€855,000 to be spent on consultants assisting RTÉ to distribute Toy Show millions
Gordon Deegan
An estimated €855,000 is to be spent over the next five years on consultants to assist RTÉ with the distribution of the millions of euro generated by the annual Late Late Toy Show appeal.
In the tender published today, RTÉ is seeking a firm with in-depth charity and community sectoral knowledge required to provide ‘Philanthropy Consultancy and Grant Distribution Services’ in distributing the Toy Show appeal monies.
In the works to be contracted, RTÉ is seeking firms to provide “a flexible, agile and cost effective approach to grant assessment and grant distribution”.
The tender confirms that “the cost of grant distribution will be deducted from the Fund”.
It says that given that the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal Fund will be funded by public donation, "it is imperative that due regard for public trust and value for money is evident”.
The report states that since its inception in 2020, RTÉ Toy Show Appeal has raised over €31 million from public donations for distribution to a broad range of charities and community groups across the island of Ireland.
The tender states that the Appeal has given grant support to over 500 charities to date, with an estimated reach of helping over 1.1 million children and family members annually.
The 2025 Toy Show appeal in the days after the show on December 5th raised €4.6m that included over €3.5 million was donated via Revolut.
The tender states that grant support from the Toy Show appeal has ranged from Community grants - €4,000 to €25,000; Impact grants of €15,000 and Transformative grants of €95,000 grants.
The documentation states that grants have been assessed arising from an open application and formal assessment process, including expressions of interest in the case of Transformative grants.
The tender states that all grant assessments are completed independently of RTÉ, on behalf of RTÉ.
The tender states that RTÉ invites submissions from parties “to support grant assessment and grant distribution services, with philanthropy expert guidance and sectoral research as required”.
The tender states that in addition to these services, RTÉ “will require the provision of an annual report for publication, providing a comprehensive analysis of grant distribution and impact across the various philanthropic themes specified.
The tender states that RTÉ may also require the provision of a formal multi-year impact report at a time to be determined in due course.
As part of the services to be provided by the tender, they include supporting PR to assist with public donation transparency requirements in relation to grant distribution; reclaiming tax on payments to the Fund under section 848A Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and crediting it to the Fund as required and arranging payment of grants to charitable objects with appropriate due diligence, approval and grant oversight processes.
The firm is to also provide regular statements of the status of the Fund and a list of grants made from The Fund on a half-yearly basis at a minimum; provide an independent financial audit of all activity associated with The Fund and reporting as required by the Charities Regulator.
The tender states that the closing date for tender is June 8th and RTÉ is anticipating awarding the contract on July 2nd.
A spokesman for RTÉ said today that the tender is for an indicative fee of up to five years, a three-year contract with an option for a further two and the figure quoted is the cumulative total estimated fee over that period.
The spokesman pointed to the Five-Year Impact report on the Toy Show appeal, which addresses costs.
The report states that no deductions or fees are made by RTÉ in relation to any donation made to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal.
It states that deductions towards the management costs of the Appeal are deducted at source and since inception of the total funds raised 96.7 per cent (€25.8 million) of the Appeal proceeds have been disbursed to frontline children’s charities.
The report added that "the Appeal operates with maximum cost efficiency, with just 3.3 per cent (€890,435) of total funds raised over the five years allocated to operating costs; significantly below sector norms”.