the work of both Philanthropy Ireland and Fundraising Ireland in supporting training and capacity building across the community and voluntary sectors;
- welcomes the proposal in the Finance Bill 2013 to simplify the tax incentive for charity donations;Calls on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government:- to update the Seanad on the progress of the recommendations of the report of the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising; and
- to outline the impact of the departure of key philanthropic organisations such as Atlantic Philanthropies and One Foundation.

I welcome the Minister and I thank him for making a commitment to be present for the debate. I also welcome our guests in the Visitors Gallery. They are development managers in some of our arts and cultural organisations and foundations. I welcome, in particular, those representing The Wheel, a representative organisation of more than 900 members of the voluntary sector; Business to Arts; Dublin Theatre Festival; and the Abbey Theatre. I thank them for their background briefings for this debate.

As director of the Abbey Theatre, I fund-raise on behalf of the national theatre and although I do not benefit personally from this, I have a professional interest in the matter. I also donate a portion of my Seanad salary to the theatre and the reminder to other not-for-profit arts organisations. I can, therefore, contribute as both a fund-raiser and a donor.

The reason our group of Independent Senators tabled the motion is we feel strongly that the House and Oireachtas Members generally need to brief themselves fully on the complex issues surrounding philanthropy, fundraising, sponsorship and private giving in Ireland. We often use one of these terms when we mean another. Sometimes we look on philanthropy and fundraising negatively and others are suspicious of them because it might mean the Government of the day might encourage fundraising and philanthropic strategies to replace central government support. I would like to have a philosophical discussion on what might be the best way to gain a greater understanding of the context and challenges of fundraising in Ireland and to hear from the Minister about what has been achieved since the launch of the report of the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising.

To give credit where it is due, I acknowledge that the Government, more than any of its predecessors, has done a great deal to create a policy framework and to take actions in this area. We welcome the measures in this year's Finance Bill to simplify the tax incentive for charity donations. We operate in a declining public funding environment where the cumulative effect of year on year decreases in funding is taking hold. In this environment, the Government has placed an emphasis on increasing private funding for the not-for-profit sector but has been clear in its message that the emphasis is not on displacement.

My concern relates to trust. There is a genuine fear among organisations that we have consulted that if we invest and develop a strategy for diversifying our incomes in the not-for-profit sector, the Government will be let off the hook and might even punish fundraising success. Maximising private funding cannot be viewed as a pretext for reducing public funds. At the last meeting of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, we heard excellent presentations by some of the best of Ireland's social entrepreneurs. We also heard from Ms Deirdre Mortell, co-founder of the One Foundation, who bluntly and starkly spoke about the tough economic fundraising environment currently. One Foundation is winding down and exiting this year while Atlantic Philanthropies will exit in 2016. They are two extraordinary, innovative foundations, which have encouraged and supported social change in Ireland. Part of what they both do now is support their grantees on how to build their capacity for future fundraising. Capacity building is the buzz phrase for everybody working in the not-for-profit sector and if it is not, it should be.

How can organisations in the arts and cultural, social justice, education, poverty and other sectors of the not-for-profit community, children's charities and advocacy groups manage to continue to support their goals by raising money through sources other than the State? The State provides a significant portion of funding but it has to understand and provide an enabling environment for all of us to raise money through strategic giving. A systematic approach to fundraising and philanthropy is required because philanthropy on its own is not the answer as this country is too small to concentrate only on that. Fundraising infrastructure is crucial. Recruiting, investing in and training staff are paramount. The board of directors of these organisations often might not understand that two factors are necessary to fund raise - patience and money. The old adage that to raise money one needs to spend money is true. A return on investment can take two to four years but as is the case with my own organisation, the Abbey Theatre, it is worth it and results have shown that investment in staff and core costs yields additional diverse revenues.

All this has to be supported by proper and consistent data and evidence. Data is necessary to implement strategic policy. As the motion states, there is a dearth of accurate and robust data on which to base public policy. One of the recommendations of the report of the forum on philanthropy is to increase philanthropic giving by 10% year on year in Ireland from its current level of approximately ¤500 million per annum to ¤800 million by 2016, a 60% increase.

In his introduction to the report, the Minister mentioned that they are "clearly ambitious targets". With due respect, this is near impossible even with some of the support mechanisms. I am not critical of the Minister but what I am critical of is that the figure of ¤500 million is an approximation. We do not have accurate data. If we do nothing else today but agree on the need for accurate data and evidence and to set about a process of collecting this evidence, it would be a good driver towards better policy. In my area of the arts, accurate data on private support is unclear. Business to Arts place this as between ¤25 million to ¤30 million, following research with Deloitte in 2009. Most recently, the Arts Council appears to match this figure although the sources are unclear. According to the 2009 report of the Irish Nonprofit Knowledge Exchange, the not-for-profit sector in Ireland employs more than 100,000 people across the community, voluntary, sporting and culture sectors. This includes about 11,700 organisations, of which around 8,000 are registered charities, managing a turnover of about ¤5.75 billion. It means that the not-for-profit sector accounts for 5% of national income. However, as we wait for an update in the progress of the Charities Act we should be conscious that we do not have relevant, up-to-date accurate data for giving in Ireland. I ask the Minister, in light of the recommendations in the report, to comment on this.

Implementing the Charities Act would provide, as the report states, "a stream of reliable evidence on which to build better policy and evaluate outcomes". If it is not possible to implement the Act - I know this is not part of the Minister's functions - how else can we collect evidence? The important philanthropy leverage initiative by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and the Arts Council's own pilot scheme, RAISE, could be seen as putting the cart before the horse. In that important capacity, building actions are being delivered in the context of no accurate up-to-date information.

Proposal No. 6 of the report states that the CSO should be mandated by Government to collect data on charitable giving in Ireland as a part of its quarterly household survey. This, I believe, would be an important and cost-neutral policy action to be taken by the Government. Another recommendation I wish to highlight and one about which I have concerns is the proposal to have a national giving campaign, that is, the way the forum proposes to increase giving by 60% to ¤800 million by 2016. What are the plans for this? I am concerned that this might be a white elephant and that although it is, in theory, well intentioned it could cause misunderstanding and competing messages across the not-for-profit sector. To what extent has the national giving campaign consulted with large charities, major flag days and annual fundraising campaigns to understand their strengths and weaknesses and how they establish a co-ordinated role between the charities? In his budget 2013 speech, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, asked for further recommendations from the working group on tax relief for charitable donations or the treatment of large scale donations to existing foundation or establishments of new foundations. Have their recommendations been tested with the proposed national giving campaign? For the national giving campaign to work it needs to be extremely targeted and even then there might be a case of spending that money on other strategic fundraising initiatives.

There is one area where the not-for-profit sector should develop and innovate, and this is in legacy giving. Some of us might find this too delicate or sensitive a subject but it is, to quote Damien O'Broin of Ask Direct, "a massively under-developed channel for fundraising in Ireland". Leaving a portion of one's will to charity, a cause or an arts organisation should be encouraged as part of any national giving campaign. In 2009, according to Mr. O'Broin, Irish legacy income was approximately ¤26 million. If we were as good as the United Kingdom at legacy fundraising on a pro ratabasis regarding population, we would raise ¤147 million from legacies, which is almost 50% of the target increase in one go. We are, of course, looking at a longer lead-in period when it comes to legacies of up to five years, but it is worth discussing and encouraging.

Finally, I request an assurance from the Minister about the degree to which his Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht are working together, sharing information and pooling resources on this important work. The track record of the Government is second to none with regard to the commitment to the policy of philanthropy and fundraising. The programme for Government provides for a dialogue between both Departments, where both Ministers can be honest brokers, so that within specific communities of the not-for-profit sector greater collaboration can be encouraged. Likewise, the expenditure of public finance within the not-for-profit sector must be transparent and impactful which will benefit the donor, in terms of making a strong case for giving, and the not-for-profit organisation in terms of achieving that goal.

I commend the motion to the House.