As Budget 2027 approaches, one conversation is getting louder across Ireland’s charity sector.
We are funding projects. But are we properly funding the organisations that deliver them?
A funder might support counselling sessions, a youth programme, community outreach or a new service.
But who pays for the infrastructure behind it?
The management. Finance. Insurance. Governance. Technology. HR. Compliance. Reporting. Evaluation. Rent. Training.
None of these are particularly exciting lines in a funding application.
But without them, the project doesn’t happen.
The Wheel has highlighted the scale of the challenge. Only around a quarter of surveyed organisations receive multi-annual statutory funding, while recent research found one in four charities was unsure whether it could maintain existing services into the following year.
And that’s happening while many organisations are facing increasing demand and increasing expectations around governance, compliance and demonstrating impact.
A €100,000 project doesn’t cost €100,000 to deliver
Someone manages it.
Someone processes the payroll.
Someone monitors the finances.
Someone gathers the data and reports the outcomes.
Someone ensures the organisation remains compliant, insured and well governed.
Those costs don’t disappear because a funding programme doesn’t cover them. The charity simply has to find the money somewhere else.
That’s why the Budget 2027 conversation around multi-annual funding and full-cost recovery matters.
Charities also need to become more confident about articulating the real cost of their work.
Understand your overheads. Build realistic budgets. Know the cost of delivering the project and not simply the visible activities within it.
And boards should be asking an important question before accepting funding:
Is this grant funding our work, or are we subsidising the grant?
Perhaps that is the bigger question for Budget 2027.
Not simply how much we fund charities.
But whether we are funding them in a way that allows them to survive, plan and deliver.
Because you cannot sustainably fund the project without sustainably funding the organisation behind it.
