NATIONAL FUNDRAISING AWARDS OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS

Nominations are being sought for the 2009 National Fundraising Awards, Ireland’s top accolade for charity fundraisers. The awards - which were established by The Wheel, the national support and representative body for community and voluntary organisations and Fundraising Ireland, a national network for charity fundraisers - are designed recognise, celebrate and promote excellence in the profession of fundraising.

In 2008, award recipients included: Peter Ireton of Bóthar, Concern, Legacy Promotion Ireland, Maureen Forrest of the Hope Foundation and Caroline Downey of Exploration Station. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced at a special ceremony, hosted by RTÉ presenter Mary Kennedy, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin on 20 October.

The Wheel’s chief executive, Deirdre Garvey, said that fundraising remains a vital source of income for charities. “Over 67% of Irish charities had their Government funding cut in the past six months, while only 31% reported a drop in public donations during the same period. It is clear that charities will have to rely on fundraising to cushion the effects of cuts in Government funding,” she said.

Garvey added that with the forthcoming introduction of charity regulation and associated codes of practice for fundraising, additional focus will be placed on the practice of fundraising within charities. “We welcome the additional transparency this will inevitably bring and we feel that the time is now right for an Awards programme to promote excellence in fundraising in Ireland,” she said.

Professional or voluntary fundraisers may be nominated in the following categories: Fundraiser of the Year, Campaign of the Year and Community Fundraiser of the Year. Nominations should be submitted online at www.fundraisingawards.ie before 1 September.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel is available for interview. Contact Gert Ackermann: M: 086 176 9287 E: gert@wheel.ie

ABOUT THE WHEEL:

The Wheel is a national non-profit support and representative body for community, voluntary and charitable organisations. We provide a wide range of support services, information and training to individuals and organisations involved in community and voluntary activity, and we represent our sector’s interests in several fora, including the social partnership process. www.wheel.ie

ABOUT FUNDRAISING IRELAND

Fundraising Ireland is a network for fundraisers in Ireland. It was established in 2007 to provide a networking organisation for fundraisers and those associated with fundraising to meet and discuss issues of shared interest. www.fundraisngireland.com

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