Irish charity sector bodies to merge
Howard Lake | 25 May 2016 | News
Fundraising Ireland (FI) and the Irish Charity Tax Reform group (ICTR) are to merge, according to a letter sent to FI members jointly signed by FI chairman Mícheál Sheridan and FI CEO Lucy Masterson.
“Based on a recognition of the very real benefits of increased co-operation and after much discussion, consideration and joint meetings, the Boards of both Fundraising Ireland and ICTR have now agreed in principle to a proposal to merge our two organisations into one entity,” the letter says.
The letter said that the merger will provide better advice and training on fundraising and reporting best practice and help deal with the challenges from forthcoming regulatory requirements and expectations regarding the sector generally.
The ICTR sent out a similar letter to their members signed by their Chairperson and CEO.
The boards of FI and ICTR are now carrying out the necessary work to facilitate arrangements for a merger. This will involve Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs) of both organisations. The new entity will be a registered charity with charitable tax exemption.
ICTR was formed in 1991 ‘to optimise tax effective giving, reduce the tax burden on the sector and ensure regulation is appropriate to the needs of Irish charities’. The organisation, which has been led for most of its existence by Sheila Nordon, had an income of €184,000 in 2014. ICTR receives income from membership, foundations, including Atlantic Philanthropies, and the Irish government.
FI had a turnover of €169,000 in 2012, according to the most recent accounts on its website. Most of its income is derived from the organisation’s annual fundraising conference.
Advertisement
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.