Practical Financial Management for NGOs
Full Review

Reviewed by: Marianne Quebral, Executive Director, Venture for Fund Raising Foundation, Philippines
Review posted 16 August 2005
Review No. 57

CD-ROM Information

Content: This practical guide is intended to build the skills that every NGO needs for effective financial management. Written for NGO managers by experienced NGO managers, it uses a "building blocks" approach to cover all the key topics in NGO financial management, including: budgeting, reporting, financial control, cashflow, and working with donors.
Publication Date: 1 June 2004
Audience: NGO managers who may not have a financial background and who are required to analyze their organization's financial position for budgeting purposes or for reporting to donors.

Size: 67.5MB
Price: £20 for CD-ROM / £800 for course.
£400 for course participants from developing countries.
Manual needed: No
How to order:

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Fahamu
Frewin Court
51 Cornmarket Street
Oxford OX1 3HA, UK

E-mail: info@fahamu.org
Tel: +44 (0)845 456 2442 or +44 (0)1865 727006
Fax: +44 (0)845 456 2443 or +44 (0)1865 727909

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Full Review

Content

This practical CD-ROM course is intended to build the skills that every NGO needs for effective financial management. Written for NGO managers by experienced NGO managers, it uses a "building blocks" approach to cover all the key topics in NGO financial management: budgeting, reporting, financial control, cashflow, working with donors, and many other topics.

While it is designed so that there is electronic learning and exchange, this reviewer found that the material has equal merit as a stand-alone learning module.

The CD-ROM is broken into four major sections:

1. Overview of Financial Management which defines financial management and its importance, identifies who is responsible for financial management, and demonstrates advanced financial management techniques in the context of gender and organizational values.

2.  Four Building Blocks looks at keeping accounts, budgeting, budget monitoring, and internal control systems.

3.  Advanced Techniques reviews managing cash, working with finance staff, working with donors, and the importance of strategic financial management.

4.  Resources links the user to other on- and offline references that may be useful while working through the CD-ROM.

The progression of the modules, which begin by defining financial management and move progressively to advanced financial management techniques, allows users to follow and learn in a logical manner. Interspersed with the discussion of key financial principles are exercises that use the "business case" method: a situation is provided for analysis and implementation. PDF files are provided that guide users through the exercises. Once completed, the exercise would be sent to the online tutor for feedback. The combination of input slides and exercises allowing users to understand theoretically and then practice using a case study is a good way to reinforce the learning. 

Throughout the CD-ROM users are encouraged to create their own learning manual by printing materials from the "toolkit."

One of the most useful elements in the CD-ROM is relating sound financial management to an organization’s credibility. Often financial management is seen as a distant function that is completely separate from the organization’s effort to build credibility.

The use of PDF assignment sheets made it hard to use and complete the assignments. It would be easier to have interactive sheets that allow users to directly answer. In the current format, it is not possible to answer the assignment directly into the PDF file. Users need to answer on a printed format then redo a similar sheet in Excel or Word before being able to submit to the online tutor. While there are advanced programs that can convert a PDF file into a non-PDF file, this is not commonly known.

The CD-ROM is designed as a training course but may be used subsequently as a reference to train others. If undertaken as a course the course structure consists of three phases:

1. Distance Learning;
2. Workshop; and
3. Practical Project. 

Upon successful completion of the course participants receive a certifcate from the University of Oxford Department of Continuing Education. As noted above, this reviewer found that the material has equal merit as a stand-alone learning module.

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User-friendliness and Navigability

The CD-ROM is easy to download, easy to use, and easy to understand. It works in conjunction with the learning manual that users create themselves by printing portions of the "toolkit." The CD-ROM refrains from using complicated accounting jargon and instead uses easily understood language that makes for speedy learning.

A very helpful site map is provided and made available throughout to allow easy access and review of previous as well as succeeding chapters. The book mark facility allows users to stop at any point during their session and to resume quickly at the same point later.

The CD-ROM course requires dedicated learning at 1 hour daily for of 8 weeks. Because this was made clear at the onset, it enables the NGO manager to decide his/her learning pace and schedule.

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Interactivity

The use of quizzes and the corresponding checks makes learning easy and facilitates correction of errors. It keeps the learning module interesting because it provides a break from the "input" slides. The quizzes range from simple through to challenging.

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Distribution

The cost of the CD-ROM as a stand-alone product is £20. It can be purchased online using major credit cards. The course cost is £800; however the course is £400 for participants from developing countries. This pricing information is confusing because only the lower price is published in the course information on the Fahamu website.

The tuition for the course does not include the cost of the workshop, and that cost depends on the location of the workshop as well as the distance traveled by the facilitators. A regional workshop would be scheduled in the country where the largest number of participants comes from. The course would be scheduled according to need rather than on a fixed schedule.

The course fee of £400 makes it very expensive for Asian NGOs unless this is subsidized by funding organizations. Even the £20 for the CD-ROM alone may be prohibitive for small and medium NGOs in developing countries.    Back to Top

Sustainability

Financial management principles will not change dramatically in the coming years. This CD-ROM was developed in 2004 and already indicates the current trends among NGOs and funding institutions. These materials, specifically developed for NGOs rather than commercial for-profit enterprises, are a welcome tool.

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