As a big and old NGO honorary treasurer, I need to learn about strategies and sustainability of managing NGO. May be the information below can help. But through my experience all these are already in my list of actions.

http://www.tipfuxeni.org.za/articles/13-steps-develop-ngo-financial-sustainability-strategy

Frank Julie, independent development consultant of Frank Julie & Associates, shares a comprehensive guide on how to develop a non-governmental organisation (NGO) financial sustainability strategy, which includes the development of research and communication strategies, and the allocation and expenditure of budget for NGOs.

 

1. Firstly, determine what your current budget of expenditure is, i.e. start with what you have. Break this down into:

• Core operational expenses;
• Programme/project expenses;
• Capital expenses.

2. Further break down your core operational (or overhead) expenses into what is the biggest (and most important) expense and the smallest (and least important) expense.

3. Develop a minimum budget (what you need to cover to survive) and a maximum budget that will allow you to deliver on all your programme objectives as well as allow you to put away some financial resources into a reserve/sustainability fund.

4. Now make a list of your current external donors and how much they are currently funding and over which period. Please note the commitment of those donors who have pledged to continue funding and over what period.

5. Make a list of your own income activities and how much income is generated per annum. Determine which income activities are financially viable and which are a drain on your financial resources.

6. Determine the percentage of own income in relation to external funding. Set yourself an objective of increasing own income by a certain percentage that is achievable e.g. from 10 percent of your total core operational budget (excluding programmes) to maybe 30 percent over three years.

7. Now develop plans how this will be achieved over those three years e.g. increasing fees for services, increased  marketing to attract more customers, utilising investments to maximise interest, diversifying services, develop more income generating activities without becoming distracted from your core focus, etc.

8. Ensure that in all your budgets for programme expenses the donors make a sizeable contribution to administration costs, at least 10 percent-20 percent and reflect salaries as far as possible as a programme/project implementation/coordination.

9. Develop a cost containment strategy i.e. how to minimise the cost of running your organisation, e.g. staff containment, multi-skilled staff members, use of volunteers, negotiating discounts from key service providers, e.g. external auditors, insurance companies, bank, etc.

10. Make a list of your potential external donors and plan when to submit funding proposals to them. Categorise the potential donors in order of high potential and low potential. Focus your energy on the high potential donors.

11. Develop a comprehensive research strategy and communication strategy to cultivate unknown donors. Remember, this is a continuous process and cannot be started when current donors contracts come to an end. Research can include Internet browsing, accessing donor directories, collecting annual reports of organisations operating in your sector, referrals by your strategic partners, scrutinizing relevant newspapers, telephonic enquiries, attending strategic forums, etc.

12. Make a list of your strategic partners and indicate what value they are adding to your organisation and its programmes. Try to convert the value into rand and cents so that it can be reflected as a saving in your budget of expenses.

13. Develop a risk management strategy in the event of funding gaps, i.e. how will you respond should promised funding be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances? Will you cut or withhold salaries, apply for a bank overdraft, borrow funds from other programmes/projects or maybe use your reserves?