Funding Formula Stage 2
Checklist 2: Using Funds Effectively
Credibility means the integrity and trustworthiness of your organisation.
Q. What do donors want to see?
- the organisation is well-governed, well-managed and accountable
- the organisation is using funds effectively
- the organisation is doing good work
Q. How can you demonstrate your credibility to donors?
Use this Checklist below to help your organisation demonstrate that it is using funds effectively.
Demonstrate that your organisation is using funds effectively
Reassure donors that you are using grants properly – and that you can prove it – through these documents and approaches:
| Demonstrate that your organisation is using funds effectively Reassure donors that you are using grants properly – and that you can prove it – through these documents and approaches: |
| What | Details | ✓ or 🗵 |
Stewardship of funds: agreements delivered to time, results and cost | Do your Member Association’s restricted projects deliver their planned outputs? Does your Member Association have a good track record of implementing projects to time and budget? No-Cost Extensions cause your donors administrative headaches, and seriously dent credibility. This can jeopardize future funding. If your project is not going according to plan, do you communicate this to the donor immediately? | |
Reporting | Do you report to donors on time? Are your financial reports accurate? | |
Data | Can you provide reliable quantitative and qualitative data? Donors are concerned that their grants are being spent effectively and that programmatic objectives are achieved – and that you can prove this! Can you demonstrate how you use this data to make programmatic and organizational decisions? Donors are always really impressed when data is used for decision-making purposes. | |
Financial documents | Does your Member Association have clear and professional documentation, such as an unqualified financial statement that includes expenditure and revenue? This is essential. | |
Fraud and/or bribery | Do you have robust anti-fraud policies? Donors accept that fraud and bribery may happen from time to time, but they need to see how effectively you prevent and address this, and what policies you have in place that enable you to do that. | |
Cost effectiveness | Can you demonstrate how cost-effectively your Member Association operates? Ongoing monitoring and evaluation enable you to track performance and results, and you can use that data to make decisions. Can you demonstrate how your Member Association is using key measures that increase impact and value for money, so that donors are reassured that you are a good investment? Do you ensure that results are clearly measurable, by using the following tools, for example: – the Performance-Based Funding model, which helps you to track costs and pinpoint areas where cost-effectiveness and efficiency can be improved – the Branch Performance Tool, IPPF’s performance driven funding system designed to reward the delivery of IPPF’s strategic priorities, where data on cost per service is also considered and tracked – your clinic-based management information system (CMIS) which improves quality of care and tracks trends in service delivery – any other M&E tools? |