Philanthropist supports role of advisors in advancing philanthropy
Howard Lake | 28 October 2011 | News
Philanthropist Stephanie Shirley, known as ‘Steve’, has told a gathering of professional advisors in Dublin that they should introduce the topic of philanthropy to wealthy people seeking their advice.
Shirley is a successful entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist who was named as the UK’s first Ambassador for Philanthropy by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in early 2009. Her charitable Shirley Foundation is one of the top 50 grant-giving foundations in the UK, having given away more than £50 million since it opened in 1997.
The Dublin event was hosted by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) for professional advisors. It was run in conjunction with The Irish Tax Institute and The Community Foundation for Ireland.
The 50 people in attendance heard Shirley explain her rationale for giving and how advisors have helped her. Her key point was that professional advisors should introduce the topic of philanthropy.
Advisors advise and ultimately clients make up their own mind, she told the audience.
Tina Roche, Chief Executive of The Community Foundation, introduced Irish case studies of Irish donors and talked about their ‘lightbulb moments’. Ms Roche also welcomed Martin Phelan of The Tax Institute’s contribution in which he outlined the plans under consideration by The Tax Institute to incorporate philanthropy into the syllabus for tax students.
www.foundation.ie
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.