Finances of Human Service Agency
The OUR Center, being an independent and nongovernmental organization, funds its programs primarily through donations from private individuals, religious groups, service clubs, other charitable institutions, and similar nongovernment organizations. There are also instances when private corporations give donations in monetary form although this rarely happens. Initially after receiving funds for their programs, the OUR Center does not immediately channel its financial resources to its volunteers and other staff.
The initial step is to employ the scheme of auditing the received funds and properly allocating the budget in relation to the specific budget needs of each program. Upon determining the budget allocation, only then are the funds distributed to the specific program or working team. The quality of the sources of the OUR Center’s funds can be observed as reliable. This is based on the fact that the OUR Center does not immediately receive funds from any other individual or organization. Part of the reason to this is the OUR Center’s objective of providing services to the needs of families in St.
Vrain without compromising the integrity and reputation of the organization and its volunteer members. In order to meet this objective, the organization is called upon to carefully look into the source of the prospective funds and rely upon the integrity as well as the reputation of the donor. The reason to this is that the organization, being an independent body with no other solid means of acquiring funds other than the support coming from other individuals and organizations, seeks to establish its name with good reputation and integrity by not compromising itself through illegally or immorally obtained funding.
The question as to whether the organization is able to secure the reliability of the sources of its funds is answered by the organization’s in-depth consideration for a background check on the source. For instance, when a certain private individual—a businessman, for instance—wants to offer a monetary donation, the organization asks specific background information from the individual essentially obtained through a personal conversation with the staff.
Paper forms are also sought to be filled-up by the donor that includes certain information such as contact numbers and occupation information. Moreover, after a program has been successfully attained, the organization then communicates with the donor and informs the individual about the status of the program as well as the financial spending of the funding fro the individual. This way the organization is able to double-check the reliability of the donor.
Further, the organization also implements financial accountability measures to secure the proper use of funds. The organization employs accounting measures which determine the flow of funds, tracks the progress of programs, and records and keeps the official receipts obtained from the finances of the activities. If I have donated a large sum of money, I will certainly ask questions as to how the money I have donated is being used. How much amount from the money donated will be actually used?
What program will the money be appropriated? If there are amounts left in the donated money, how will it be managed? What measures will be taken in order to secure that the money will not be used in ways which are apart from its intended use? These are only some of the possible questions which may arise and may be asked if I donated a large sum of money to OUR Center. There are still other more detailed questions that pertain to the more specific uncertainties in the spending of the funds donated.
Nevertheless, the fact that OUR Center seeks to maintain its reputation and integrity by combining volunteer services to the families with reliable funding from reliable sources is a reassuring idea that the organization has a reputable name in terms of funding its programs. References OUR Legacy. (2007). Retrieved October 8, 2007, from http://www. ourcenter. org/donate. html Chambers, D. E. , & R. Wedel, K. (2005). How Do We Pay for Social Welfare Policies and Programs? In Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for the Practical Public Policy Analyst (4th ed. ): Allyn and Bacon.
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