Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations Research Paper

Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations - Research Paper Example As for example, social service organizations are required to be more specific with their financial reporting practices so as to comply with the existing rules and regulations. Next, religious nonprofit organizations have vital issues related to the complex requirements of its memberships. Management of finances in nonprofit organizations is quite a challenging task. The sources of revenues of nonprofit organizations are very much vulnerable to changes in political environment or economic issues. Nonprofit organizations being accountable to public require more accurate and reliable presentation of information by the financial management team. The fiscal health of nonprofit organizations can be inferred from its financial statements prepared by the financial mangers. This essay gives a descriptive view about the application of financial management in nonprofit organizations by taking into account various aspects like their fund sources, utilization of its debts, performance evaluation techniques used by them and the governance mechanisms used. It ends with a conclusion and a few recommendations that can be suggested. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 5 Sources of Funds 5 Use of Debt 7 Performance Evaluation 8 Efficient use of contributions 9 Fulfilling organizational objectives 10 Government Mechanisms 11 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction A nonprofit organization can be defined as a group which operates for purpose like public services and are not driven by profit motive aspect. The incomes that are generated from nonprofit organizations are usually not shared with the members of the organization. Nonprofit organizations can be in the fields of education, health, human services, environment, etc. Individual grants and donations are the primary sources of funds for nonprofit organizations. Both equity and debt can form the capital structure of the nonprofit organizations but equity is preferred more. This is because loans are not easily ava ilable for them due to the unavailability of sufficient collateral and cash flow requirements sought by the banks. Several plans can be employed by the nonprofit organizations for their sustainability and achieving their objectives. Many performance evaluation techniques are also available to help boosting their performance and maintain it for a long term. Government funding can also form a key component and most nonprofit organizations are engaged in several contractual agreements with the government. Hence, managing finance is a vital issue for the continued growth and sustainability of the nonprofit organizations. Sources of Funds Any organization’s plan is the basis of formulation of a successful fund raising strategy. Understanding of the proper funding requirements of an organization and its sources constitutes a good organizational plan. The formulated plan should be balanced too. For any nonprofit organization, the primary sources of funds are as follows: a. Grants: F unding through grants is available from either the charitable trusts or from the public sector. These funds are not meant to be repaid and are usually tax exempted. In most of the cases grants are associated with some conditions like, attainment of particular results, achievement of certain milestones that have been agreed upon, excess unutilized money are to be returned back, providing regular progress report of the utilization of the money, etc. Hence, before