Róisín Wood: Philanthropy & Civil Society in Northern Ireland

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In this episode of the Philanthropisms podcast we talk to Róisín Wood, CEO of the Community Foundation Northern Ireland (CFNI), about the landscape for philanthropy and civil society in Northern Ireland. Including:

• How and why was CFNI originally formed, and what is the organisation’s focus today?
• What is the history and current context for civil society in NI?
• What is the overall makeup of the NI civil society sector, in terms of formalised vs informal orgs, large vs small, different cause areas etc.?
• What is the history and current context for giving in NI? E.g. how much HNWI giving is there? How much mass market giving? What role does corporate philanthropy play? What role do foundations play?
• What is the attitude of the NI government towards civil society in general? What is the attitude towards philanthropy?
• Northern Ireland has a well-document history of challenges with political and religious polarisation - what role have civil society organisations and philanthropy played in trying to overcome this? 
• At a time of increasing polarisation elsewhere, does the NI experience have things to teach CSOs and funders elsewhere about how to address these issues effectively?
• Are there ongoing challenges with polarisation in NI? Are these continuations of long-standing issues, or are there new fault lines emerging?
• Does working further upstream demand a willingness to blur the boundaries between philanthropy and politics? How much of a barrier is this?
• How can philanthropic funders bring people together across divides to have meaningful conversations, work together and find common cause?
• What is the USP of Community Foundations within the wider ecosystem of philanthropy?
• Can the successes of place-based initiatives inform activities or policymaking at a regional or national level? How can organisations based in one place ensure they ‘influence upwards’?
• Is “place” more complex than it is sometimes presented? I.e. at what geographic level do we feel a sense of belonging or identity?
• Is there potential for cultivating philanthropy from a Northern Irish Diaspora? What might this look like?

Related Links:

• CFNI’s website
• CFNI Strategy 2023-26
• Philanthropisms podcast conversations with Michaela Giurgiu on Eastern European Philanthropy and Community Foundations, Anelise Hanson Shrout on the history of philanthropy and the Great Famine, Farai Chideya on philanthropy’s role in building a multiracial pluralistic democracy, and Natasha Friend & Maria Ahmed on participatory place-based philanthropy.
• WPM article “Why isn’t all philanthropy trust-based philanthropy?”
• Republic of Ireland’s National Philanthropy Policy, launched by govt in 2023