Finance

Money and Assets

This section provides practical advice on how to effectively manage your organisation's money and assets, ranging from your office equipme

Funder Relations

Never, ever forget to thank donors!

In order to gain and retain public confidence, you must be absolutely clear about who funds you. This can be difficult if donors want anonymity. You must respect requests for anonymity but clarify this in your accounts. In this case, you can expect to have to answer ongoing questions about the identity of the donor(s). To protect your good name further, it is vital that you have proper cash handling procedures, especially if you raise money from the general public.

Never, ever forget to thank donors!

Organisation Relationships

Who you work with can be just as important as how you work.

 Who you work with can be just as important as how you work

Cost Cutting and Making Ends Meet

Engage all your staff in looking for solutions... 
If as is usually the case, there is a shortfall between what you forecast you can earn and what you need to spend in the coming year, you have to find ways of closing the gap. If you can raise more income, well and good, but note if that has associated costs and provide for them in the expenditure part of the budget.

Efficient Financial Planning

If you can tighten up on your debtors and manage your creditors better, you may be able to release some extra cash in the organisation.... 

Some Simple Rules...

Some people are paid monthly and organise their own finances to pay the big bills – credit card and mortgage just after the salary cheque comes in.

Financial Responsibilities

 Keeping detailed records, on receipt, of all monies received...

Each organisation has significant financial responsibilities that must be taken seriously. These include:

Monitoring Results

You may need to make further cuts as a result or make other changes in your operations...

There is no point in planning your budget and in gathering the information if you do not use it. You should keep simple spreadsheets of actual expenditure and income and actual cash flow if you do not have a bookkeeper/accountant do this for you. Have a review each month of your own numbers, even if you have an accountant to prepare quarterly management accounts only. Keep a very close eye on the cash balance, but also on the numbers generally – are they up or down on expectations in the budget – why?

Finance

 Good financial management will keep your organisation efficient and effective...

Basics of Accounting

There should be no surprises for you in the final year accounts.... 

Why keep accounts and what accounts to keep?

Once you collect money for a cause, you know it is not yours to do what you wish with, to spend on treats or food and clothing, lose behind the sofa or invest in a horse race...you need to treat the donated money with care and be able to account for what you got and what you did with it.

Budgeting

Find out as much as you can about what is to happen and use your judgement as an organisation to work out a best case and a worst case scenario... 

 

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