LETTER FROM THE WORLDWIDE PRESIDENT & CEO 2016 was the first year after the completion of our Promising Ireland Campaign. Typically, U.S. organizations experience a 15% to 50% reduction in revenue immediately after a campaign concludes. However, we are pleased to report that our donors bucked that trend and instead delivered total annual revenue of $25 million. Notably, this was twice the income of the first year of the Campaign in 2009. This tremendous outcome is a tribute to their generosity and commitment and serves as a great encouragement to The Ireland Funds America. Most importantly, the revenue of 2016 enabled us to support 336 projects doing outstanding work across the island of Ireland and Irish causes abroad. Such projects ranged from Music Generation which has engaged 40,000 children and created 370 new jobs to ALONE, an organiza- tion improving the quality of life for Ireland’s elder community through outreach and advocacy. Throughout the year we also delivered on our Development Program to strengthen the capacity of our organization. This included the appointment of new development staff, rolling out of the new communications and branding strategy including a new website and marketing assets. Most importantly, led by the generosity of our donors, we increased the value of our endowment by almost 50%. The fact that these investments in our future are being led by our Board is a great vote of confidence in our future. Speaking of our future, I am delighted to add that a number of our Young Leaders contributed to the endowment in response to the generosity of the Board. A substantial endowment is critical to the long-term of sustainability of any fundraising foundation. With this in mind and as we celebrated our 40th anniversary throughout 2016, we began planning for the shape of this organization by the time of its 50th anniversary in 2026. Many things have and will change, new needs will emerge and new methodologies will become relevant. However, the one thing that remains constant is the mission set out for us by our founders, Tony O’Reilly and the dearly departed Dan Rooney, which is to help the people of Ireland to achieve a prosperous and peaceful island. ThAnK YOu FOr AdVAncInG ThIs mIssIOn sO GenerOuslY ThrOuGhOuT 2016. —Kieran mcLoughlin, Worldwide President & ceo, The Ireland funds 1