About Us
When a disaster strikes, the first hours, days and weeks are critical.
WHO WE ARE
We are seven leading humanitarian agencies who have come together to respond faster and do more to help rebuild the lives of people affected by major emergencies worldwide.
We have decades of combined experience and are active in over 80 of the world’s poorest countries, often working closely with local partner organisations. Last year alone, we mobilised to support people affected by more than 20 disasters and conflicts worldwide, operating in some of the most difficult situations.
But we want to do even more for people whose lives have been devastated by emergencies — save even more lives and support even more people to rebuild their homes, schools, communities and livelihoods.
Together we can do that. We can raise more for the people affected, and make even better use of those funds by working more efficiently so your donation goes further.
MEMBER CHARITIES
ACTION AID IRELAND
Providing long term support to women and their children in developing countries, so they can overcome the obstacles holding them back.
CHRISTIAN AID IRELAND
A partnership of people, churches and local organisations committed to ending poverty worldwide.
PLAN INTERNATIONAL IRELAND
We work to advance Children’s rights and equality for girls.
TEARFUND IRELAND
Working with the local church community, committed to seeing lasting local change, whole communities lifted out of poverty for good.
TRÓCAIRE
Working in partnership with communities in over 20 countries to relieve poverty and tackle injustice.
WORLD VISION IRELAND
Helping the most vulnerable children, in the most difficult places, overcome poverty and experience fullness of life.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do we decide to launch an appeal?
We respond to disasters in the world’s poorest countries, using a set of criteria to help us decide when to launch an appeal and how we can be most effective.
These criteria include:
- Is the disaster urgent and large-scale, needing swift international humanitarian response?
- Are at least two-thirds of our member organisations able to provide a fast and effective response at a large enough scale?
- Are the public likely to support the appeal so that we can respond?
Some disasters may not need a collective appeal from us as the Irish Emergency Alliance, but our individual member organisations may still respond.
How do we raise money?
We raise money by directly appealing to the Irish public and by working with the media to raise awareness of disasters taking place. We pool our resources to ensure fundraising costs are kept to a minimum and not duplicated during an emergency appeal.
How are we more efficient by working together?
We save on costs by sharing resources during appeals rather than duplicating efforts, for example creating shared adverts rather than each organisation doing this separately. By working together we also hope to work more effectively with the media to create more public awareness of emergencies and how people’s lives are affected.
How is your donation spent?
For every euro you give, 85 cent will go directly to the disaster-affected area, and we are working to increase this to 90 cent by 2024. The other 15 cent helps us raise even more funds to reach more people in emergencies, and covers other essentials such as safeguarding systems and financial accountability. One of our core values is transparency. This means we are committed to being clear and open about our work, our finances and our procedures with all our stakeholders.
How do we allocate donations across our member organisations?
While we do have a defined methodology of how to allocate donations, this depends on the emergency and how many of our members actively respond to the appeal and disaster response. Our priority is to deliver aid and support as quickly and efficiently as possible to those most in need.
Funds are allocated based upon three defined criteria - 1) Fundraising income (capacity of each member agency to raise public funds); 2) Emergency spend (capacity of each member agency to spend donations on the response); and 3) Direct Operational Countries (the number of countries each member agency directly operates in).
Is your money safe when you donate?
Yes. We take security very seriously and we use online donation software that meets the Payment Card Industry Security Standard. We do not store your personal card details on our websites, database or in any other form. Personal card details you provide on paper donation forms in person, via post or verbally over the telephone, are deleted immediately after the payment has been processed. The Irish Emergency Alliance has a Data Protection Policy and is compliant with GDPR requirements.
Who will have your data? How do we use it?
We will process your data in a separate Irish Emergency Alliance database, and we will not share your details with our member organisations. We will never share your information with third party organisations for their own marketing purposes and we will never, ever sell your information. We respect your privacy and will use your information only for the purposes you consent to when you provide it, which mainly include marketing and fundraising. Please find out more in our Privacy Policy.
How are we governed and staffed?
We are governed by a board of directors which includes the chief executives of all our member organisations, plus at least three independent trustees. It is a voluntary board — board members do not receive any payment for taking part and governing the Irish Emergency Alliance.
The vast majority of our work is done by existing staff of our member organisations. There will be one additional part-time paid staff member for the alliance, the Executive Director, who coordinates the work of the alliance.
How are we accountable?
The Irish Emergency Alliance is governed by a Board consisting of ten members - the CEO from each of the member agencies plus three independent directors. It has five sub-committees which report to the Irish Emergency Alliance Board (an Executive Committee; Finance and Audit Committee; Programmes Committee; Website and Tech Support Committee; and a Fundraising and Communications Committee). The Irish Emergency Alliance has a part-time Executive Director and documented policies which guide its work. It is registered with the CRO and the Charities Regulator (Registered Charity Number 20203848 and CHY 22307). View our CRA profile here.
The Irish Emergency Alliance is a charitable company, created by its members and limited by guarantee. We will publish yearly audited accounts detailing the funds we have raised and how they were spent.
2019 Annual Report and Financial Statements
Member organisations have a strong track record in emergency programming and have demonstrated capacity in delivering emergency response in a manner that is responsive to local needs and adheres to humanitarian principles. They are also committed to delivering responses in line with internationally recognised humanitarian standards, such as the Core Humanitarian Standard, and the Red Cross and NGO Code of Conduct in Disaster Relief.
How much is the CEO paid?
We do not have a Chief Executive, almost all of our work is done by existing staff of our member organisations. The Irish Emergency Alliance only has one paid staff member, the Executive Director, who works on a part-time basis.
How do I contact the Irish Emergency Alliance?
The best way to contact us is by emailing [email protected]. This helps us provide the fastest response to your query during busy appeal periods. If you wish to speak with someone you can call 01 5685861 (Plan International office)