Resource Development Strategy Every NPO

¶ … Resource Development Strategy

Every NPO should ensure that it has a comprehensive resource development strategy. This is because of the fact that there is an excess of 1.8 million nonprofits most of which have very elaborate and comprehensive resource development strategies according to the Resource Development Process (n.d).It is noted that it is much easier to raise money via organized fund raising as opposed to the disorganized ones. Some of the things to avoid are; Jumping from one fundraiser to another without any elaborate fundraising program.The tendency to organize events with a clear lack of direction and cohesion.The lack of a clear plan to be used for the process of raising funds.

The formulation of a strategic plan for fundraising

According to Resource Development Review (2011) nonprofit organizations should practice planned giving. A planned giving is a system that enables people to maximize the individual benefits that they get from the charitable giving by the nonprofit organizations. Planned giving is of great help to the nonprofit organizations. Through the beneficial tax treatment in both federal and state laws, a planned giving can be a mode of making a gift, enjoying tax benefits, and supporting a nonprofit situation.

Resource development strategic plan

Strategic planning can be defined as a disciplined attempt to generate essential actions and decisions that are capable of shaping and guiding what a corporation is, what the organization does, and why the organization is doing what they does as they focus on the future. According to the Resource Development Process (n.d) strategic planning provides an appropriate program to be used in the analysis of the market as well its testing. It can be used to design the best program to be employed in the generation of fundraising plans as well as goals. It entails coming up with the best methods of responding to the situations of the environment of the organizations, whether or not the circumstances of these organizations are known beforehand. It also involves deliberately coming up with goals and also coming up with approaches to accomplish those goals.Strategic planning is providing a framework in which market study, testing and also program design may take place. These can generate plans and goals for fundraising. Nonprofit organizations are capable of raising lots of cash through the organization of fund raising. A number of non-profit organizations usually move from a fundraiser to another without having a fundraising program that is carefully planned and also clearly developed. Effective and efficient fundraising is involving events that are having cohesion and direction. Before nonprofit organizations undertake a fundraising effort, there is need for them to come up with a fundraising plan. However, a number of nonprofit agencies are approaching fundraising in a way that is not strategic. Classically, nonprofit agencies usually spend a great amount of time and on direct mail campaigns and also on special events.The process of planning for resource development come after a thorough research has been conducted. The planning process involves acquiring the information that has been researched and coming up with a very good plan to provide guidance to the process of fundraising.

The readiness of the institutions

An effective fund raising relies on very strengths. This means the organizational weaknesses can undermine the entire success of the project. It is important for the nonprofit organization to analyze their strengths as well as weaknesses and then subsequently take an inventory of the available resources for fundraising to be successful. The tool for this is a SWOT analysis as pointed out in the Resource Development Process (n.d).SWOT analysis is a technique that is applied in the process of planning. SWOT analysis can effectively be applied so as to establish the manner in which a corporation or an organization will be moving forward. Besides, it can be applied at the departmental levels by the workers at these departments so that these workers may coordinate themselves prior to forging ahead with the process of strategic planning. After the process of SWOT analysis, the respective organizations may generate specific objectives and general goals for the corporations. Some of these goals and objectives may bear proportionately on the efforts of fundraising. With the objectives and the goals, the staff that is concerned with the operations of fundraising should come up with a number of action plans which once implemented, the organizations will be capable of meeting their goals and their objectives. An action plan sets the schedule for resources development in the forthcoming years.For efficient and effective planning, the nonprofit organizations should look into their demographic trends. They should also conduct fundraising evaluation. Again, they should consider resource development in the perspective of their mission and visions. They should also scrutinize the role that communications play in marketing planning. Indeed the development of strategic plans that are specific to fundraising is very critical. The plans of the institutions should demonstrate authority of the current and the expectations of the nonprofit organizations. The plans also have to define programs. Besides, they have to entail financial accountability and viability. They must also be connected to resource programs and needs.

Analysis of the full range of resources available to nonprofit organizations

Resources make a very important part in the running as well as the management of nonprofit organizations. It is through the resources that nonprofit making organization can get to achieve their goals and objectives. A number of resources should be available to the nonprofit making organization. These resources are described below;

Financial resources

The nonprofit organizations are capable of getting resources from many sources. Usually, nonprofit organizations get grants and contributions to start their operations or to add to the funds that they already have in their reserves for their operations. Generally reserves accumulate over some time through the generation an unhampered surplus. The most common sources of income is contributions that is made up of cash, non-cash contributions (like in-kind goods and services), contributed services like professional skills that are aimed at enhancing non-financial assets.Nonprofit organizations obtain resources from Program Service Revenues as indicated in Resource Development Review (2011). This is a service in which the nonprofit organizations exchanges with other parties. The nonprofit organizations do this by providing services to the organizations in exchange for money or any other resource or asset. Nonprofits organizations also rely on the fees that are given by the governmental agencies. They also get cash when some clients pay for the services that are offered by these organizations. The organizations also get resources from membership dues. A number of these nonprofit making organizations have policies whereby the members pay a yearly fee in order for them to be offered the basic services that are provided by the nonprofit organizations. The contributions from the members are of great importance to the nonprofit organizations as they make them to obtain the resources that they need for their operations. A number of the nonprofit organizations get non-cash donations in the form of services and goods.

Financial resources are the monetary value which is needed by the project in order to address the identified problem. Financial resources are necessary in rewarding the human resource and also in the purchase of any needed item in the life time of the project. Nonprofit organizations use the financial resources from the following sources; donations made by individuals or by foundations and federated funding sources; sales of goods and services which includes the organization taking part in the sale; and Grants majorly from the government agencies or corporations.

The process of acquiring funds from the above mentioned sources is known us fundraising. Before undertaking the fundraising process, the nonprofit organizations must understand; available sources of finances; reasons as to why people donate, importance of strategic plan, fundraising program oversight and funding campaigns. These will enable the organization seeking the funds to fully understand the importance of resource development; be able to reduce apprehension many feel when tasked to participate in the fundraising activities.

As years goes by, there has been continued changes in the financial sources; in the past, private or individual donors, corporate donations and foundation grants were the main donors who contributed most of the financial resources to the nonprofit organizational sector, this has been declining. Instead, the governments' funding has been increasing with a move to bridge the gap. Clients and customers have also become important source of revenue to the nonprofit organizations. On financial resources: These can be in form of gifts and in-kind donations to the organization. Non-financial resources are mainly given during disasters and humanitarian crisis. They include, in-kind donations and Volunteerism.

In kind donation is a charitable giving which involves giving of needed goods or services to a nonprofit organization instead of giving the money to buy these goods or services. In kind giving is encouraged for the several reasons including; most of the goods given are second hand goods hence it seems cheap from the part of the donor, it also saves the environment in cases where this goods were damped in the dust bins; giving of goods which are at hand is more cost effective than giving money, at most times of disasters and other humanitarian crisis most companies donate goods which they already have in the stores.

Volunteer activities

Volunteers are considered to be compassionate, patience, unselfish caring and just plain love which are expressed by an individual to another. Voluntarism is considered to be in kind donation in that it is where a person donates his skills and manpower to the organization by performing duties a signed to him. Management and leadership of nonprofit organizations should ensure that they get highly skilled volunteers who come and stay through the extension of the visions of the volunteering through creating an experience which is meaningful, develops skills, demonstrate impact and ability to tap into the volunteers' capabilities and interest.

Volunteers my stop rendering their services due to poor management practices. Nonprofit organizations should tap volunteers to help in doing charitable work in their organization. Most people do not volunteer because they are never given a chance by the nonprofit organizations.

According to the Context for Nonprofit Resource Development (2011), non-profits organizations can generate their revenue from donations that are sourced from individuals, federated funding sources as well as foundations. They can also get their revenue from grants from various government agencies, corporations and foundations. The sale of goods and services also offers them a revenue source. The other source of revenue is fees, pledges and dues from members.Every nonprofit organization is usually faced with the need to come up with resource development strategies for them to sustain their operations. There is a lot of competition in the nonprofit sector as approximately 1.8 million nonprofits are having development strategies that are highly sophisticated. For the organizations to succeed there is need for them to have strategic plans and also to do adequate marketing for the organizations. They should also hold fundraisings. For the nonprofit making organizations to gain successful resource development, they should come up with several strategies. The establishment of a very successful resource development needs several things to be put into place. Similarly, for a successful resource development, nonprofit organizations have to come up with a very well-built ethical program. Through this, the organizations will be pledging good citizenship. Besides, they will be expressing their commitment to moral principles. This act will also reflect the organization's integrity and trust.For a successful resource management, the management of the nonprofit organizations should keenly scrutinize the financial policies of the organizations. Effective and efficient financial management needs complete financial policies, actions and controls.

The management of the organizations should also make sure that the nonprofit organizations are having enough resources. The resources can be attained through personal contributions and organizing fundraising. The management of the nonprofit organizations should also ensure that there is effective and efficient management of resources. The assets of the organization should be protected by the board. The management should also ensure that the generated funds are appropriately used. They should also ensure that the investments and incomes are properly managed. The management of the organizations should also expand the network of the organizations in the society. They should also promote the nonprofit organizations. Effective and efficient management of the nonprofit making organizations will make these organizations to be endorsed by the community leaders. It will also make the organizations to seek other donors so as to build the community, making the society to grow and develop.The organizations should employ direct mail offers as pointed out in Resource Development Review (2011). This is because direct mail is capable of offering gainful strategy for launching a reliable funding stream. It will also build very strong relationships with both the future and the current donors. Similarly, NPOs are capable of using direct mail campaigns so as to convert the total strangers to be great supports of the organizations.Success of the organizations is dependant majorly on the relationship that exists between prospects and solicitors. Connection, capability, and interest all apply in gift fundraisings. The management of the nonprofit organizations should invest in results. They should look for organizations that are value driven. The management of the NPOs should be accountable to their volunteers, community and also to the public. The organizations that provide grants to the nonprofit organizations, the donors and the government also demand accountability from the management of nonprofit organizations, more so in the fields of fundraising evaluation and assessment. A circle of accountability should exist for all NPO, starting with their missions and ending with their results. The operations of the organizations, their management, stewardship, fundraising and other programs are always examined by the community. The Nonprofits organizations should function as open systems as pointed out in the Resource Development Process (n.d)..They should be mutually dependent with their surroundings. They should impact on their environments. Indeed they have to monitor continually their environments. They should attempt to alter elements that are inhospitable.For effective and efficient resource development and management, the nonprofit organizations need to state the problems that they are tackling. They should also state their particular qualifications that will help them to tackle the stated problems. Again, they should state why the services and the problems that they are tackling are significant. On top of that, they should critically asses the market for their services. For effective management, they ought to check whether other nonprofit organizations are doing the same things that they are doing.Similarly, for effective and efficient management, the nonprofit organizations should clearly state their plans. They should also asses the exact financial needs that they have for them to require charitable gifts. The organizations also need to asses whether they are competent and accountable. To add on these, there is need for them to know the people whom they are associated with and the people who ought to provide support to the nonprofit organizations.According to Organizing and Managing Nonprofit Resources (2011),the structural components of an effective and efficient resource development management are a budget, the board, policies, practices, reporting, insurance and reserves. The budget should clearly establish programmatic goals aligned with strategic plan and the mission. It should also determine financial resources that are needed and the ones that are available for the nonprofit organizations to achieve their program goals. The budget ought to involve the board members and also the staff to enhance the correctness of information and dedication towards the plan. Formulas and assumptions should be note down. This will be very significant in the management of the budget all through the year. The budgeting process should also be customized.

Financial accountability principles

According to Ethics and Accountability (2011) financial principals are very necessary for successful resource development and management in the nonprofit making organization. This is because as discussed earlier, nonprofit making organizations rely on donations as their major source of financial resources. The truth is that no donor can give his donations if the donations shall be mismanaged. Nonprofit organization should therefore ensure that they put in place resource development plan to guide the accounting procedures. This should include accounting policies, budget, accounting methods, and specific responsibilities for financial controls. Monitoring and evaluation tools for the use of organizational funds should also be put in place.

An organizational budget should clearly identify programmatic objectives which are aligned to the mission and strategic plan of the organization, it should be able to determine the financial resources available and which are needed to achieve the programmatic goal. In development of the organizational budget, all the staff members should be involved in order to improve accuracy and ownership of the plan. The document should have assumptions and their predicted solutions so as to help in the management of the budget through the year. Finally the budget should be developed in line with the organizational policy.

Accounting methods: Nonprofit organizations should be have clear accounting methods which can range from the use of easiest system as cash method of accounting, which entails recording of revenues when cash is received and recording of expenses when cash is paid. The main disadvantage with this simple method is that it does not reflect the true economic situation of the organization. The organization can also choose to use the accrual method; this entails recording of revenues as when earned and recording of expenses when they occurred.Responsibility for financial control is solemnly the role and responsibility of board. The board should safeguard the assets of the organization and also ensure that money as initially intended. This responsibility can be carried out by ensuring that there is strong financial control in place which can be done by hiring staff or consultant who are financial professionals to help in development, or by asking hired auditors to assess the quality of these controls annually.

Finally according to Organizing and managing financial resources (2011) for a financial policy to be effective, the following essentials are necessary; Assessment of authority; policy statement on conflict of interest; clear authority to spend fund including approvals; clear assignment of authority to enter into contract; and clear responsibility for maintaining accurate financial records

The governance, as well as administrative and financial accountability principles necessary for successful resource development and management

Governance of the nonprofit organization is very instrumental in the process of fundraising for the organization. A well established nonprofit making organization should have a well elaborated organizational structure which is very clear on the roles and chain of command. The person in charge of the fundraising always works right under the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of directors, while at the same time he or she works alongside divisions such as finance, purchasing, services and human resources. Fundraising in a nonprofit organization is both supportive and administrative in the typical structure of an organization. Due to its nature, fundraising is always integrated and relates to every division within an organization's entire structures. Governance structure should be designed in such a way that it is: Centralized and decentralized where in centralized governance primarily focus is on organizational priorities while in a decentralized organization structure allows development officers to focus on individual needs and units which are responsible for fund raising.Governance of a nonprofit organization is very instrumental for successful resource development. In nearly all the nonprofit organizations, top in the governance structure are the board of directors. The board should ensure that they are successful in the fundraising and resource management. In order to set effectiveness in the board of directors, it is important that few things are always set in place including; job description for the board members, crating mission for the board members and ensuring that all the board members are will conversant with the mission and vision of the organization.

After understanding the mission and the vision of the organization, the board members should play the supervisor role and ensures that all employees work toward realization of the organization's mission and vision. As the head of the nonprofit organization, the board members should always review current and new programs for the organization, they must evaluate if each plan properly fits within the mission and vision of the organization. They should also ensure that there is equal distribution of resources across all the organization. The board should put into place and review all the rules and policies which are very important in the running of the organization. These policies should be able to guide the organization towards, conflict solution, proper resource management and clear procedures of undertaking organizational issues

In planning for fundraising activity, nonprofit organizations should put the following into considerations;

Human Resource requirements

The management should ensure that they have enough persons to spearhead and carryout the fundraising process successfully. In this area important points includes; hiring, compensation/motivation, relationship to executive director and performance evaluation for each staff involved in the fundraising process.

Budget and resource allocation

Fundraising process is an activity in the nonprofit organization; it therefore implies that there should be a set budget and resource allocation to effectively undertake this activity. Budgeting for fundraising should be determined through reasonable process which involves appropriate fundraising staff and considering the relationship of the budget to project fundraising success. In general the resource allocations for the next fundraising should be included in the budget at the development level.

Effective tracking systems

According to the Context for Nonprofit resource deployment (2004), fundraising is a continuous process which requires close monitoring at all levels. It is important that nonprofit organization should have in place a sound fundraising campaign with strong and effective system to support the efforts of the officers involved in the process. Tracking systems should be able to show the process and channels of fundraising majoring on strengths and weaknesses of the process.Financial accountability principles necessary for successful resource development and managementFinancial accountability is very important in the nonprofit organization and the fundraising process. It is through strict financial procedures and principles where donors get to know that their money shall not be mismanaged or directed to other sources; hence they will be willing to donate. Financial accountability is therefore very important in ensuring successful resource development and management. For a nonprofit organization to be observing critical financial oversight, the organization must be able to be in a state of good financial health overall, have elaborate financial procedures and maintain accurate financial reports should be provided for the funders to track the use of finds. Nonprofit organization should therefore ensure that they put in place resource development plan to guide the accounting procedures. This should include accounting policies, budgeting procedures, accounting methods, and specific responsibilities for financial controls and monitoring and evaluation tool for the use of organizational funds. Board members should ensure that these points are taken care of and followed at all times in an organization.An organizational budget should clearly identify programmatic objectives which are aligned to the mission and strategic plan of the organization, it should be able to determine the financial resources available and which are needed to achieve the programmatic goal. In development of the organizational budget, all the staff members should be involved in order to improve accuracy and ownership of the plan. The document should have assumptions and their predicted solutions so as to help in the management of the budget through the year. Finally the budget should be developed in line with the organizational policy. For the purposes of effective resource management, the management should ensure that the budget is totally followed during the implementation process and should there be any change then the same should be communicated to the donors. The budget should include two parts including the revenue and the expenditure