Ireland regulator finds university charity spent funds on business class travel and five-star hotels
Howard Lake | 19 December 2019 | News
The Charities Regulator in Ireland has found that the fundraising department of the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) spent charitable funds on business class travel, five-star hotels, expenditure for spouses and long taxi journeys.
According to The Journal, The Regulator’s report followed allegations made over two years ago. The overall conclusion was that expenditure by the university foundation was “inconsistent” with guidelines.
Over €48,000 was spent on business class flights between 2015 and 2017, while hotels averaged €385 a night, in excess of Revenue guidelines for overseas travel. The charity also spent over €10,000 flying directors’ spouses to destinations including New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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More than €30,000 was spent on taxi fares, mostly between Galway and Dublin. Money spent on donor acknowledgement was described as “excessive and not in line with detailed fundraising policy,” with nearly €62,000 spent on the Galway races over three years, and nearly €10,000 on tickets to international Ireland rugby matches.
When questioned over the spending on premium travel Dr Jim Browne, who was the NUIG president and foundation director during the period, said “we’re expected to be ready for meetings, being there is important and being tired is not giving our best,” the report said. Dr Browne has been replaced by a new chief executive, Tom Joyce.
Dr Browne justified this travel by saying his role was a “demanding one” with events often in the evenings followed by early morning meetings elsewhere.
Money spent on donor acknowledgement was described as “excessive and not in line with detailed fundraising policy.” and nearly €10,000 on tickets to international Ireland rugby matches.
Despite the report’s findings that the foundation did not have adequate controls governing expenditure it was a “well run organisation.” The charity said it had implemented improvements to its expenditure systems in June 2018.
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.