Cork Views: Solutions to local social challenges are on our doorstep

When we talk about tackling Ireland’s most complex social challenges, there can be a temptation to look for a single, top-down solution. But experience tells us that lasting social change rarely works that way.

Some of the best solutions are developed locally, by people and organisations who understand the challenges facing their communities because they are living with them every day. They know where the gaps are, what barriers people face and, importantly, what might work.

At Rethink Ireland, we believe those local ideas should be given the opportunity to be tested, strengthened and, where they demonstrate real impact, grown. We have seen first-hand how the power of philanthropy and the power of place can work together to create meaningful change.

Since 2018, we have created 12 place-based funds, beginning with the Sustainable Cork Fund in partnership with Cork Chamber. Since then, we have opened six specific place-based funds across Munster, with multiple donors including Tomar Trust, Luan Fund, The Ireland Funds, the Parkes Family, EI Electronics, Michael Guinee Charitable Foundation, the Sunflower Charitable Foundation and other local donors.

This approach means giving organisations the space to pilot new approaches, learn what works and what does not, and refine their models.

Social innovation is rarely about arriving with a perfect solution on day one. It is about testing an idea, listening to the people it is designed to support, measuring its impact, and continuously improving it.

But local innovation does not have to mean local impact alone.

We have seen organisations such as Crann Centre in Ovens scale and grow their model, Cork Deaf Association pilot and test its model, and projects such as Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland test approaches with the potential for growth.

Projects like these begin with solutions rooted in particular communities or challenges and go on to develop a far wider, sometimes national, reach and impact. That journey from a promising local idea to something capable of creating change on a much wider scale is hugely important.

For that to happen, funding alone is not enough. Organisations need the capacity and confidence to grow. They need to understand and demonstrate their impact, build strong teams, develop sustainable models and plan for the future.

That is why Rethink Ireland’s model combines funding with business and capacity-building supports designed to help organisations strengthen what they do and consider how their solutions can reach more people.

The ambition is not to take control of a community solution. It is to give the people behind it the tools they need to make it stronger.

Place-based investment has an important role to play in making that possible. Across Ireland, there is a significant opportunity to encourage more individuals, families, foundations and businesses to invest collaboratively in the places and communities they care about.

Place-based philanthropy allows people to come together around a shared ambition for a particular area. Rather than acting in isolation, donors can pool resources and support a portfolio of organisations tackling different but often interconnected challenges within a community.

Government also has an important role to play in creating the conditions that encourage that giving. When public funding can be combined with philanthropic investment, it gives donors an opportunity to amplify their contribution and allows more resources to be directed towards innovative responses to social challenges.

We are extremely proud of our partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht led by Minister of State Jerry Buttimer who has promoted, supported and enhanced the philanthropy sector in Cork and across Ireland. That public-private partnership is at the heart of Rethink Ireland’s model. It brings together government, philanthropy and communities around a common objective: identifying social innovations with the potential to create meaningful and lasting impact.

Community-based organisations do far more than deliver individual programmes or services. They help build stronger, more resilient communities. They create employment, develop skills and support people into work. They also bring something that cannot easily be replicated from the top down: deep local knowledge, trusted relationships and an understanding of what people in their communities actually need.

That collaboration becomes even more powerful when it begins with a clear understanding of place. People want to contribute to the communities they live and work in, and place-based philanthropy gives them a tangible way to do that while connecting their investment to organisations delivering change on the ground.

If we can continue to strengthen that culture of collaborative giving in Ireland, while ensuring communities remain at the centre of decision-making, we can create an environment in which more innovative ideas are given the opportunity to succeed.

The next great national solution to one of Ireland’s social challenges may already be taking shape in a town, village or neighbourhood somewhere around the country.

Our job is to recognise it, invest in it and give the people behind it the opportunity to turn a strong local idea into something bigger.