section_path: Personal life/Philanthropy
section_name: Philanthropy
paragraph_text: Philanthropy
  
  McIlroy became an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland in 2011, and visited Haiti with UNICEF in June of that year. He cancelled a trip to Haiti with UNICEF in 2013 as it conflicted with his participation in the Valero Texas Open. McIlroy's management team Horizon then donated $166,000 of his money to UNICEF without his knowledge, to "avoid any bad publicity". McIlroy had been advised by his then-partner Caroline Wozniacki against donating to NGOs such as UNICEF and instead to create a foundation. McIlroy reversed the donation, and was upset that his management team had made the transaction without his approval.
  
  In 2013, McIlroy created The Rory Foundation, with a stated goal of supporting children's charities. Through the foundation, McIlroy pledged £1 million in 2014 to the Cancer Fund for Children in Newcastle, County Down. During 2016, the foundation dispensed a total of £1.15 million to charities in Ireland and the United Kingdom, of which £862,543 was donated directly by McIlroy. The foundation shut down in December 2018, with a spokeswoman of the foundation stating that McIlroy "is adopting a private philanthropic policy". It was announced in 2023 that McIlroy had paid €1 million towards the construction of a Cancer Fund for Children lodge in Cong, County Mayo.
  
  McIlroy became an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland in 2011, and visited Haiti with UNICEF in June of that year. He cancelled a trip to Haiti with UNICEF in 2013 as it conflicted with his participation in the Valero Texas Open. McIlroy's management team Horizon then donated $166,000 of his money to UNICEF without his knowledge, to "avoid any bad publicity". McIlroy had been advised by his then-partner Caroline Wozniacki against donating to NGOs such as UNICEF and instead to create a foundation. McIlroy reversed the donation, and was upset that his management team had made the transaction without his approval.
  
  In 2013, McIlroy created The Rory Foundation, with a stated goal of supporting children's charities. Through the foundation, McIlroy pledged £1 million in 2014 to the Cancer Fund for Children in Newcastle, County Down. During 2016, the foundation dispensed a total of £1.15 million to charities in Ireland and the United Kingdom, of which £862,543 was donated directly by McIlroy. The foundation shut down in December 2018, with a spokeswoman of the foundation stating that McIlroy "is adopting a private philanthropic policy". It was announced in 2023 that McIlroy had paid €1 million towards the construction of a Cancer Fund for Children lodge in Cong, County Mayo.