Philanthropy Working with Government: A Case Study of The Atlantic Philanthropies’ Partnership with the Irish Government September 2016 Cover design by Anú Design (www.anu-design.ie) Richard Boyle AN FORAS RIARACHÁIN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION About the author and publication Dr. Richard Boyle is head of research, publishing and corporate relations at the Institute of Public Administration in Ireland. Richard has worked with the Institute since 1986. His research interests focus on public service modernisation. He has researched and written extensively on public service reform. He has worked widely with Irish central and local government, the OECD and the World Bank. He has engaged in a number of major consultancy projects for public sector organisations in Ireland and internationally. He is chair of the Irish Evaluation Network and a former board member of the European Evaluation Society (2002-2005). This report was funded by a grant provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies. More information on their work in this and other areas can be accessed at http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/ Thanks are due to The Atlantic Philanthropies, the interviewees listed at Appendix 1, my colleagues Joanna O’Riordan and Hannah Ryan, and Susan Parker. If you want further information, Richard can be contacted at: Institute of Public Administration 57-61 Lansdowne Road Dublin D04 TC62 Ireland Email: [email protected] Website: www.ipa.ie Contents Executive summary ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Development of a partnership approach .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Development and use of evidence ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Reform of service delivery .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Lessons learned .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 For policymakers .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 For NGOs ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 For philanthropies ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter 1 Study background and approach .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Study background ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Brief overview of The Atlantic Philanthropies and its involvement with government in Ireland .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Study approach ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Overview of activities examined ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.5 Report structure ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2 A partnership-based approach ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Partnership between Atlantic and government ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Partnership and collaboration between Atlantic grantees ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Partnership between Atlantic grantees and government ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Conclusions 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