Irish Sailing finally has a place they can call home

Last week, in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, Irish Sailing opened their first ever training base for their Senior Sailing team. In total, thirteen sailors will be based in the Performance HQ in the hope of delivering medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The project cost €300,000 and was funded entirely by philanthropic income raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation.

2into3 began working with Irish Sailing in 2014 with the objective of accessing philanthropic investment into high performance sailing. The Sailing Association high performance programme had been operating on an annual budget of circa €1 million funded from Sport Ireland and Sponsorship. However, in order to compete with their International counterparts in the UK and elsewhere, the association would need to increase investment at least threefold.

Following an extensive consulting project a fundraising strategy was developed and approved, a new Chief Executive recruited and the Irish Sailing Foundation was established with the mission of securing philanthropic donations to support the associations Olympic Steering Group and allow Irish sailors to compete on a par with their International peers.

With the opening of the new high-performance training base, Irish Sailors finally have a place which they can call home and shows the positive impact philanthropy can have on sport. Speaking at the opening of the HQ, The CEO of Irish Sailing, Harry Hermon said

“The creation of the Performance HQ is great news – there is no doubt that we’re at the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Irish Sailing, delivering on the medal-winning potential that the facility will help shape and focus. Clearly, however, this new home for the Performance team would not have been possible without the generosity and far-sightedness of those who, through the Irish Sailing Foundation, funded the project.”

2into3 Director, Dennis O’Connor added that

“2into3 are delighted to have supported the establish of the Irish Sailing Foundation. Currently, circa 2% of the €1b philanthropic investment is going into Sport. The potential to grow this source of investment, to support sport in high performance and participation is there and other National Governing Bodies, Regional, County and Club sporting bodies can also grow their income through philanthropy.”

If you would like more information on how Sports organisations can access Philanthropy please feel free to contact 2into3 Director, Dennis O’Connor at dennis@2into3.com or give him a call on 01-234-3184.