7 Summary

Congratulations on reaching the end of Week 4 – you are now halfway through the course. This week has focused on an overview of the main types of financial information that voluntary organisations use and some of the issues and challenges that may arise. You should now have a basic knowledge of the importance of budgets and should feel able to interpret a budget for an organisation you are interested in, and perhaps contribute if asked.

In Week 4, you have learned:

• how voluntary organisations are regulated in relation to financial information
• what the role of trustees is in financial management and what their liabilities are
• about the different types of financial information used in voluntary organisations
• the importance of budgets and how to interpret them through understanding income and expenditure.

Next week you will explore the different approaches used in fundraising and the challenges presented.

You are now half way through the course. The Open University would really appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future improvement in our optional end-of-course survey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , which you will also have an opportunity to complete at the end of Week 8. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

You can now go to Week 5.