Record Numbers and Global Winners at This Year's IFC

The individual awards presented the judging panel with a difficult decision which resulted in their selection of two joint winners of The Global Fundraiser Award — Melissa Smith of the RMIT University in Australia and Jonathan Irwin of Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation in Ireland. The judges praised Melissa’s personal commitment to social change which they said “secured a gift not only of such magnitude but also from a very new market, earning her a place in the history books of Australian philanthropy.” When it came to Jonathan Irwin, whose organisation provides care and support for children with severe neurological development issues and their families, the judges noted his work as “an outstanding example of a passionate response backed up with the vision to make a big and sustained impact.” They were impressed with the way in which Jonathan “has grown his organisation, taking it from strength to strength with his pioneering approach to fundraising.”