We hope the seven short articles in this newsletter give a flavour of how we put this approach into practice in all of our work: helping NGOs get to grips with practical financial management, and achieve more with their funds.

 

 

Click on the headlines for the full story below.

 

 

As the "world's worst humanitarian crisis" continues, Mango has placed finance staff with aid agencies in Chad and Sudan. We have also published notes on financial management lessons learnt from recent evaluations.

 

Mango recently completed a major review of ActionAid's international approach to financial management. The review noted how Internal Audit supports financial control and also ActionAid's innovative work in being accountable to the communities they aim to help.

 

A member of Mango's register has just started working with a Ugandan NGO in the Pallisa District (supported by EveryChild) to strengthen their financial management. For more examples of how we have helped NGOs recruit finance staff and consultants, please see the press releases on our website.

 

NGOs are asking for more and more of our practical financial management training. So we have expanded our training team and are putting on more courses. For example, we recently ran a Training for Trainers course in Thailand for Oxfam's regional finance managers. They will use their new skills to build the financial management of Oxfam's partner organisations.

 

The UK networking group for NGO financial managers will meet on 7th October 2004 in London.

 

CIMA members, enter now for this prestigious award which recognises financial managers' critical contribution to NGO work. Deadline: 24th September 2004.

 

... and over 500 copies of the manual that accompanies our introductory training course, from people in 95 countries across six continents: "wonderful and helpful for NGOs"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is estimated that over one million people have been forced to flee their homes and villages by government-backed violence. Over 50,000 people have been killed. Despite international pressure, the violence continues.

 

International aid agencies are providing for displaced people's immediate needs including food, shelter, clean water and medical care. Some are also calling for more international efforts to enforce peace, possibly including military intervention.

 

The Disasters Emergency Committee launched a fundraising appeal in late July which is forecast to raise over £15m. If you can, please donate on-line at www.dec.org.uk or by phone on 0870 60 60 900.

 

Collectively, it is estimated that international NGOs will handle well over £100m in the region over the next 12 months.

 

Mango is helping agencies to manage the huge operational scale-up required to use these funds effectively, in an incredibly high-pressured environment.

 

We have been working with agencies including Oxfam and the British Red Cross Society to find suitable qualified finance staff for their field projects. Several members of Mango's register are already working in Sudan and Chad with Oxfam.

 

We have published a note on the key financial management lessons learnt from recent humanitarian responses, available from www.mango.org.uk.

 

Finally, we are hoping to run training events in the region, to help staff build up the practical financial skills that they need to run effective relief programmes.

 

 

 

 

 

With income of £80m, ActionAid is the UK's third largest international NGO. They operate in 36 countries, with a significantly more decentralised structure than most large agencies.

 

Alex commented, "ActionAid have invested in internal audit at both the international and national levels. So, they can maintain high standards of control without choking local decision making."

 

Their internal "Alps" system - which stands for Accountability, Learning and Planning System - is highly innovative. It encourages staff to spend time reflecting on their programmes with the communities they aim to help rather than writing reports for managers.

 

Some of ActionAid's national finance teams are actively supporting Alps by providing easily digestible financial reports to local communities.

 

"This accountability to local communities is very good practice," Alex continued, "All NGOs raise and spend money in the name of poor or vulnerable people. But very few provide poor people with details of the financial decisions that have been made on their behalf."

 

"By being transparent about project costs, ActionAid staff build up trust with the people they aim to help. They have also gained critical feedback from local communities which they have used to adjust projects so that they meet local people's most important needs."

 

More information about Alps is available from www.actionaid.org.uk/index.asp?page_id=800.

 

 

 

 

Mango continues to place carefully selected finance staff with NGOs around the world. For example, Mango recently placed Adam Vickers ACA to work with EveryChild in Uganda. Adam will spend six weeks working with Every Child's partner Lodoi Development Fund (LDF) in the Pallisa District.

 

LDF's programmes provide much needed services to local communities in areas including the provision of clean water, health care (including support for people living with HIV/AIDS) and improved farming practices.

 

Adam commented, "What attracted me about this assignment was the long term development that LDF carries out. Here is a small locally formed organisation which is working hard with a lot of enthusiasm but limited resources to make a lasting difference in the everyday lives of local people."

 

"EveryChild has consistently helped and supported LDF and it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to come out here and work with such dedicated people to help strengthen LDF's financial systems. This should ensure that they can effectively manage their growing portfolio of development activities and provide potential donors with assurance that the money will be wisely spent."

 

Adam will work closely with LDF's Finance Officer to develop new systems like cash flow forecasting and to support the introduction of new accounting software. He will also provide on-site training and advice to the whole team - helping them get to grips with the crucial financial aspects of their development work.

 

Lucy Markby, Mango's Field Placements Director, said, "Adam's placement is a great example of how Mango can help NGOs strengthen their finance systems. On-site training over a period of weeks or months really can help an organisation step up to improve their financial management across the board."

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we have employed two more experienced trainers to keep up: Peter Sargent and Sara Hooper. Diane Turner has also joined the training administration team. They have all been kept very busy in the UK and abroad.

 

Sara recently delivered our introductory level "Practical Financial Management for NGOs" course in Afghanistan. It went so well that she has been asked back to repeat it and the follow up course "Strategic Financial Management for NGOs" in January 2005.

 

Peter has just delivered Mango's first course in French, in Burkina Faso which also received excellent feedback. The opening speeches were broadcast on Ouagadougou TV!

 

Terry Lewis, Mango's Training Director commented: "We have built up the training team carefully, so as to maintain the quality of our training."

 

"This continued success shows how well the 'Mango Method' works," Terry continued, "We use a participatory and fun approach to build people's technical skills and also to inspire people with the confidence to apply what they learn."

 

"We don't keep that successful formula to ourselves either. Through our highly-rated "Getting the Financial Message Across" course, we pass on our approach to other finance trainers."

 

For instance, Mango was recently commissioned to run this course by Oxfam's regional office in South East Asia. 12 senior finance staff attended from Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. The course included coaching and mentoring skills as well as a detailed exploration of presenting financial concepts to NGO staff.

 

One participant commented on how well the participatory method worked: "I felt very relaxed and had fun on this course - this situation helped me to absorb more of the materials and learn more things."

 

Another participant described the wider impact that course will have:   "[I will now] train partners on financial management to support and increase their capacity and skills... especially those who have little knowledge in finance."

 

Mango's training calendar for 2005 will be published soon. Please see www.mango.org.uk or email training@mango.org.uk for details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why not enter yourself or nominate your colleagues for this important award, which will recognise and celebrate good practice in NGO financial management?

 

Details are available from www.cimaglobal.com/fmawards2004/awards.htm. The deadline for entries is 24^th September 2004.

 

 

 

 

Over 1,000 people downloaded our Financial Management Health Check in the first six months of 2004. It is a simple tool which allows NGO staff or trustees to gauge how healthy the financial management is in their NGO.

 

Over 500 people from 95 countries across six continents downloaded the complete handbook for our "Practical Financial Management for NGOs" training course.

 

Both resources are freely available from www.mango.org.uk/resources, along with other introductory guides to accounting for NGOs.

 

Hassan Abdulla Omer is the Deputy Executive Director of Pirmam De-mining Organization, an Iraqi NGO working in the North of the country. He wrote to us having used our resources, saying "I am very interested in your website. It is wonderful and helpful for NGOs ..."