Northern Ireland philanthropists urged to speak out

Howard Lake | 22 April 2013 | News

Northern Ireland’s top business leaders have been urged to speak out about their charitable activities to help persuade others to follow their lead.

Leading philanthropy expert Ellen Remmer, of US-based The Philanthropic Initiative, said philanthropy in Northern Ireland was being held back because of philanthropists' desire to be anonymous.

“One of the biggest challenges will be the very private culture you have in Northern Ireland. There do not seem to be a lot of donors who are willing to stand up, challenge and inspire their peers to give,” she told business leaders at an event organised by the new philanthropic organisation, Giving Northern Ireland in association with the Institute of Directors.

Ms Remmer welcomed the formation of Giving Northern Ireland, which is dedicated to harnessing skills, expertise and resources of corporations and wealthy individuals, adding it was a significant move towards growing philanthropy in the years to come.

The aim of Giving Northern Ireland will be to encourage individuals and businesses to not only give more but to also to feel more comfortable speaking about their philanthropic activities.

“People in Northern Ireland are very reluctant to talk about their generosity but we need to persuade them that this is the only way to bring philanthropy into the public consciousness,” said Gary Mills, Director of Giving Northern Ireland.

Photo: Keeping a secret by Andi Berger on shutterstock.com

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.