FUNDRAISING FOR THE FUTURE

Following on from our announcement of the new NXF strategy for the next three years, in this issue we are highlighting the Fundraising and Sustainability working group.

To enable our mission to connect, celebrate and empower the LGBTQ+ community and movement in Ireland, we need to be able to keep the lights on, as well as pursuing other activities for the improvement of our society and supports.

Throughout the years, we have been and continue to be generously supported by our major partners in Pobal, Mother, Catapult, the Community Foundation of Ireland, The Rowan Trust and The Ireland Funds. We, too, have been supported by the generosity of our many cherished supporters; you, our advertisers, and the sponsors of, not just our events, but also, the GALAS Awards.

This funding has been both strategic and deliberate over the years if not ad hoc. Coming off the back of some difficult years due to the Covid pandemic, where many short-term solutions were put in place by the government and others, we now look forward to the next three years.

The challenge is to create a sustainable long-term funding model for the NXF to continue our existing core activities:

• To support the amazing work that our team in GCN do, allowing it to continue as your free queer press, amplifying the voices of so many in our community.

• To undertake research and education to help inform the decision-making of policymakers.

• To continue to recognise those in the community who go above and beyond through the much-loved GALAS, which made a triumphant return in October.

We also want to be able to support the two new working groups, as previously announced by our Chair, Anna Nolan, including the Activist Academy and the Rainbow Summit. These are great initiatives that will help to set up future generations and create a platform and collective strategy for our LGBTQ+ community. We are wildly excited for these to come to fruition.

As we build out these working groups, we will also be redefining our funding needs to ensure that these all can happen. Whilst continuing to rely on all your support, be you an individual, monthly subscriber, grantor, donor/benefactor, advertiser, corporate sponsor, or educational institute, we will be looking to establish additional sustainable partners for each activity as appropriate. We will be seeking to work and co-create, in many cases, solutions that achieve the desired end goal, where we are all invested in a successful outcome. To that end, as part of our strategy, which will be rolled out over the course of the year, we will be setting up a series of annual, bi-annual, and quarterly events that create value for you and continue to bring our communities together in a safe and impactful environment. We look forward to sharing these with you all in due course.

However, the first of our new initiatives will be the online raffle to raise vital funds for GCN. This gives you a chance to win from an amazing lineup of prizes while also supporting the work GCN does every day for our community.

Thanks to the many businesses, shops, restaurants, hotels, and venues across the country who have kindly donated an incredible array of prizes for our Christmas Raffle, including an Aer Lingus travel voucher, a signed Irish jersey, a stay and dinner at Lawlor’s of Naas, weekend tickets to The Outing Festival, tickets to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre shows, a BMW driving experience at Mondello Park, and lots more.

There’s info on all the prizes to be won elsewhere in this issue of GCN and on gcn.ie. Tickets are on sale now from €5 at www.idonate.ie/raffle/gcn. So, a huge thank you to all who have supported GCN and NXF over the years and I am looking forward to the next three years and connecting with you all again soon!

* Tickets for the raffle are on sale from 12th December 2023 to 31st December 2023, and the winners will be announced in early January on gcn.ie.

As always, all donations, big and small, are welcome.