Financial and Planning Director in Non-Profit Sector NGOs

Abstract

Social organizations in general, and civil society organizations in particular, are one of the fundamental mechanisms and structures for achieving community goals. The importance of strategic planning is highlighted by its focus on identifying long-, medium-, and short-term goals that align with the mission of the civil society organization. The need for a financial manager or financial officer in non-profit civil society organizations has emerged to ensure compliance with audit reports and quality standards that monitor administrative and financial systems and help optimize the use of available resources. The non-profit sector has expanded significantly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with 2,600 organizations operating there. To support the non-profit sector, the National Center for Non-Profit Sector Development was established as an independent financial and administrative entity to develop and advance the performance of these non-profit organizations. The process of evaluating the performance of the financial manager of civil society organizations aims to develop and improve financial performance, going beyond oversight to identify errors and make recommendations, highlighting obstacles and deviations, and providing a measure of the organization's success in achieving its goals. Civil society organizations are also required to submit budget estimates for revenues, sales, and expenses, including workforce estimates, and general budget estimates. The association's annual work program should align with the fiscal year, ensuring that annual activities do not fall between two fiscal years. This allows for budget preparation and analysis of the association's financial performance. Planning seeks to achieve the overall objectives of civil society organizations using the best means and at the lowest cost. Therefore, the success of planning depends on selecting appropriate means to achieve these objectives, given that planning is a process through which the future of the civil society organization is developed. Planning provides a shared understanding within the organization of the goals and accomplishments it seeks to achieve, as well as the steps required to achieve these accomplishments. It also helps set priorities, allocate resources and determine the best ways to use them, accurately define objectives, roles, and performance indicators, and keep the organization and its members on track. Associations apply several levels of planning, depending on the nature of the topic they are planning for. The most important levels of planning in associations include organizational planning, strategic planning, program/department/project planning, and individual planning.