Irish American dinner raises $4.3 million
Howard Lake | 11 June 2015 | News
The American Ireland Fund’s New York fundraising gala in New York last month was the organisation’s most successful event ever, raising $4.3 million.
The 40th anniversary gala is the biggest fundraising event run by the American Ireland Funds and has now raised in total over $50 million since the 1970s for philanthropic work in Ireland and America. Since the Funds were established, over $500 million has been raised from the Irish community in different parts of the world.
The 2013 gala raised $3 million.
Over 1,000 guests from the spheres of business, the arts and politics attended the Gala at the Grand Hyatt New York at Grand Central. Corporate tables were sold for as much as $100,000.
The Funds distribute money in Ireland through a small grants programme and flagship grants programme, both of which closed for applications earlier in the year. The majority of grants are made possible through Donor Advised Grants where donors identify projects that they wish to support.
The Ireland Funds’ particular areas of interest are providing access to education, supporting a shared future in Northern Ireland, investing in communities, assisting the elderly ‘forgotten Irish’, disadvantaged youth and promoting philanthropy.
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.