Financial management and funds administration

So your organisation has applied for funding and your application was successful. Congratulations! However, that also means that questions start piling up. You want to handle this new responsibility as correctly as possible, so how can you make sure that you are spending the funds correctly? How should you report to the funder? How often should you communicate with the funder during the project and in the reporting period? What if the situation for your organisation, project or even the funder changes?

Do not stress – ILGA-Europe has expertise in advising LGBTI organisations on how to handle this major responsibility. We are determined to help LGBTI organisation to do this important piece of work in a proper manner. Healthy financial management and funds administration is the core of every organisation. It is all about proving that your organisation can be accountable, sustainable and transparent – both for funders, partner organisations and for the rest of the LGBTI community (which is usually the constituency of our member organisations).

Funders are all very different, and have very different regulations. Some funders have extremely complex rules and regulations. On top of this, countries also have their own administrative and tax laws and regulations. These requirements might sound like they are all competing with each other but they have one big thing in common. They tend to follow trends as they all ask themselves the same question: in the current political and social context, should we be giving money to?

LGBTI organisations need to be aware of this. One funder might be relevant for you one year but they might have changed their focus in twelve months’ time. Therefore, we are keen to encourage our member organisations not to rely on one or two funders. Diversify the sources of funding as much as possible!

ILGA-Europe can help you navigate this financial maze.

We offer training sessions to make sure that your organisation is well equipped to receive funding in the first place.

We can organise advice sessions that show you how to manage the funding and how to complete reliable financial reports that can match the complex requirements of funders.

From time to time, we organise trainings on how to fundraise.

However do bear in mind; we do not give advice on how to write your individual fundraising proposals. All trainings for our members are advertised on the ILGA-Europe website.