Week 9:Funding and Financial Management

Week 9:Funding and Financial Management.  Social work administrators need to be able to help raise funds for their organizations and ensure that the funds are spent effectively. Once administrators receive funding, how they manage the funds is critical for accountability and sustainability. When administrators manage funds effectively, they increase their credibility with stakeholders in the community. Administrators must be able to demonstrate how the resources have been used to support the mission of the organization.

Students will:

• Analyze key elements of grant writing
• Evaluate budget priorities
• Develop fundraising strategies

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Lauffer, A. (2011). Understanding your social agency (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.

• Chapter 9, “Fundraising and Development” (pp. 285–320)

Candid. (n.d.). Sample documents. Retrieved from https://learning.candid.org/resources/sample-documents/

Note: You will need to create a log-in to the website to access and download the documents. This is a free service.

Required Media

Candid. (n.d.). Introduction to project budgets [Video file]. Retrieved from https://learning.candid.org/training/introduction-to-project-budgets/

Candid. (n.d.). Introduction to proposal writing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://learning.candid.org/training/introduction-to-proposal-writing-2/

Candid. (n.d.). Introduction to fundraising planning [Video file]. Retrieved https://learning.candid.org/training/introduction-to-fundraising-planning/

Optional Resources

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). (2012). Retrieved from http://www.arnova.org/

Walden University. (2014). Master of Social Work home page. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Visit the Master of Social Work interactive home page to explore resources available to students in the program.

Discussion 1: Funding through Grants

Budgeting in human services organizations brings about many challenges. Human services agencies must be creative in managing their budget due to the increased demands on the agency and the needs of the clients and stakeholders. There are many legal, contractual, and other requirements under the concept of financial management, as such agency administrators need to be creative to obtain funding. Applying for grants in both the private and public sectors is one access to funding resources. Most grants will require that you present a proposed budget for use of the funds. Thus, grants and budgeting often go hand in hand.

For this Discussion, think about grant writing and the elements needed to write a successful grant. Then, review sample grants at https://grantspace.org/resources/sample-documents/. Identify one grant to discuss.

By Day 3

Post the following:

• Describe the key elements to grant writing.
• Provide a brief description of the grant proposal you selected and explain the strengths of the proposal and any areas where it could be improved.
• Explain how you would improve on the grant proposal to convince the funder that funding this program would have a positive and measurable effect on the community.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:

• Compare and contrast the key elements of grant writing identified in your and your colleague’s post.
• Provide a constructive critique of your colleague’s ideas for demonstrating a positive and measurable effect to a funder.
• Provide recommendations to find funding sources for this proposal.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 9 Discussion 1 Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 9 Discussion 1

Discussion 2: Financial Capacity and Sustainability in Human Services

Receiving funding from a grant or other source of funds is a great accomplishment. Once the funding is received, the human services organization must be able to manage the funds effectively. The organization must also develop a plan to sustain the program after the funding period ends or the potential for change from the funded program may be limited.

For this Discussion, review the budget provided in the grant proposal that you discussed in Discussion 1 of this Week. Consider how you would prioritize budgetary needs and fundraise to continue covering costs of this program after the grant period has ended.

By Day 4

Post a brief description of the budget presented in the grant proposal you selected. Describe how you might alter the budget after the grant ended or which budget items you would prioritize as you sought additional funding to continue the program. Explain why you would make these changes or prioritize specific budget items. Finally, explain how you would fundraise to meet the budget priorities.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Week 9:Funding and Financial Management

By Day 6

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in at least one of the following ways:

• Expand upon an idea in your colleague’s post.
• Suggest an additional strategy for fundraising and explain why your strategy might be effective.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Week 9:Funding and Financial Management

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 9 Discussion 2 Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 9 Discussion 2

Week in Review

This week you analyzed grants and budgets. In addition, you considered strategies to fundraise to meet budgetary priorities of human services organizations.

Next week you will examine and evaluate the effectiveness of programs by determining whether the programs are achieving their designated outcomes.

To go to the next week:

Week 10