News | 2into3 - Part 14

Sports Capital Grant Applications 2021

28th April 2021

A year of lockdown has not dampened Sports Clubs’ Ambition

In December 2020, the eagerly awaited Sports Capital and Equipment Grant programme opened for applications with an estimated budget of €40million. This also coincided with increased restrictions and the cancellation of all organised sport. Speaking at the launch of the programme, The Minister of State with responsibility for Sport, Jack Chambers, stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised how important sport is to our society…critical for our physical and mental wellbeing. The new programme will again prioritise applications from disadvantaged areas…which will increase participation, including female participation and disabled users and those which share facilities with other users.”

What was the impact of COVID-19 to grant applications? How did clubs and the wider community respond to the uncertainty?

The Sports Capital and Equipment Grant programme received a total of 3,106 applications which were split across local applications (2,976 to a value of €177,438,655) and regional applications (130 to a value of €22,793,727). The total amount sought in this round is €200,232,382, which represents a 32.5% increase (or approximately €38.4 million) on the 2018 applications, indicating a strong demand locally and regionally.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, T.D, states, “It has been a tough year for many sports clubs, but the level of interest shows that clubs are determined to have improved facilities for their members when we emerge from the current Covid crisis.”

This optimism is evident through the level of interest in the Grants programme webinars offered by National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and the Local Sports Partnerships, to assist in explaining the application process, some of which attracted attendance of over 300 clubs in one session.

Source: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, 2into3 analysis

However, although there are an increase in the number of application and the amount sought, what was the overall picture when we look at the amount sought per capita, per county?

If we look at Dublin, there is a 23% increase in number of grants submitted however they amount sought per capita has dropped by 7%, whereas in Cork, the number of applicants increased by 20% and this was matched by 20% increase in amount per capita sought.

In Louth, the number of applicants more than doubled (63% increase) however the increase per capita sought increased by only 23%. These figures would suggest that there were smaller amounts being sought by a larger group of applicants and there is a greater diversity in the applicant base.

As the programme is designed to increase participation in sport, it is important for us to look at what sports are applying for grants in 2021? There were 63 different sport type organisations who applied for funding and the top ten sports remain similar from 2018, however their ranking in the top 10 has altered slightly.

Source: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, 2into3 analysis

However, it’s important to look beyond the Top 10 and see what the breakdown of sporting interests are across the country and who is seeking to develop their facilities. A total of €19,735,089 was sought by the remaining 53 sport types, with the highest of those being equestrian sports which is seeking €2,008,229 but the range of amounts sought goes down to €7,253.82. The full range of applicants is testament to the sporting life of the country and how it continues to grow despite challenges.

Other Sports by % of total grants sought

Source: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, 2into3 analysis

Applicant type

This diversity in sport is reflected in the groups who are applying to the programme for finance. The type of applicant tells us about the involvement of the wider community in submitting applications and not just as a licensee but as a community wide initiative to increase participation in sport. Nationally 75.3% of applications received were from Sports Clubs and the remainder from a cross section of the nonprofit sector.

Source: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, 2into3 analysis

In conclusion

There is no decline in the ambition of sports clubs to continue to grow and develop their facilities and they are looking to the future as to how they can meet the current and future needs of their members. The Department are currently processing both local and regional applications and there is yet no indication as to when the allocations will be announced. However, given the level of interest in the programme and club engagement there is a will for sports clubs to survive through these challenges and continue to grow post lockdown.

Patricia Keenan is a Senior Consultant with 2into3 and leads Grant Services on behalf of the company. She has delivered numerous webinars assisting clubs in the Sports Capital Application process, as well as managing individual Capital Grant Applications for regional and local funding on behalf of clubs and NGBs.

For more information, contact Patricia.

how effective is your fundraising irish giving index webinar

Thank you to Sinead Price from Pieta House for participating in our Irish Giving Index Webinar

27th April 2021

A massive thank you to Sinead Price, Co-Director of Fundraising at Pieta House, for joining our Irish Giving Index webinar on Tuesday 27th April. Sinead discussed how Pieta House use the Irish Giving Index to make strategic fundraising decisions and identify fundraising opportunities. They also use it as a tool to monitor their performance against the sector and then their own subsector.

Pieta provides professional support to those who are having suicidal thoughts, with extended support to friends and family who have lost someone due to suicide. They provide a free 24/7 helpline, with accredited therapists to help anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Sinead explained how beneficial the Irish Giving Index is at identifying where opportunities currently are and using the data to build a case for securing board level sign-off of plans.

During the Irish Giving Index webinar, 2into3 explained the breakdown of fundraising by subsector, organisational size and fundraised income for Q3 2020. The cost to raise €1 in Q3 2020 had fallen to an average of €0.19, with costs per each method of fundraising detailed.

If you missed the webinar, you can view the recording. If you would like more information on the Irish Giving Index, please contact Dennis O’Connor.

Quarterly Recruitment Monitor Q1 2021 2into3

Advertised Senior Roles in Nonprofit Sector Rise 55% in Q1 2021

21st April 2021

2into3’s Quarterly Recruitment Monitor for the first quarter of 2021 shows the number of senior roles advertised within the nonprofit sector continues to increase, year on year.

Our snapshot of data shows that in Q1 2021, a total of 226 senior roles were advertised, up almost 55% on the same quarter last year (146 roles). The number of organisations recruiting increased by 45%, from 110 to 159.

While the pandemic would only have impacted the last 4 weeks of Q1 2020, it has made a comparison between 2020 and 2021 somewhat difficult. It is unlikely that demand for senior nonprofit professionals has increased by this amount when comparing these time periods; a more likely explanation would be a concentration of demand for staff in the last three months, carried-over from mid to late 2020, when recruitment may have been put on hold.

By Sub-Sector

Social Services organisations continue to advertise the greatest share of the roles (34%), followed by Health (19%), Local Development & Housing (14%) and Philanthropy & Voluntarism (8%). These four sub-sectors alone account for over three-quarters of all roles recorded by 2into3 in Q1 2021.

The big change here is in the Philanthropy & Voluntarism sub-sector, which previously accounted for just 2.7% of roles in Q1 2020 is now 8%. Declines were seen in roles within the International (6%, down from 11%) and Education and Research (3%, down from 12%) sub-sectors.

By Role type

CEO level roles, as a share of all senior positions advertised, fell from 15% in Q1 2020 to 8% in Q1 2021. There was also a reduction in the number of roles advertised in Administration, Strategy & Governance (down 54%) and HR (down 29%).

While senior Fundraising roles rose in number (42 up to 48) their share within all roles fell from 29% to 21%. Service, Delivery & Operations roles jumped a massive 185%, from 40 to 114 roles, and accounted for just over half of all senior roles recorded. This may be a reflection of activity in the sector, as organisations scale up to meet the extra demands COVID-19 has placed on their services.

Advertised Communications & Marketing roles doubled (from 7 to 14) and Finance roles decreased in their overall share, but in absolute terms increased by one-third, year-on-year.

What does this mean?

What does this snapshot of activity tell us about the Irish nonprofit sector as we continue our return to normality? It shows that there is still a demand for senior talent within the sector, although the skills and experience that are in demand would appear to be shifting.

Whether these trends continue or whether they are a short-term response to the pandemic remains to be seen. We present this data with the full knowledge that year-on-year comparisons in the middle of a once in a century event are to be taken with a health warning.

If our own experience in 2into3 is to be factored-in, the strong, active demand for talent is being balanced against a more passive supply side where candidates appear to be less active in searching for a career move, but are often interested, if they are approached and made aware of what is on offer. The candidates are out there – they just might be a bit harder to find right now.

Our Track Record in Nonprofit Recruitment

Irish Giving Index Webinar

19th April 2021

2into3 are hosting an Irish Giving Index webinar on Tuesday 27^th April 2021 at 11am. Sinead Price, Director of Fundraising from Pieta House, will be joining us. Sinead will explain how the fundraising team in Pieta House use insights from the Irish Giving Index to enhance their fundraising strategies.

The content of the webinar is based on validated research from our Irish Giving Index, which will include a Q&A and a copy of the webinar recording.

Did you know:

Fundraised Income from the ROI increased by 16% in Q3 2020 when compared with Q3 2019.
Average cost to raise €1 was €0.19, 10c less than Q3 2019.

(source: Irish Giving Index Q3 2020)

Current subscribers include: Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, BelonG To Youth Services, Brighter Communities Worldwide, Concern Worldwide, Cork Simon Community, Focus Ireland, GOAL, Self Help Africa, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Merchant’s Quay Ireland, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, NCBI, Oxfam Ireland, Pieta House, Rehab Group, Sightsavers, Society of the Little Flower, Special Olympics Ireland, St. John of God’s Foundation and Trócaire.

Register for our webinar to get an insight into the latest findings and how you can use the Index to invest in the future of your organisation. We will explore more of these findings, including fundraising by subsector and organizational size.

Thank you – Rachel from Cork Simon

25th March 2021

Thank you to Rachel Stevenson, Head of Fundraising from Cork Simon Community, who joined our Irish Giving Index webinar this week, as our guest speaker.

The topic was “How effective is your Fundraising?” and during the webinar, we shared some topline fundraising insights from the latest Irish Giving Index quarterly report.

Fundraising costs experienced a significant drop, from an average of €0.32 in Q2 2019 to €0.16 in Q2, 2020, cost to raise €1 (when comparing costs by quarter). *

The Q2 report also shows a 28% year-to-date increase in total fundraised income from 2019. This increase was seen across the International, Social Services and Health subsectors and remains consistent with findings of monthly year-on-year increases.

Irish Giving Index Fundraised Income

Rachel explained how she used the Irish Giving Index in her day-to-day role:

Planning – It gives context to Irish fundraising landscape, how Cork Simon is performing when compared to other nonprofits of similar size and type. It identifies growth opportunities – what are others doing well and what can we learn from them. Targets can be set and measured accurately and without bias.
Case making – When the evidence indicates a change in direction is required, or in fact no change in strategic direction should be made, the Irish Giving Index, gives the facts to support the case being made. The senior management team can be confident knowing the facts presented, are well thought out and are evidence based, from an independent source. Are extra resources needed to achieve the achieve the growth potential and close the gap? The Index provides the evidence needed to support your case.
Operational – Benchmark our activities against other organisations. What activities have the best return on Investment? Which fundraising methods deliver.

Rachel Stevenson, Cork Simon

Subscribers fundraising data is confidential and is only shared at a cumulative level with other subscribers, so all individual organisations’ data is private and not shared with others. The service is not available to anyone outside of the sector and only fundraising Irish nonprofits can subscribe.

Thanks also to everyone who attended our webinar. If you missed it, here is the webinar recording.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Funding of Nonprofits in Ireland

15th March 2021

Why use 2into3’s Recruitment Service?

12th March 2021

What makes 2into3’s recruitment service unique is our Quality Guarantee. If the person we place in your organisation leaves within 12 months of starting their role, we will source a replacement free of charge. Please see below for more details. The skills of our recruitment team and the 2into3 processes, gives you the reassurance your role will be filled by ideal candidate.

Experts in the Nonprofit Sector

2into3 is uniquely positioning in the nonprofit sector, where our work in Consulting and Research, as well as Recruitment, gives us an unparalleled level of knowledge (and contacts within) the sector. Our work over the last 14 years with more than 260 Irish nonprofits means we understand your recruitment needs better than any commercial recruiter.

We know it takes a certain type of person to work in (or even lead) a nonprofit or charity organisation. There is no guarantee an accomplished manager or leader from the commercial sector could successfully transition into this sector. The same can often be said for senior managers moving from one sub-sector to another.

While core leadership and functional skills are essential, you also need to ensure any potential manager will be a cultural fit, have affinity with your mission and values and will know which stakeholders they need to influence and how best to do so. 2into3, more than any other recruiter, can offer this level of understanding.

And so, we aim to look beyond the obvious candidates for any role, based on our previous recruitment experiences. As well as presenting those who are a complete match to your requirements, we always try to include “an alternative option” that may not have everything but could, based on our understanding of the role, be worth exploring.

Quality Guarantee

We are committed to more than just filling roles. 2into3 seek to ensure that all candidates placed by our Recruitment Team succeed in their new positions, because we believe that when a candidate succeeds, it allows the organisation to succeed in its mission. Therefore, we offer a no-fee replacement guarantee, should the postholder’s employment be terminated for any reason other than ill-health or redundancy within the first 12 months of engagement.

Wide Pool of Talent

A typical assignment can attract 200 queries. However, we also actively seek out the ideal candidate. Our long track record in recruitment has allowed us to develop an extensive network of senior managers in the sector, that we can target, should the role match their skills and experience. We can also apply our knowledge of the role and sector and seek out others who may not even be actively looking for a new role but could be an excellent match.

Efficient Turn Around Time & Quality of the Screening Process

2into3’s recruitment process enables a turnaround time of 8-9 weeks, from the date of placing the job advertisements to the successful candidate accepting the job offer. Instead of our clients having to sift through and process all those unqualified applications, we will only show you those who we feel are capable, typically an average of 9-10 individuals. From that list an average of 4-5 are brought forward to interview and two-thirds of these are typically deemed to be appointable by the client.

Why use a recruitment agency?

12th March 2021

Market Knowledge

Just as you are an expert in your particular area of work, we’ve expert knowledge of the recruitment market. We know where to find the candidates for your job; we know where to advertise and promote your role, but more importantly, we have established connections throughout the nonprofit sector (and wider commercial sector as well). We also know what candidates are looking for, in terms of salary and career expectations. We use this to help you write the best job description, candidate brief and advertisement possible, to attract the best talent.

Hard to Reach Candidates

From 14 years of recruiting, we have an established network of senior level candidates who are seeking a career move and we know also how to reach out to others who may not be actively seeking a move but could potentially be the best candidate for the job, both in terms of skillset and cultural fit.

Candidates, not Applications

When we find those candidates, we have the screening and interview skills needed to separate the great from the good (and from the not so great or good), so you get a high quality shortlist, not a large number of applicants. We will work to refine the candidate profile to meet your exact requirements and ensure any candidates we present meet your criteria and are worthy of consideration. By working with experts who help secure the best possible fit, you reduce the financial and operational risk of a costly mis-hire.

Free Up Resources

It can be quite an onerous task for an organisation to prepare from scratch a detailed job description and a compelling advertisement for a role. This is before sifting through all the applications received to compile a shortlist, that you hope will contain the ideal candidate. Even then, there is more work to screen these candidates and arrange interviews with those you feel make the cut. Not only will we take on all of the above tasks (and more) we will do so in a manner that offers you the reassurance that those shortlisted are qualified and suitable.

At the beginning of any recruitment assignment, we will work with you to get a real insight into your organisation and culture, to understand exactly who you are looking for. We do this to ensure the shortlist of candidates will “fit” your organisation. Once we have a feel for the role and you are happy with the candidate briefing document, we will then work on the project without any need to disturb you, allowing you to focus on your core responsibilities.

For those organisations fortunate enough to have a standalone HR department, our management of the recruitment process will free your HR team to undertake more strategic and valuable people management activities, rather than time-consuming administration such as screening and replying to unsuccessful candidates. At the end of the interview process we will also negotiate terms and check references for the preferred candidate, again relieving you of these time consuming, but critical, tasks.

Saves Time & Money

There is a perception that it is expensive to use an external recruiter, but when all is considered it’s can be more expensive to do it in-house. Spending too much of your limited time on the recruitment project, creates an opportunity cost, meaning your other core day to day activities are impacted eg less engagement with service users, less time building the current team or possibly less fundraising activity. As this is our recruitment team’s sole focus, we ensure a faster turnaround than in-house where the tasks must be fitted-in around other work. This also translates into cost savings over the duration of the recruitment process.

Usually an assignment takes 8-9 weeks. To illustrate the typical number of interactions required to arrive at a successful candidate, imagine a funnel. Following the placement of the job advert, up to 200 queries can be received. We respond to every individual query, and proceed to filter through the multi-layered process, until we secure the final successful candidate. At every stage our client still has full control of everything we do on their behalf. Some clients like to be updated on every step, others prefer to receive a pre-vetted short list of candidates, our recruitment approach allows for this flexibility.

Interested in our recruitment process?

Contact Fergal O’Sullivan, Head of Recruitment on +353 86 180 6051

Check out our current vacancies.

Irish Giving Index Report Finds Total Fundraised Income for First Half of 2020 up by 28% from 2019

9th March 2021

Here are some interesting findings from the latest Irish Giving Index Report (Q2, 2020).

The report shows a 28% year-to-date increase in total fundraised income from 2019.

This increase was seen across the International, Social Services and Health subsectors and remains consistent with findings of monthly year-on-year increases.

Another interesting finding for Quarter 2 2020 relates to Fundraising Costs:

Fundraising costs saw a substantial drop, from an average of €0.32 in Q2 2019 to €0.16 in Q2, 2020, cost to raise €1 (when comparing costs by quarter). Fundraising costs in Q1 had not seen this shock, which averaged at €0.31 in Q1, 2020 (Irish Giving Index, Q1 2020, Unpublished).

Fundraising Costs Q2 2020 comparison Irish Giving Index 2into3

The above are snippets of the Irish Giving Index quarterly report Q2 2020. Subscribers to this report will receive many more insights and bespoke reports relevant for their organisation and fundraising strategy. See how your fundraising team can benefit from Irish Giving Index.

Irish Giving Index sees 49% Increase in Fundraising Income

16th February 2021

Irish Giving Index reports a 49% Increase in Total Fundraising Income for May 2020. This is an on-going positive monthly trend in 2020.

Monthly reports show that year-on-year changes in monthly fundraised income for 2020 remain positive despite the Covid shock to the fundraising landscape. Findings of the latest Irish Giving Index May 2020 Report exhibit how organisations have adapted and responded to changes in the fundraising landscape during the onset of the Covid pandemic. Trends on total fundraised income for the year-to-date resemble past trends, but total levels of fundraising are higher amongst participant organisations.

What drove May 2020’s Increase?

In May 2020, Major Gifts saw a significant monthly year-on-year increase at 923% when compared with May of 2019. 87% of participants receiving income from Major Gifts in May 2020 noted an increase in this method of fundraising, showing that it has been a successful source of fundraised income this month both in terms of value and distribution of income amongst participant organisations.

The Irish Giving Index is the only nonprofit tool which tracks and analyses the Irish fundraising landscape and delivers verified insights straight to your inbox. It is a subscription-based service and is only circulated to subscriber organisations. Monthly reports help organisations track the latest changes in the performance of a variety of fundraising methods.

If you are interested in finding out more about fundraising trends and the other benefits the Irish Giving Index can offer you and your team in planning and decision-making, please contact dennis@2into3.com or call 086 816 2278.

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Sports Capital Grant Applications 2021

A year of lockdown has not dampened Sports Clubs’ Ambition

Thank you to Sinead Price from Pieta House for participating in our Irish Giving Index Webinar

Advertised Senior Roles in Nonprofit Sector Rise 55% in Q1 2021

Irish Giving Index Webinar

Thank you – Rachel from Cork Simon

Impact of COVID-19 on the Funding of Nonprofits in Ireland

Why use 2into3’s Recruitment Service?

Why use a recruitment agency?

Irish Giving Index Report Finds Total Fundraised Income for First Half of 2020 up by 28% from 2019

Irish Giving Index sees 49% Increase in Fundraising Income

Dublin

Belfast

Cork

Galway

Newry