Step 5: Finance & Fundraising

Financial management entails planning, organising, controlling and monitoring the financial resources of an organisation to achieve its goals. Financial management could be compared to car maintenance. If we don’t put in good quality fuel and oil and give it a regular service, the car will not run efficiently. If neglected, the vehicle will eventually break down and fail to reach its destination.

And – to continue this comparison – you’d also want to be able to demonstrate that you have used the correct fuel and have it checked regularly, so that everyone knows that driving in your car is safe. So, not only is it important to monitor the financial resources, but to report about your work is just as significant.

Good practice in financial management will:

• help leadership to make effective and efficient use of resources to achieve its goals and fulfil commitments to stakeholders;
• help your organisation to be more transparent to stakeholders and donors or gain the respect and confidence of funding agencies, partners and beneficiaries;
• help your organisation prepare itself for long-term financial sustainability.

In short, this is a subject on which there’s much to learn and gain!