About Us

The Wheel is Ireland’s national association of charities, community groups and social enterprises.

As a representative voice, we provide leadership to the charity and community sector and we advocate on behalf of our growing community of members. As a supportive resource, we offer advice, training and other opportunities to people working or volunteering in the charity and community sector.

We are a registered charity (Registered Charity Number: 20040963) and Company Limited by Guarantee (Company Number: 302282).

Our Vision

A thriving charity and community sector at the heart of a fair, just and inclusive Ireland.

Our Mission

We champion the role of Irish charities and community organisations in building a flourishing society and support them to do work that has a positive impact.

Our Values

• Courageous: We are confident in standing up for what is right, we are not afraid to challenge the status quo and we dream big.
• Accountable: We recognise that we are accountable to those we serve, the public and anybody else with an interest in our work.
• Inclusive: We work hard to be truly inclusive in all aspects of our work, with a particular emphasis on listening to and acting on those voices that have previously not been heard.
• Collaborative:  We work in a collegial manner with our members and everyone else who wants our sector to succeed.

Our Members

Inspired by our community of over 2,400 members, we represent, support and connect nonprofit organisations, from the smallest community groups to reland's largest charities and social enterprises.

Join the Wheel

Our Work

To deliver on our aims, we focus on the following areas of work: 

• Public Policy and Campaigning: we promote the interests of both our members and the wider sector by building public support and securing the optimal legislative, policy and regulatory environment for community and voluntary action. Our work in this area includes advocacy, campaigning, influencing, media engagement and research.  Read more.
• Skills and Leadership Development: we provide a wide range of affordable unaccredited and accredited training to people working and volunteering in the sector. Our key offerings in this area are our training and development programme and the Nonprofit Sector Leadership Academy. 
• Networking Programme: we facilitate and support networks of interest, and we open doors for collaboration and networking across traditional boundaries. Our current networks focus on topics such as social enterprise, small organisations, insurance, charity finance managers, HSE-funded groups and more.
• Information Services Programme: we provide a vast range of practical information and advice tailored to the practical needs of people working and volunteering in charities, community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Key activities include our helpdesk, websites, newsletters and Fundingpoint database of funding opportunities.  
• Delivering Special Programmes: we partner with public agencies and philanthropic bodies to deliver projects that promote our mission and strategic aims and support the work of the sector. We are currently delivering several EU programmes and the iCommunity project under the Shared Island Initiative.  

Our Impact

We champion the charity and community sector and work to achieve the following outcomes:

• Charities and community organisations are sensitively regulated, adequately resourced and supported and appropriately recognised and valued – for the contribution they make to achieving a fair, just and more equal society.
• Charities and community organisations organisations are trusted, open and accountable.
• Charities and community organisations are well led, governed and managed.
• Charities and community organisations are understood as engines of active citizenship by the public, policy-makers and within the sector.
• As a result of having a diverse, actively engaged and growing membership, The Wheel continues to be a strong, inclusive and influential voice for the sector.

How We Measure Our Progress

At its very core, our work involves communicating and influencing, generating information, creating knowledge, and modelling best practice. Our approach to measuring our impact is to review and analyse our contributions to:

• the body of knowledge that is available to and about our sector;
• changes in thinking and attitudes within and about our sector;
• changes and improvements in practice within and in relation to our sector.

Read about our impact here. 

Our Governance 

Our board of directors is responsible for our governance and overseeing our strategic direction. All of our Board members including the Chairperson are volunteers giving their time, skills and expertise to help advance our mission. Meet The Wheel’s Board of Directors or visit our Governance & Finances section.

We are established as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) with the formal legal name ‘Rotha’ (which is Irish for ‘wheel’). Our company number is: 302282. Our registered charity number is 20040963. Our charity tax-exemption number issued by Revenue is CHY 13288.

We are compliant with Charities Regulator's Charities Governance Code.

Funding and Finances

The Wheel is funded through a mixture of membership subscriptions, grants, contracts and earned income. Our finances are outlined in our audited annual accounts and explained in our annual director’s reports.

Learn about our funders

Our History

The Wheel has been supportive and representative voice for the charity and community sector for over two decades. Our organisation originated from the idea (first articulated in 1998) that there was a need for a network to represent and connect people working and volunteering in Ireland’s charity and community sector. Read more.

Supporting Sustainable Communities

The Wheel believes that charities, community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises have a critical role to play in helping Ireland to meet its commitments as signatories to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  We are engaged in a number of projects to promote the SDGs, and we are members of Coalition 2030, an alliance of over 60 civil society organisations working together to ensure Ireland keeps its promise to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read more