The Wheel Summit 2024 Recap
We had a fantastic day at The Wheel’s annual Summit as lead partners on Wednesday 29th May. The event kicked off with an opening address from Emily Bourke, Campaigns Manager at The Wheel, followed by Ivan Cooper, CEO of The Wheel.
Joe O’Brien, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, also joined us to introduce this years Summit, acknowledging the work of the charitable sector and celebrating 25 years of The Wheel.
Dennis O’Connor Keynote Speech “An island of 10 million people”
At the end of the first plenary session, our CEO, Dennis O’Connor, gave a keynote speech on “An island of 10 million people”, highlighting both the challenges and the positive effects of a strongly growing population.
His closing remarks reminded our attendees of the importance of ambition within the sector, “Funding follows Ambition, Ambition comes first.”
Parallel Session: ‘Sustaining Your Funding: From Funding Potholes to Smooth Roads’
In the afternoon, we hosted a parallel session on ‘Sustaining Your Funding: From Funding Potholes to Smooth Roads’. This session was MC’d by Michael Smyth, CEO of Cope Galway who joined our panellists, Patricia Keenan, Director of Grants & Economic Services, Rob Foley, Head of Fundraising Advisory Practice and Denise Cranston, Head of Partnerships Advisory Practice.
Our session covered two main discussion points, including our team’s observations looking back on the funding landscape in Ireland and providing recommendations moving forward.
Some key takeaways included:
- “In future, we hope to see longer-term, more impactful corporate charity partnerships. Collaborating over five, or ten years will create a much greater impact for both corporates and charities.”
- “As contributors to the state, we are entitled to apply for grants… it’s important to build your case around how such grants will positively impact your community.”
- “Diversifying your fundraising channels offers advantages, but remember to factor in the investment required such as opportunity cost, time and capacity.”
Towards the end of the session, we had an extremely engaging Q&A session, where our team answered a range of funding questions from attendees.
2into3, Lead Partners of The Wheel Summit
The Wheel Summit presents an opportunity for sector leaders to reflect on the past and look to the future of the sector through member-led sessions, networking and collaborating. We were delighted to celebrate 25 years of The Wheel at this year’s Summit, acknowledging the third sector and the impact of their work in Ireland.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our funding expertise, contact our team:
Patricia Keenan, Director of Grants & Economic Services: patricia.keenan@2into3.com
Rob Foley, Head of Fundraising Advisory Practice at rob.foley@2into3.com
Denise Cranston, Head of Partnerships Advisory Services denise.cranston@2into3.com
2into3 are lead partners of The Wheel Summit, 2022-2024.
