Finances / Funding

Record Keeping You have to keep sufficient records to calculate the income and expenses of your charitable organisation, and to enable your accounts to be reviewed, checked or audited if required.

The records you must keep are: receipt and payment account books bank statements invoices (including GST tax invoices) receipts any other necessary documents to confirm entries in your accounts stocktake figures for the end of the financial year interest and dividend payment records. Note You must hold all records for seven years

Accounting Principals Consistency: your financial policies and systems must remain consistent over time. Accountability: you must be able to explain and demonstrate to all stakeholders how you have used your resources and what you have achieved. Transparency: your organisation must be open about its work and its finances, making information available to all stakeholders. Integrity: individuals in your organisation must operate with honesty and integrity. Financial stewardship: your organisation must take good care of the financial resources it has been given and ensure that they are used for the purpose intended. Accounting standards: your organisation's system for keeping financial records and documentation must observe accepted external accounting standards.

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FUNDING Is your funding sustainable

What is sustainable funding? Enough: If you want your funding to be sustainable, you need to know how much money is required. Not just for your immediate project or programme, but for the coming 12 – 24 months. Without an accurate long-range budget, it is impossible to know how much money is enough to keep you sustainable in the long term.

Specific: Having a budget is a good start, but if you want your funding to be truly sustainable you need to be specific about your costs. It’s not enough to say you need $100,000 to run your organisation; you need to know exactly how that $100,000 is being spent. The more specific you are with your expenses, the more opportunities become available to meet or reduce those costs.

Ongoing: It is one thing to get enough money for a specific purpose once, but the key to sustainabilit y is being able to generate that money on an ongoing basis. Often organisations expect the same funder or fundraising activity to cover their costs over and over again, and then panic when the situation changes. There are few guarantees in the fundraising arena, so it is important to have a Plan B – just in case.

7 Income Streams There are 7 Key Income Streams available for non-profit organisations, and it is important to use as many as possible if you want to stay sustainable. It doesn’t matter that some income streams will be stronger than others, what’s important is that you have at least some support in place.

Membership While we do not have a typical membership in Community Patrols, there are other forms of membership that could benefit us. Thinking outside the box….. Friends of Community patrols

Traditional Fundraising Activities Traditional Fundraising Activities are activities that are organised for the primary purpose of raising extra funds. These activities usually rely on member or client involvement and do not necessarily relate to the services you offer.

Donations The definition of a donation is ‘a gift’. This means a donation is made out of kindness and the donor expects nothing in return. Donations are not necessarily monetary; you can also receive donations of time, products, services or resources. Donations and sponsorship can often be confused.

Sponsorship The definition of sponsorship is ‘to assume responsibility for’. This means that a party (most often a business) gives you enough time, money or resources that they are as interested in the success of the project as you are. Sponsorship requires a contract and is given in return for specific rewards.

Entrepreneurial Activities An entrepreneurial activity is when your organisation sells a product or service using a traditional business model. These activities are not your core business, but they do make use of your existing resources and often add value to your current member base.

Contracts In the non-profit arena, a contract is where a party (usually a government department) contracts your organisation to provide a specific service or programme, and pays you for doing so.

Grants / Community Funding A grant is something given to you by an organisation, whereby the money is to be used for a specific purpose. Your organisation applies to funding bodies for specific projects or costs and you are accountable for where and how you spend the money.

Making a Plan Now you know the 7 key income streams that are available to you, it is important to make a plan. Your plan doesn’t need to be complicated; in fact something simple that can be pinned to the wall is far more effective. That way you can refer to it every day and keep on track. Use the following steps to create a plan that works for you.

Look at the Big Picture Identify the costs involved in ‘Making your Mission Happen’ Assess your Existing Resources Identify the Gaps Set Your Goals Choose Your Streams

Design a Strategy Do Some Research Document Your Action Steps Get to Work