Financial Management Of Ngos In Ghana: A Case Study Of Central Aid.

ABSTRACT Non-governmental organisations are vital to the civil society of every country. The growth of NGOs has brought about much development to all societies because their activities usually tend to involve social interventions that fill in the vacuum where governments usually fail. However, recent issues of mismanagement and weak accountability has caused NGOs to lose credence in the eyes of its stakeholders. Thus, this study aims to investigate how NGOs in Ghana undertake their financial management practices. A case study was conducted using Central aid, a local church agency, faith based organisation, to delve into the structure of its financial management. Data was obtained via interviews with the three main support staff of the secretariat via semi-structured interviews, the organisation’s reports and manuals, and a thematic analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six step approach and Atlas.ti software. From the analysis, eight (8) themes where identified from the research information. The findings show that the NGO has its activities structured around the elements of financial management and it also had the four elements of effective NGO management proposed by Mostashari (2005). However, certain loopholes in the execution of its financial practices were identified. The absence of a comprehensive structure that will accurately apportion funds for each project, designing financial management mechanisms and a manual on their own accord, the process of manually inputting all accounting information and having a one member team handling all expenses does not boost the effectiveness of its practices. Like previous studies, the research also discovered that funding for NGOs is one major challenge which impedes its activities and financial stability in the long run. VII The study recommends the amendment of the Ghana NGO policy guidelines to provide a strict and efficient financial management procedure that all NGOs must follow to curb mismanagement. Central aid can also boost up its educational and awareness drives in order to raise more funds and the study can serves as a basis for comparative analysis when researching into the management practices of other kinds of NGOs.