IRISH CHARITIES looking for an efficient and cost-effective way to diversify their funding should find help on a new website, Fundingpoint.ie, which is being launched today to help charities cut their dependence on State funding.

Fundingpoint.ie is a new source of funding information for the community and voluntary sector and has details on hundreds of schemes from a variety of sources, including central and local government, EU funds, independent trusts and corporate grants.

The website cost €36,000 to create and was developed by The Wheel, a non-profit organisation that helps the community and voluntary sector in Ireland, with funding provided by the Vodafone Ireland Foundation.

"At present there is no source of information available to charities on where they can get money, apart from the hard copy Irish Fundraising Handbook, which goes out of date very quickly," said Deirdre Garvey, chief executive of The Wheel.

"Fundingpoint.ie provides the most comprehensive and user-friendly way for Irish community and voluntary organisations to pursue new funding opportunities. It is also a valuable service to grant-makers who wish to present their funding-schemes to a wider group of potential beneficiaries."

As well as helping charities keep up to date on funding initiatives, Ms Garvey would also like to see Irish charities reduce their dependence on government funding. The Irish community and voluntary sector receives up to 60 per cent of its funding from government, compared to 40 per cent in the UK, and just 10 per cent of funding comes from the public and corporate sector.

"While we definitely don't want to see a reduction in government funding, we would like to see charities have a more diverse supply of income," she says.

The website allows subscribers to search quickly for grants that best suit their organisations' funding needs, thereby saving valuable time. Each scheme featured on Fundingpoint.ie includes full eligibility criteria, levels of funding, deadlines and contact details.

The website offers guidance on every aspect of fundraising, from how to get started to more specific advice on how to fundraise by trading goods and services.

The website fee is €120 a year. Subscribers will have access to a number of functions including:

• Grant Search: this can be used to locate dozens of open funding schemes in seconds. The advanced search allows users to look for funding schemes using multiple filters, including region, amount available, funding source and topic.

• Scheme Diary: lists dozens of forthcoming funding schemes' deadlines to help subscribers keep on top of all their funding applications.