Budgeting for Change

1 Credit · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course will meet on the following dates: Saturday, April 2, 2016 Saturday, April 9, 2016 This one credit course is designed to give students an introduction to the real world issues in financial management of peacebuilding and development projects. Financial management is a critical component of effective project management. Effective financial management a) helps managers make effective and efficient use of resources to achieve objectives and fulfill commitments to stakeholders; b) helps NGOs to be more accountable to donors and other stakeholders; c) gain the respect and confidence of funding agencies, partners and beneficiaries; d) gives the NGO the advantage in competition for increasingly scarce resources; e) helps NGOs prepare themselves for long-term financial sustainability. Through a combination of structured input together with hands on practical exercises and analysis of case studies, students will gain insights in to the best practices, challenges and solutions to a range of issues associated with the financial management of donor funded projects. We will draw on real-life examples from Partners projects to analyze different aspects of financial management, such as budget modifications or when a conflict forces a shift in planned activities. Students will be required to complete some practical exercises involving both qualitative and quantitative skills, to pass the course.