The Beachaire Fund is a relatively new fund at The Community Foundation for Ireland that was set up in 2016 by a professional woman who wanted to take a more structured approach to giving. Often when donors decide to work with The Community Foundation for Ireland it is because they have given in an ad hoc way in the past and are looking to change their approach from charitable giving to strategic giving, that is giving that is focused on impact and has a social cause lens.
The Beachaire fund focuses on providing grants to organisations with an educational focus. International research has found that female led funds often focus on the areas of education and children and young people with a long term focus to challenge disadvantage. While The Community Foundation for Ireland has not seen enough female led funds to classify a trend in female funds, the Beachaire Fund is a fantastic example of how a fund wants to address educational disadvantage through supporting programmes that look at STEM, numeracy and literacy initiatives and early childhood education. Such programmes include a grant to Early Learning Initiative to support their work in the Dockland and a grant to Suas Educational Development to provide targeted support to children in DEIS schools who are struggling with reading and maths.
While the Beachaire Fund was set up and is led by a professional female, she has also involved two generations in the grant and decision making process. This is a common thread we have seen within our funds at The Community Foundation for Ireland. Often donors will encourage their children to become involved in their philanthropy to encourage a legacy of giving. Similarly different family members may come together under the same family fund to avail of joined up thinking and create more significant impact in a social area they have decided to focus on. Donor Advised Funds are the fastest growing vehicle of giving on a global scale because of their flexibility and governance structure that allows donors peace of mind on the grants they make while also seeing the impact and knowing they are receiving professional community knowledge that enhances their philanthropic mission.