Bank of Ireland: Give Together Initiative

Overview

Bank of Ireland Group has a strong and committed tradition of contributing to the communities in which they make their living.

Since 2007, their main approach has been to channel their community investment into facilitating and supporting employee volunteer and fundraising activities through an initiative called Give Together.

At the core of Give Together is a desire to create an environment where volunteering is actively encouraged. To this end, every Bank of Ireland employee is given a day each year to volunteer for the cause of their choice. As well as facilitating employee volunteering, employees can supplement their fundraising efforts by applying for matched funding when they are involved in fundraising for a community or charitable organisation. There is also funding available for team volunteering projects to buy materials and equipment to enable their volunteering project.

To date, over 7,500 employees have taken part in Give Together, whether through volunteering or fundraising. Over 2,300 volunteer days have been given and employees have been involved in raising more than €13.5 million for the benefit of over 1,200 different causes. While both International and National causes benefit from Give Together, more than 40% of beneficiaries are small local community groups and clubs.

The Bank of Ireland seeks to support employee fundraising so channels its community investment into facilitating and support employee activities through a new initiative called Give Together.

They have also put in place a Fund to support these endeavours which can contribute to employee fundraising achievements.

Previous forms of community investment by the bank are now incorporated into the Give Togther initiative and as such they cannot respond to applications for funding.

The Bank encourage community and voluntary groups to send in some information on any flag days / fundraising events or volunteering opportunities and they will let their staff know via their intranet and notice boards.

How to Apply

Applications can only be made by employees of the Bank of Ireland. However, charities can register volunteering opportunities that the Bank can make known to their staff.

The NICVA GT Team cannot find any updated information on this scheme but assume it is still ongoing.