2into3 Fundraising in a Crisis

Fundraising in a Time of Crisis: Lessons from History

Rob Foley

Cork office now open – lead by Rob Foley

Rob Foley

We are delighted to announce the opening of our Cork office, headed up by Rob Foley, Strategist and Fundraising Expert. We are looking forward to working more closely with not-for-profits in the Munster region.

Rob Foley is a 2into3 Consultant and Head of 2into3’s new Munster practice. Having pioneered the development of wealth screening services for fundraising organisations in Ireland through prospect research specialist, Prospect 23, much of his work now centres on relationship-based fundraising campaigns, wider strategy development and board engagement.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Science Degree (Research) from University College, Cork. Rob is a visiting lecturer at the UCC School of Applied Social Studies where he has also developed and delivered a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module on the theme of “Developing a Fund Raising Strategy for Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations”.

Since starting in 2006, we have expanded our offering to include Fundraising Strategy, Strategic Planning, Organisational Reviews, Recruitment and Research. We have a wealth of knowledge from working across the diverse range of not-for-profit sub-sectors from Social Services and Health to Education and Sport.

Ciaran Kearney Dennis OConnor Darren McMahon

2into3 announces partnership with Northern Ireland Sports Forum

We are delighted to announce our partnership with Northern Ireland Sports Forum. Both organisations share a common purpose – the development and support of Northern Ireland Sporting Bodies. Over the past 13 years, 2into3 has developed a suite of the services that enable Sporting Bodies to provide the best level of service to their members. These services include: Strategic Planning, Fundraising Strategy and an introduction to Fundraising Strategy development in a Masterclass setting.

In Feb 2019 we undertook a Sports Fundraising Strategy Masterclass with Northern Ireland Sports Forum.

We look forward to working with the members of Northern Ireland Sports Forum.

 

Richard Johnson, Chairperson of Northern Ireland Sports Forum.

“We are excited to launch our partnership with 2into3 and we are confident that our partnership with 2into3 will complement the services that the Sports Forum provides to our members. We have seen the value that our members have already gained from their advice and support through programmes such as the Fundraising Masterclass and look forward to expanding on this in the future.”

Sports Capital 2018

Sports Capital Announcements Unveiled

After an agonising wait of over 13 months, clubs have finally discovered their Sports Capital fate.

In total, €37.1m has been made available for capital projects for local clubs across the country.

We are delighted to announce that we assisted five clubs in securing a grant in this round, totalling €542,562.

This means that we have secured over €1.3m in Sports Capital funding for sports clubs and schools.

 

We would like to congratulate on the following:

Newpark Comprehensive School/Avoca Hockey Club €138,776
Cobh Wanderers FC €79,979
Naas GAA €76,426
St Joseph Schoolboys AFC €100,441
Seapoint RFC €146,940

Interested in your club applying for funding through the Sports Capital programme? Our experts can help you maximize your potential and help you navigate the application process. Contact Consultant Darren McMahon on Darren.mcmahon@2into3.com or call 01 234 3127.

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National Sports Policy Looks at Unlocking the Potential of Philanthropic Funding

This morning (July 19th), the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport released 33 identified actions of the National Sports Policy to implement between 2020 – 2022. In particular, Action Points 30 & 31 focus on reforming sporting bodies’ tax structure.

2into3 welcomes details within the draft action plan that outline a review and possible amendment of the charitable tax code to include sport as a charitable object. This could encourage incentives to donors to give to sport, culminating in a more sustainable funding model for sporting bodies. At the same time, the charitable code in Ireland needs reform. This week, the Community Foundation and Philanthropy Ireland highlighted that the current tax situation is not working effectively to encourage large scale giving in Ireland and is not as attractive when compared other international markets.

Sport’s potential to unlock funding supports through philanthropy remains largely untapped. However, there are exceptions to this statement. Recently, Irish Sailing opened a new High Performance HQ in Dun Laoghaire, which was entirely funded through philanthropic support. This highlights the potential to use philanthropy to provide new opportunities and support for sport.

While tax change and capacity building are needed to fully unlock the potential of philanthropy and sport, 2into3 believes that the considerations of the Sports Leadership Group are a welcome and potentially seismic first step.

Football 2019

Sports Capital 2018: Mapping Per Capita Trends by County

All of Ireland now looks to topple Dublin’s dominance in football. Like football, securing sports funding is another competition – it’s every county for itself. Over a weekend period last May, word began to spread about a Sports Capital Equipment-Only announcement, which came as no surprise on a week heading into European and local elections.

Many rural clubs and community groups were the first to hear of their success. Ireland is often a country of urban-rural divide; rural areas often feel like they are overlooked with perceived preference often given to Dublin. However, when it comes to the Sports Capital programme, this is not the case.

Allocation of 2018 funding has been divided, for the first time, into two tranches. Applications for only equipment-only were assessed and allocated first, with an announcement made last May. Those applications for capital (infrastructure), or a combination of capital with equipment, will be allocated in September according to recent public statements. In the recent May announcement, only the top 75% (by score received under the (DTTAS) Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport guidelines) of applications received funding, whereas in 2017 round every valid application received some funding. In addition, the trend of allocating more funding, on a per capita basis, to areas outside Dublin was more pronounced as illustrated in the table below.

“Sports Capital Equipment-Only Allocations,” Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport; “Census 2016,” Central Statistics Office, 2into3 Analysis.

In recent years, the Sports Capital Programme made headlines over political intervention and prioritisation of more favoured sports in ministerial backyards, particularly in Dublin. However, an examination of the previous local rounds of the Sports Capital programme shows that Dublin consistently lags behind the rest of the country, despite a plethora of cabinet ministers (and a Taoiseach) in the greater Dublin area. With the 2018 equipment round the gap, on a per capita basis, between Dublin and the rest of Ireland has widened significantly.

“Sports Capital Local Allocations 2018-2014,” Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport; “Census 2016, Census 2011,” Central Statistics Office, 2into3 Analysis.

Dublin clubs, in total, sought over €19.6 million from the local fund of the 2018 Sports Capital Programme. Outstanding 2018 applications are expected to be announced in September, with a new round expected to open in November. It will be interesting to see if some rebalancing of the allocations will occur and if Dublin can bag a few goals of their own.

Darren McMahon is a Consultant at 2into3, specialising in Sports Capital Consulting and Masterclasses. For more information, please contact Darren at Darren.McMahon@2into3 or +353-1-234-3127.

Sports Capital 2018

Sports Capital 2018 Equipment Round Announced

The Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport has allocated the 2018 equipment round of the Sports Capital Programme. In total, €9,790,544 has been allocated to local & regional projects with a further announcement on non-equipment projects expected in September of this year.

Over 500 clubs applied for equipment grants in 2018, of which 75% were successful in their applications. One of these clubs was Cricket Leinster, who worked with 2into3, on their application. They have been allocated €56,800 to help grow cricket in south Dublin and the wider Leinster Region.

Golf was the biggest winner from the equipment round taking 21.6% of the total allocation. Meanwhile, more prominent sports, such as GAA and Soccer, took 4.2% and 3.5% of the allocation respectively.

It is now time to look towards the 2019 Sports Capital round, which is expected to open in November. Funding is allocated based on the strength of the application and invalidity is avoidable if you plan correctly.

Since 2014, 2into3 have assisted six clubs achieve their Sports Capital grant, which totalled €834,800 in allocated funding with a further eight clubs awaiting a decision on their non-equipment projects in September. We have also delivered masterclasses on the application process to over 100 different clubs from many different sports such as GAA, Soccer, Rugby, Cricket, Basketball, Badminton and Golf.

If you would like more information on how 2into3 can assist your sport, club or school with a Sports Capital grant application, please contact Darren McMahon at Darren.McMahon@2into3.com or on +353-1-234-3127.

A-New-Playbook-for-Sports-Governance

A New Playbook for Sports Governance?

Sport for Business and 2into3, in partnership with Mason Hayes and Curran are hosting a timely discussion on the challenges facing Irish sport with regard to Governance.

We have gathered a panel of smart thinkers in this space, taking reference from the Charity world and the changes that arose in that sector as well as how the public trust is being restored following a number of different challenges.

The Breakfast event, will take place at Mason, Hayes and Curran’s offices on Barrow Street, Dublin 4 on the morning of Friday, June 7th.

Together we will look at the following key issues:

  • The current landscape with regard to Sporting Bodies and how that compares to the world of Charities
  • Whether Self Governance is sufficient in the modern era of transparency
  • How increased regulation would impact on the voluntary sector within sport at all levels
  • What are the increased obligations that would apply and what other issues might come into play.

Our panel to discuss these and other issues that may arise are:

  • Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel
  • Maura Quinn, CEO of the Institute of Directors
  • Dennis O’Connor, Director of 2into3
  • Niamh Callaghan, Partner, Mason Hayes and Curran

The moderator will be Rob Hartnett, Founder of Sport for Business and Chair of the Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership

For more information on tickets click here: http://sportforbusiness.com/a-new-playbook-for-sports-governance/

Fundraising Masterclasses

Fundraising Masterclasses: An Insight into Grassroot Sport

Keeping a club going takes commitment, endurance and guile. However, has your club ever reflected and asked, “where is our income coming from?” This is the first question I ask clubs when they attend one of our Fundraising Masterclasses.

To the right is an accumulative funding model for all the attending clubs to date. Our discussions have led to lively findings:

  1. Communication is KEY!

To communicate with people you need names, numbers, emails and addresses. It sounds so simple, yet many clubs do not seem to be doing this. This problem is particularly prevalent to rural clubs, whose members may have moved for employment purposes. Should a club wish to contact one of these members, it cannot. They have been lost by their club. Fundraising, at its very core, is a people and numbers game. It’s all about routine: Meet, Greet, Details (with permission these days!), Contact, Repeat.

  1. Tangible results

Many clubs want to be the best, or at the very least, competitive. However, this is one facet of what a club does. Sport is serving the public and social good. Yes, clubs are about competing. This means publicity and greater awareness about the club. However, some of our players and member don’t care about this. They care because playing is improving their mental health, feeling part of the community and improving their overall health. When clubs are fundraising, it is normally “to help the club out” or “keep it going this year.” When people give their hard-earned money, it is imperative to show them a result. Wrap a fundraising campaign around a capital ambition or for equipment. When charities fundraise, they ask people to give by programme area. When people give, they can then choose what to give their money to. The charity in return can then showcase how the money was used. This is something sport can learn from and aim to get to.

  1. Learn from each other

This has been the most beneficial part of our sessions. It is not for us to lecture any club or organisation on what they are doing. Our travels across the country have resulted in discovering amazing ideas and practices by clubs: “500 club schemes,” “inclusive sport models,” “sport for all,” “direct marketing programmes.” These are only some of the examples we discovered. Most importantly, clubs shared these ideas with each other, all in the name of improving their own sports in their county and province.

To learn more about our Masterclasses please contact Darren McMahon on +353-1-234-3127 or Darren.McMahon@2into3.com

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2into3 works with Sensational Kids

In late 2018, 2into3 began working closely with Sensational Kids, a not-for-profit that provides much-needed services for children with additional needs. The organisation was founded by Karen Leigh, headquartered in Kildare but impacting positively on the lives of thousands of children across Ireland.

In November 2018, 2into3 delivered a Masterclass to the Social Innovation Fund Accelerator Programme, of which Karen was a Member. She told us afterwards that Sensational Kids had in the past found fundraising to be challenge, which meant they were struggling to fulfil the needs of the service users.

We initially engaged with Sensational Kids through three Workshops to establish a sustainable fundraising strategy and stemming from this, we helped to identify a need to establish a national fundraising strategy with local remit whilst providing some contract consultancy and project fundraising support.

2into3 Director and Head of Consulting and Research, Dennis O’Connor. Will also be providing mentoring support to the Regional Business Manager in their Clonaklilty office. Dennis, originally from the Mardyke in Cork, has a vast knowledge of the fundraising landscape in Ireland, earned from his experience working in the sector for the past 13 years. We have also placed a Graduate Development Assistant for their centre in Claremorris, Co Mayo through our graduate programme, For Purpose.

Our work with Sensational Kids does not stop there; as our new Head of Recruitment Fergal O’Sullivan, is currently recruiting both a Capital campaign Manager and a National Fundraising and Communications Manager.

Karen Leigh explained that: “Sensational Kids are delighted to have benefitted from the specialist consultancy from 2into3 to develop our fundraising strategy which has helped us to identify the specific fundraising needs of our organisation and provide us with the supports required to deliver this strategy over the coming years.”

2into3 have had a wonderful experience working with Sensational Kids and are delighted to give our support to an organisation that makes such an incredible difference to the lives of its service users.