Today marks the start of Charity Finance Week. This year, the theme for the week is: “Futureproofing Finance. Powering Purpose.”
Many will say that the pace of change within society has seemed unprecedented in recent times.
It has felt relentless for many and the impact on charities has been covered widely across Charity Finance and its sister publications.
While there has been little breathing space and increased pressures for charities, it is still important to find time to consider what changes will help make your charity’s finance function work more efficiently and strategically in a changed (and still changing) world.
SORP
For charity finance professionals, the introduction of a new SORP from the start of this year means that there are some reporting requirements that they may need to start thinking about (if they weren’t already) or to review (if they were).
Hopefully, work has started on this already and research published in the October issue of Charity Finance (which we will cover online later in the week) suggests that some charities are already ahead.
AI
Another area that has come on the agenda in recent years (and moved up it remarkably quickly) is the advent of AI.
AI’s (or Super Intelligence if you subscribe to Donald Trump’s attempt to rename it) development has been rapid and its usage is now widespread throughout society.
Many now say that it is a question of how quickly finance teams will start to integrate AI rather than if they will.
On Thursday, we will publish one charity’s story on how it has started to use this technology.
Income and tax
We know there has been pressure on various income streams in recent years. So, we will also cover the importance of diversifying income streams to ensure they are resilient and can serve your charity in the future.
At times of squeezed income, expenditure is another area some will be forced to look at.
Of course, not all expenditure is discretionary. For example, a tax bill has to be paid.
On tax, we will end the week by covering the Charity Tax Group’s three asks for the forthcoming budget.
It is difficult to predict exactly how charity finance teams will adapt to all these challenges (and the many other challenges facing the sector).
There is not a one-size-fits-all solution but hopefully across this week we can provide some food for thought.
One thing that I am confident in predicting is that the Charity Finance Summit will take place this Thursday (8 October). I look forward to seeing many Charity Finance readers there.
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