Key Ireland Funds fundraising events cancelled
Howard Lake | 26 March 2020 | News
The Ireland Funds has cancelled its top fundraising gala in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is with great disappointment but also with great caution that we have decided to postpone The Ireland Funds New York Gala,” an Ireland Funds statement said.
“The well-being of our friends and supporters is of utmost importance to us and in light of the Covid-19 situation, we feel it is the appropriate decision at this time,” the statement added.
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Top table sponsorship for the New York gala, which was to be hosted at Chelsea Pier in New York on 7th May, is $100,000, with individual tickets $1000.
Last year’s gala night raised over $2.3 million and, over the course of its 44-year history, the event has raised over $65 million in support of Irish charities and causes. The Melbourne and Texas galas are also cancelled.
It is not clear yet what impact the fall in the Ireland Funds income will have on the organisation’s annual grant programme which provides small and larger grants to a range of Irish related charities in Ireland and America.
€1 million was made available for their grants programme in the 2019 Grant Round. The €1 million was split evenly across the Flagship Awards and the Small Grants Round.
Last December the Ireland Funds said they had over $700,000 allegedly embezzled from their Texas chapter. In response to the loss in income members of the board of the funds have been asked to donate an extra $10,000.
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.