Strengthening Financial Systems of Non-Profits

Strengthening Financial Systems of Non-Profits

Proper understanding and application of financial concepts is becoming essential in the non-profit sector, as donor agencies increasingly prefer organizations that have good financial management systems in place. A training conducted and organized by Community World Service Asia in August was specifically designed to strengthen the financial management skills of participants belonging to small-scale organizations. The training aimed to equip participants with knowledge and skills to help them utilize financial management tools with efficiency and effectiveness.

The training imparted specific skills on the fundamentals of financial management, developing effective financial policies and internal controls, streamlining accounting system as per organizational policies, preparing budgets, preparing financial reports as per the donor requirements, as well as facilitating audits to ensure transparency. The training was held in Murree in which twenty-three participants from twelve organizations working in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan. The methodology revolved around brainstorming, individual exercises, lectures, role-plays and group work.

Mr. Muhammad Masood Ahmed, the trainer for the event, came with a vast experience in financial management and capacity building with national and international development organizations. He has worked in the civil society sector with cross-functional responsibilities such as financial management, budgeting, auditing, operations management, and conducting trainings. He has trained over  a thousand staff members of CSOs from all across the country on various areas of finance, in addition to conducting staff evaluations, training needs assessment exercises, and has additional experience of charting development plans for staff.

His thoughts,

“I feel very content that I have worked with such a wonderful team with excellent standard of work and I would like to congratulate Community World Service Asia on successfully organizing the Financial Management training for small-scale NGO’s. Overall, the training went by in a very friendly and professional manner. Selection of participants was excellent and every participant eagerly showed interest in learning and participated eagerly.  I am also grateful to Miss Lubna, Community World Service staff and trainer manager, as an intelligent individual, who is willing to take the lead in situations when required. Her good judgment has been important on several occasions, and her initiative has been of great value in completing the workshop successfully and in time. It is all because of the dedication and her hard work and the team that I am able to complete the workshop in time successfully. It is commendable to see how she organized the time and encouraged the participants to move forward when needed.”

  • 1-rizwan-mehdi-shah“I have learnt a lot about financial tools, rules and policies. Each topic, every day was clearly and briefly defined by Sir Masood Ahmed and I am completely satisfied by the services provided by Community World Service Asia.”

    Rizwan Mehdi Shah, SAHIL

  • 2-haider-ali“Excellent Environment, good group discussion, style of presentation at the end was excellent. I look forwrad to the next training conducted by Community World Service Asia.”

    Haider Ali, Association for Gender Awareness & Human Empowerment (AGAHE)

  • 5-waqas-khan“Everything, which I learnt in this 4 days’ workshop, is very useful and quite knowledgeable for me, I have learnt Chart of accounts, financial planning, internal control, financial policies and procedure which are all very useful.

    Waqas Khan, Community Support Programme (CSP)

  • 6-nazra-bibi“Overall contents of the training and facilitation by trainer were commendable and we appreciate the methodology adopted for this training.”

    Nazra BiBi, Khwendo Kor

  • 7-riaz-hussain“It was my first experience of attending such type of financial management training. It was useful and informative for me and I learnt many new financial principles.”

    Riaz Hussain, UFAQ Development Organization (UDO)

  • 8-sharon-shameer“Learnt about policies and procurements, financial cycle, chart of accounts. I will apply all these learnings in my own organization and will share the information with my colleagues as well.”

    Sharon Shameer, Community Advancement Society-(CAS)

  • 9-naima-gul“This workshop proved practically productive of all the trainings I had ever participated. I am delighted to be part of this training and look forward to implementing the practical knowledge learnt here.”

    Naima Gul, Civil Society Support Program-CSSP

  • 10-nazia-meer“Financial Management training was good. Many things were new for me, for example, unrestored fund, how to attract donors for funding, and financial checks of the organization. All these elements were relevant to the topic and productive.”

    Nazia Meer, Terre Des Hommes Foundation