Introduction
The Strategic Grants and Financial Management for NGOs Training Course is a comprehensive, hands-on program designed to equip NGO professionals with the tools and strategies necessary to navigate complex donor requirements, optimize fund utilization, and enhance financial sustainability. In today’s funding landscape, donor expectations are increasingly stringent, requiring NGOs to demonstrate robust financial accountability, strategic fund allocation, and transparent reporting. This course focuses on empowering finance and program teams to effectively manage grants, align spending with strategic outcomes, and meet reporting obligations across international operations.

Participants will gain advanced skills in liquidity management, revenue tracking, variance analysis, investment planning, and donor reporting. The course offers a practical and forward-looking approach to managing restricted and unrestricted funds, building internal controls, planning multi-country cash flows, and creating strategic financial models. Whether managing institutional grants, philanthropic funding, or public-sector resources, this course is designed to enhance your capacity to drive mission-aligned financial decision-making with confidence and compliance.

Duration: 10 Days

Target Audience

• Finance and Grants Managers in NGOs
• Program Directors and Country Managers
• Budget and Compliance Officers
• Treasury and Liquidity Managers
• Donor and Fundraising Teams
• NGO Auditors and Internal Controllers
• Non-Profit Investment Advisors
• Executive Leadership and NGO Board Members

Course Objectives

• Strengthen the financial management capacity of NGOs to handle complex donor requirements
• Improve grant budgeting, fund allocation, and expenditure monitoring processes
• Build effective systems for managing liquidity and weekly cash positions
• Enhance monthly reporting accuracy for multi-grant revenue tracking
• Integrate grant performance with organizational financial sustainability strategies
• Develop internal controls to prevent misuse of donor funds
• Understand donor audit processes and financial close-out techniques
• Apply practical models for budget vs actual variance analysis
• Build capacity for investing donor funds within compliance frameworks
• Create standardized templates for donor reporting and financial dashboards
• Improve multi-country treasury management practices

Course Modules

Module 1: Understanding the Donor Funding Landscape

• Types of grants and donor mechanisms
• Grant lifecycle from acquisition to close-out
• Restricted vs. unrestricted funding
• Donor compliance trends and regulations
• Developing a grant acquisition strategy

Module 2: Grant Budgeting and Cost Allocation

• Budget formulation aligned with project goals
• Cost classification and budgeting tools
• Allocating shared costs across grants
• Budget justification and donor approval
• Linking budgets to work plans and indicators

Module 3: Financial Reporting and Documentation

• Monthly revenue and expense reporting
• Reporting formats per donor requirements
• Supporting documents and audit trails
• Aligning financial and programmatic reports
• Using ERP systems and financial software

Module 4: Cash Flow and Liquidity Management

• Preparing weekly cash position reports
• Managing liquidity across multiple countries
• Bank account reconciliation and fund transfers
• Planning for cash shortages and emergencies
• Treasury controls for multi-currency accounts

Module 5: Budget vs Actual Analysis

• Monthly variance tracking and analysis
• Identifying causes of budget deviations
• Corrective actions and reforecasting
• Presenting variances to stakeholders
• Integrating financial performance reviews

Module 6: Investment Planning for NGOs

• Principles of non-profit investments
• Types of investments suitable for NGOs
• Risk-return analysis for impact funds
• Regulatory compliance for investment
• Building reserves and endowment planning

Module 7: Donor Audit Preparation and Management

• Understanding donor audit scopes
• Document preparation and audit schedules
• Managing queries and compliance gaps
• Lessons learned and audit follow-up
• Coordinating with internal and external auditors

Module 8: Internal Controls and Risk Mitigation

• Fraud risks in grants and mitigation strategies
• Segregation of duties and approval workflows
• Financial controls for cash and bank management
• Control checklists and financial SOPs
• Monitoring implementation of controls

Module 9: Strategic Fund Allocation

• Linking finance to program strategy
• Prioritizing fund use for high-impact areas
• Balancing donor expectations and field needs
• Forecasting future financial needs
• Scenario planning for funding gaps

Module 10: Reporting to Donors and Stakeholders

• Crafting narrative and financial reports
• Creating dashboards and infographics
• Donor-specific reporting schedules
• Tips for increasing donor confidence
• Managing donor queries effectively

Module 11: Treasury Operations in NGOs

• Daily, weekly, and monthly treasury tasks
• Centralized vs decentralized treasury models
• Working with banks and financial service providers
• Treasury policies and compliance
• Treasury KPIs and monitoring

Module 12: Managing Multi-Country Grant Operations

• Coordinating finance across field offices
• Fund transfers and country-level controls
• Harmonizing reporting formats and timelines
• Cross-border financial compliance
• Communication with remote teams

Module 13: Financial Systems and Tools

• Selecting the right financial software
• Integration with M&E and HR systems
• Cloud-based accounting systems
• Automating recurring financial tasks
• Data protection and access control

Module 14: Grant Close-out Procedures

• Close-out checklists and workflows
• Final reporting and fund reconciliation
• Asset disposition and reporting
• Dealing with unspent or overused funds
• Capturing lessons learned

Module 15: Building Financial Sustainability

• Diversification of funding sources
• Building unrestricted reserves
• Strengthening cost recovery models
• Financial scenario planning
• Capacity building for finance teams

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Training Venue

The training will be held at our Skills for Africa Training Institute Training Centre. We also offer training for a group at requested location all over the world. The course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, and buffet lunch.

Visa application, travel expenses, airport transfers, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Skills for Africa Training Institute certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Terms of Payment: Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 7 working days before commencement of the training.