The Coca‑Cola Company and its bottling partner Coca‑Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland are once again coming together this year through the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund, which will be operated by The Irish Youth Foundation, in partnership with Youth Action Northern Ireland for projects that empower young people through learning and sustainable development.
Every year, the Thank You Fund gives back to local Irish non-profit organisations, helping them fund projects that matter to their communities.
Now in its 14th year, the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund was set up in 2011 to mark the 125th anniversary of the company.
The Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund will once again be managed by official partner to the Fund, the Irish Youth Foundation in the Republic of Ireland, and with supporting partner YouthAction NI in Northern Ireland. Both organisations will play a pivotal role in helping to oversee the due diligence and credibility of the Fund and ensure that awareness of the funding being made available reaches the target sectors in communities throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Theme
In 2024, the Fund will focus on one overall theme: Empowering Young People Through Learning and Sustainable Development.
Under this theme, the Fund is seeking applications from community-based projects and programmes across Ireland and Northern Ireland that are focused on empowering young people aged 16-25 by engaging in models of innovative and inclusive practise under either:
Empowering Learning
Help them understand how your work is empowering young people who may otherwise be at risk of early school leaving or low education attainment, through inclusive practices. Show them how you are engaging these young people to access supportive interventions that will empower and equip them to become active members of their communities by successfully transitioning into skills based opportunities, engaging in mentorship opportunities or further learning and employment opportunities.
Specific emphasis will be placed on supporting one of the following three areas:
Education support – e.g. projects working with young people, from communities experiencing levels of disadvantage, to access additional education opportunities such as grinds, internships, mentoring and soft skills such as interview preparation, CV development and management of your online profile.
Upskilling opportunities – e.g. programmes offering targeted skills training for young people.
Personal development opportunities – e.g. programmes designed to build resilience and help participants develop positive coping strategies to overcome challenges in their lives.
Empowering Sustainable Development
Help them understand how your work is creating inclusive communities through projects designed to empower young people to address the theme of sustainability in their lives. They are looking to support projects and programmes that are focused on education, action and/or awareness building, with specific emphasis on the following three areas:
Climate Action e.g. Projects equipping individuals, SMEs or communities with knowledge and skills to develop solutions to the environmental and climate crises. This can encompass nature restoration and water stewardship.
Supporting the journey towards a Circular Economy e.g. projects focused on designs or concepts that move away from take-make-waste models. These can be focused on eliminating pollution or waste, recycling or reuse of products or materials, or regenerating nature. This can include education and awareness initiatives around the new Deposit Return Scheme.
Food insecurity e.g. projects in the community that are designed to support reduction of food waste, combating the issue of food insecurity and hunger and education around such initiatives.
Applications are not limited to the examples listed above. These are included to offer an idea of the types of projects they aim to support through this year’s Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund.
Funding Information
In 2024, Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund grants totalling €200,000/ £171,000 (sterling figure based on conversion rates at the time) will be awarded to registered not-for-profit and charitable youth-focused organisations working with young people across Ireland and Northern Ireland aged between 16 – 25 years, driving positive change in their local communities through learning and sustainable development.
Awards of between €8,000 – €15,000/£6,500 – £12,500 (sterling figure based on conversion rates at the time) will be available.
Eligibility Criteria
Entry is open to registered not-for-profit and charitable youth-focused organisations working with young people across Ireland and Northern Ireland aged between 16 – 25 years. Entries must seek to support those young people under one of the given categories.
The organisation must be a not-for-profit, voluntary, or charitable organisation classified under one or more of the following headings:
Charitable organisation with a registered charity number working within a community
Voluntary organisation working within a community
Not-for-profit community organisation
A foundation or a trust for the benefit of a community
The organisation must submit details of a proposal which it will put in place if successful, which demonstrates targeted supports that help young people (16 – 25 years) through empowering learning and sustainable development.
The organisation must be registered in the Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland and have been in operation for a minimum of 12 months prior to the date of submission of this application.
The organisation must have a bank account set-up in the name of the organisation.
Proof of organisation’s operations must be made available to Coca‑Cola Ireland, if requested.
Any individual applying on behalf of an organisation must be aged 18 years or older and have the agreement of the organisation to submit an application on its behalf.
The proposed project must exclusively benefit people aged over sixteen years of age and under twenty-five, and activities using money received from the Fund must be based in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
The organisation must have a child protection or safeguarding policy in place.
Ineligible
Applications will not be considered from the following:
Individuals
An organisation that discriminates based on race, gender, marital status, family status, religion, sexual orientation, membership of the travelling community, age, or disability
Religious endeavours
Political, legislative, or lobbying organisations
An organisation whose proposal is to:
make a movie, film, or television documentary.
hold a concert or other entertainment event.
promote travel
promote a high-risk activity including but not limited to parachuting or bungee jumping,
benefit schools or early education settings
run activities or programmes based in schools, or in partnership with schools.
