Financial Management Case Study

Excluserv Limited Unit 3, 72 Drayton Park London N5 1ND VAT Reg Company Reg 893892064 5633814

Financial Management Case Study

The Children's Society Media and Campaigns team had been working over a period of time to enhance their evaluation and review process and many significant improvements had been made including full review of campaigns and media coverage with extensive reporting for a number of audiences. Excluserv were approached to provide some training to the team to improve their appreciation of the importance of the budgeting process and the practicalities of that within the society. Initially Excluserv met Tim Linehan and Marsha Lowe (Media and Campaigns Analyst) to discuss this and from that we developed a broader remit, where the team would be encouraged to think about the whole planning and review cycle, with Finance as an integral part, rather than being seen in isolation. Excluserv agreed to a training programme over three half days, and promised that it would be interactive and fun, two things that many of the trainees were not expecting! We were briefed on many of the operational challenges and frustrations for the team before the training started, so that we could relate examples and our responses to their experience, and kept Marsha and Tim informed of the planned agenda so they could amend the content if required. Day one of the training started with some frosty looks and in the introductions we were informed by one of the delegates that he was our worst nightmare. Undaunted we pressed on with a group discussion, and the dreams of the attendees. What would they like to be doing if they could chuck it all in and do something that they were passionate about? This really opened the group up and gave us some interesting business opportunities to explore. The basis for the next three sessions was established, and by the end of session one we had a business plan (and funding!) to make someone's dream come true, a fairly detailed budget and an...