Here's my Top 10 Irish Fundraising News Stories of 2012:
Changes in Charitable Donation Tax Relief
After a very-welcome public consultation, it was announced that 2013 would see a change in how charities claim back tax on donations over €250. Although the increase in relief from self-assessed donors was generally welcome, the sector braced itself for a drop-off of donors. The new composite rate of tax relief was met with mixed feelings dependent on the structure of your own donor base.
Fundraising Ireland Gets a CEO, launches Certificate in Fundraising
Anne Hanniffy joined Fundraising Ireland as its first CEO. The organisation continued to grow, focusing on training, with the launch of Ireland's first Certificate in Fundraising and a high quality annual conference. It will be interesting to see which way they move in 2013 and will they begin to tackle the Irish public's perception of charitable fundraising.
INKEx Goes Into Liquidation
After funding was pulled without notice, INKEx was forced to cease trading. It was the "The first-ever and only comprehensive data repository for the non-profit sector" and the loss meant a step back for Ireland in terms of having real data on the sector. However, organisations such as The Wheel and Fundraising Ireland started to fill the gap by continuing and building upon some pretty good surveys and research, with some great reports published in 2012.
'Chuggers' Go Digital
After an initial trial in 2011, street and door-to-door fundraisers began to make the switch from paper direct debit forms to electronic tablet forms.
Barnardos Closes For A Week
Some cynics called it a clever marketing ploy, but Barnardos was forced to shut up shop for a week in 2012 in an effort to cut costs. It later emerged they would be doing the same in 2013.
Ulster Bank enables charitable donations at ATMs
ATM giving finally came to Ireland, but you had to be an Ulster Bank customer at an Ulster Bank machine. The roll-out will be slow, but other banks will follow suit and this will become a noticeable source of income for the big 10.
John O'Shea Leaves GOAL
After a bit of a kerfuffle, John O'Shea stepped down as CEO of GOAL. Renowned for their low investment in fundraising due to O'Shea's personal dislike of it, the change paved the way to a potential shake up of how they run things.
2into3 Begin Recruiting For 6 Fundraising Staff At €70k
2into3 began to recruit for "seven new high level fundraising roles" as part of the RAISE pilot. At a salary of €70,000 per year, the fundraising community collectively spat out their tea and scrambled to hide the ad from their own staff.
Irish Charities Expo Flops
The first ever Charity Expo left a number of charities unhappy, feeling it was a waste of money and time. You can read my thoughts here.
Legacies Get Big
Irish Cancer Society and Barretstown both received huge legacy gifts in 2012. With the help of these and others, as well as the growth of MyLegacy, leaving money to charity in your will began to get some real media coverage.
What am I missing?
