Deadline: 18 April 2019
Social Innovation Fund Ireland is seeking applications from eligible organisations for its “Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund” to support and empower women to progress their education or progress into new or more sustainable employment.
The Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund is the first fund in Ireland to support charities and social enterprises that seek to enhance the economic mobility of women, and is designed specifically to equip these organisations to expand their business acumen, drive growth and deepen their impact across Ireland.
The Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund is a €1.8 million fund over three years created by Social Innovation Fund Ireland in partnership with Bank of America and the Department of Rural and Community Development. The Department of Rural and Community Development provides match funding for all philanthropic funds raised by Social Innovation Fund Ireland, via the Dormant Accounts Fund.
Objectives
Through the Fund, SIFI’s aim to achieve the following over 3 years:
- Empower 1,000 women to find and secure sustained employment across Ireland by investing in organisations that provide training, upskilling, education and other services directly to women experiencing disadvantage.
- Double the impact of successful applicants by providing growth capital and support to organisations with a proven track record of social impact.
Funding Information
- Cash grants between €50,000 – €100,000 per year for three years
- A bespoke business supports package designed to equip not for profit organisations to expand their business acumen, drive growth and deepen their impact
- A place on Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s Accelerator programme which provides training from best-in-class experts across the private, not for profit and public sectors
- Performance management & impact management
- Access to Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s networks
- Access to training and mentoring from Bank of America’s employees
Eligibility Criteria
- Social Innovation Fund Ireland Standard Criteria
- The project must address a critical social issue
- The project must be innovative in an Irish context
- The project must have potential and a desire to scale or replicate in Ireland (it may also have potential internationally, but this is not a requirement)
- The project must have a proven track record
- The project must be based on the island of Ireland and make its main impact in the Republic of Ireland
- Applicants must come from an entity that has a not-for-profit legal form e.g. company limited by guarantee, trust etc.
- Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund’s Core Criteria
- Projects that focus on women who are experiencing disadvantage (socio-economic, educational disadvantage, disability, members of minority group and other)
- Projects that focus on developing economic mobility for women in Ireland experiencing disadvantage through:
- Increasing access to job opportunities
- Increasing female labour force participation
- Assisting women to progress their current positions
- Workforce development – building employment-related skills that lead to employment (includes soft skills)
- Projects that have evidence of sustained impact
- Organisations or projects with strong financial and governance structures, with the ability and resources to handle multi-year funding
- Organisations or projects with a viable fundraising model that can maximise and leverage grant funding
- Organisations or projects that have demonstrated strong leadership
- Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund’s Advantageous Criteria
- Organisations and their projects with a sustainable future business model
- Organisations and their projects demonstrating a gender-balanced board
- Organisations and their projects with a developed network and pipeline of participants
- Organisations and their projects that will participate in helping to tell the narrative of advanced economic mobility in Ireland
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
For mroe information, please visit http://www.socialinnovation.ie/mna-na-heireann-fund/