Effective management and governance of any organisation often relies on those involved agreeing how they are going to work together, plan and track progress.
This may mean developing and agreeing how you will deliver activities, agreeing written policies about what’s important to the group and how you will act, and getting into good habits around how you account for and report to the wider world what you’ve done as a group, particularly if money is involved.
SCVO recognize that this is often an area that group members are less enthusiastic about, but the SCVO team is on hand to share good practice and to help you to develop the systems you need to meet your legal and charitable obligations to the wider world.
How you manage and account for your funds is extremely important, not just so that everyone inside and outside the group can see how this is spent in delivering your activities, but also to meet requirements of funders if you’ve received the money from an outside body such as a grant-giving trust or the council.
SCVO can advise you on how to keep a simple cashbook if you’re a small group, or help you to identify the accounting tool that you need if you get larger amounts of funding. SCVO can also provide a view as a ‘critical friend’ in your budgeting process and give guidance on the principles and practice of ‘Full Cost Recovery’ to ensure that you are including all your relevant costs requesting financial help from funders.
SCVO also provide support with helping groups to develop those policies and procedures that are necessary for safeguarding the group and meeting legal obligations. Guidance offered is simple and jargon free and with an aim to keep paperwork down to the minimum possible.
For help with aspects of managing your finance, development of policies or procedures, or planning your activities contact Stuart Ashmore – stuart@scvo.info on 0121 525 1127.