Madam, - In her thought-provoking article (Feb 14th) "Charity as an orgy of selfishness", Ann Marie Hourihane contends that "freelance philanthropy is a self-indulgence, and surely we have indulged ourselves enough at this stage".
The recently published Philanthropy Ireland Guide to Giving (Philanthropy: An Opportunity to Make Your Mark) defined philanthropy as the act of giving money, goods, time or effort to support a charitable cause, usually over an extended period of time and in regard to a defined objective.
In contrast to "freelance philanthropy", effective philanthropy is strategic investment with a social purpose, the achievement of real lasting change in society and planned giving with a focus on impact.
Although Irish people have proven to be very generous in terms of spontaneous giving, as well as with their time (almost one in four Irish people engage in regular voluntary work), planned giving remains under-developed.
Private donations amount to only 15 per cent of all income in the not-for-profit sector and it is believed that only some 12 per cent of the population give in a planned way.
Ann Marie Hourihane is right in contending that we have a long way to go to ensure that Irish giving becomes more strategic, impactful and genuinely philanthropic as well as having an appropriate system of checks and balances.
However, Philanthropy Ireland takes issue with some of the points in Ms Hourihane's article. Having acknowledged that, mainly as a result of the Irish missionaries, the Irish have an impressive and sustained history in overseas aid, she goes on to deplore the fact that foreign aid has now been privatised.
This simply is not true, with Ireland Aid still accounting for the lion's share of total Irish overseas aid. Equally, the involvement of the religious in overseas aid is (and always has been) private, as distinct from the efforts of the State. Just as not all public aid to the developing world is effective, equally it is too simplistic to suggest that all private initiatives are ineffective and misguided.
It also seems likely that some of the most effective interventions in the future will entail public and private collaboration and new ways of tackling entrenched problems.
In a week when NIB's report "The Emerald Isle - The Wealth of Modern Ireland" indicated that household wealth has passed the €1 trillion mark for the first time, it is timely to debate the issues which Ms Hourihane raises but without dismissing all private giving as being "an orgy of selfishness" and "free-lance philanthropy", which simply is not the case.
Philanthropy Ireland considers that there are many areas where philanthropy can make a positive contribution - including social need, education, arts and culture and the environment both in Ireland and in developing countries. - Yours, etc,
JACKIE HARRISON, Chief Executive, Philanthropy Ireland, Foster Place, Dublin 2.