Become a Member of The Wheel
By becoming a member of The Wheel you will be joining over 1,300 organisations who believe that by acting together we can shape the future of our sector and the environment in which we operate.
Community, voluntary and charity organisations are an important part of the fabric of Irish society. Every year over two-thirds of adults participate in the wide range of social, sporting, cultural and humanitarian activities and services offered by over 19,000 of these organisations.
These organisations are active at every level of society, and they play an essential role in delivering social and public services, such as healthcare, education, housing, poverty relief, the arts, sport and the protection of our environment and heritage.
Each community, voluntary and charity organisation has its own mission and outlook, but they share many challenges, such as delivering effective services, fundraising, engaging with the State, complying with regulations and managing staff and volunteers.
The Wheel was established to address these shared challenges and to help develop an environment in which community and voluntary activity wil flourish.
Membership of The Wheel offers you opportunities to work together, access to the most up-to-date information, dedicated support services, unrivalled networking opportunities and the ability to influence policy-makers.
Become a Member Now >>
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Click on any of the headings below to learn more...
Who can apply for Membership of The Wheel?
Anyone. Individuals organisations - working in the community and voluntary sector in Ireland, in a paid or voluntary capacity, is welcome to apply for membership.
Types of Membership
- Full Membership is open to all independently governed and constituted community, voluntary or charitable organisations.
- Associate Membership is open to all other types of organisations including public sector, academic, commercial and nonprofit organisations.
- Individual Membership: Individuals who are interested in or working for the community and voluntary sector in Ireland but not affiliated with a particular organisation can join as Individual members.
Annual Income Band is the total income received by an organisation in one year, including all sources of statutory and other funding, earned income, etc.
How Much Does it Cost?
Membership rates are set on a sliding scale from €25 per year and are based on the annual turnover of your organisation. The smaller your organisation the less you pay.
Membership Type | Annual Income Band | Fee Per Annum |
| Full & Associate Membership | €0 - €25,000 | €25 |
€25,001 - €75,000 | €75 | |
€75,001 - €250,000 | €150 | |
€250,000 - €1,000,000 | €330 | |
€1,000,000 - €5,000,000 | €390 | |
€5,000,000 + | €450 | |
| Individual Member | €75 | |
| OAPs/Unwaged | €25 |
We asked our members if membership of The Wheel is value for money. Here is their feedback:
* 2016 membership rates explained.
There's no better time to be a member of an organisation whose sole purpose is supporting and representing community and voluntary organisations.
Here is what our members say and the feedback we get from our regular member surveys.
It’s Thumbs Up from Our Members, According to Survey
“The Wheel is a leading part of the ‘infrastructure’ for Ireland’s community, voluntary, charity sector. It provides an authoritative voice for, and focus on, the development and strengthening of the sector and its constituent parts, so that we can all work better to change peoples’ lives for the better.” - Dr Seán Healy, Director of Social Justice Ireland
"The Wheel is a uniting force for charities: it represents the community, voluntary and charity sector and provides useful supports for our team and for me personally. It has a very important role to play in the strengthening of the sector and its voice in Ireland." - John McCormack, CEO, The Irish Cancer Society
“The Wheel has been extremely supportive in helping us to establish and register ourselves as a charity.” - John Pittock, CareAid International
“I think The Wheel is the voluntary sector’s IBEC, a professional reliable source of information and support.” - Survey Respondent
"Without your assistance and support, I don't believe we would be where we are today. Thanks to everyone in The Wheel for the valuable and necessary work you do for and on behalf of the community and voluntary sector". - Sandra Campbell, Project Leader, Southside Partnership
Established in 1999, The Wheel is the largest umbrella body and representative organisation for the non-profit sector in Ireland. The Wheel currently has over 1,300 fee-paying members plus a database that allows us communicate with a further 10,000+ organisations.
Membership of The Wheel spans the breadth of the non-profit sector in Ireland.
The geographical distribution of The Wheel's membership mirrors both the overall distribution of Community and Voluntary organisations across Ireland, with a slight spike in Dublin which takes into account the number of national charities and organisations that are headquartered there, as well as the overall population distribution of the country.
Would you like to learn more about The Wheel?
One of the best ways to get started is to read our new Strategic Plan, 2012 - 2016, which sets out what our aims and objectives are and makes clear why becoming a Member of The Wheel makes sense.
Click on the image to learn more now >>
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Meet Your Membership Coordinator - Johnny Sheehan
Johnny has more than 20 years’ experience working in the development, youth work and environmental sectors. He worked with Dóchas as Project Coordinator for the European Year for Development 2015 and with the National Youth Council of Ireland as Development Education Programme Coordinator from 2004 to 2012.
Members should consider Johnny as their main point of contact in The Wheel. You can contact Johnny with any queries or concerns you may have by email: johnny@wheel.ie or phone: (01) 454 8727.
Meet - and get in touch with - the rest of The Wheel's team here.
Meet Our Members
Click here to view the full list of The Wheel members (PDF, 892kb).
Contact Us
You can contact Johnny Sheehan, our Membership & Regional Coordinator, by email: johnny@wheel.ie or phone The Wheel on (01) 454 8727.
Read our complaints policy here.
