Madam, - Conor O'Clery's review of The Foundation: A Great American Secret, by Joel L Fleishman, made for interesting reading (Business, March 12th). Of the 68,000 foundations in the US which give away more than $35 billion (€27 billion) a year, 700 are community foundations, which in turn represent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of local donors.
There are now 1,200 community foundations in 46 countries worldwide. These represent "communities of individual donors" under the auspices of a single entity. They provide an excellent alternative to private foundations as they eliminate the administrative hassle of running one's own foundation. Donors benefit from the wealth of knowledge at the disposal of community foundations which "connect people who care with causes that matter". Community foundations are as much part of the lives of the wider communities they serve as the donors they represent and, by working with both, they help to strengthen communities for the long term. The New York Community Trust, one of the most successful community foundations in the US, talks about the organisation as "an ego-free partner" to individuals and their financial advisers.
The Community Foundation for Ireland was established in 2000 and has since built an endowment fund approaching €20 million. From this we make grants to communities and charities throughout Ireland. By the end of 2006 the foundation had given out more than €2 million. In 2007 we are launching a new strategic grants programme which will see further increases in our grants expenditure. Those in receipt of grants to date have typically been small organisations with little recourse to other sources of funds. On the donor services side, we work with both individual and corporate donors who, through us, are engaging in strategic philanthropy and getting real value for their philanthropic euro.
The Community Foundation for Ireland is open about its work and we publish an accountability report each year. The report, a complete list of projects funded, our investment criteria and other pertinent information can be viewed on our website, www.communityfoundation.ie. - Yours, etc,
TINA ROCHE, Chief Executive, The Community Foundation for Ireland, 32 Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.