AIA's International Accountant Magazine: 'Your Skills Can Help NGOs Around the World'

Accounting for International Development (AfID) Founder Neil Jennings explains how accountants and auditors can use their skills to provide pro bono or remunerated support to a broad range of non-profit organisations around the world.

'AfID is an organisation that offers support to charities across Africa, Asia and Latin America through working with accountants to provide financial management support to over 500 not-for-profits in over 50 countries. Now ten years old, AfID started as a result of my own volunteering experience with a small Rwandan NGO set up by orphans and refugees of the 1994 genocide.

'It became obvious that whilst the staff had achieved amazing results with little resources, the survival of their activities hung desperately in the balance due to a lack of fi nancial management experience and a faltering donor relationship. Volunteers had come and gone but sadly never addressing this issue and never really contributing to their long-term development and sustainability.

'On my return to the UK, I decided to leave my role as a director for an international accountancy recruiter and set up AfID, which started with five adventurous accountants who carried out pilot assignments in Cambodia, Tanzania and Malawi. From those humble beginnings, AfID has grown quickly over the last ten years with more charities being supported each and every year. Our volunteers providing the support are as diverse and varied as the NGOs themselves with the youngest to date being 22 years old and the oldest a spritely 78.

Case study volunteer: Matt (AICPA) in Guatemala

'As many as 25% of their volunteers have gone on to secure a rewarding full-time career in the not-for-profit sector post assignment. We send over 200 volunteers on assignments, which range in length from just two weeks up to 12 months, during the course of the year. Ten years on from when we first started, and in an era of decreasing foreign aid and rising donor scepticism, the need for sound financial management has never been so clear. With demands from NGOs continuing to rise, we are always in need of more volunteers. There is a tendency to imagine that you need to have decades of experience before being able to have any sort of lasting impact, but this simply isn’t the case.

'The truth is we need accountants from all backgrounds and all levels of experience – there is something for everyone! It’s a real privilege to look back at all that’s been achieved over the last ten years, none of which would have been possible, of course, without our wonderful volunteers. Their hard work and commitment have assisted the development, and in some cases the very survival, of so many organisations doing fantastic work in their communities.To begin your own volunteer journey, visit www.AfID.org.uk, email info@afid.org.uk or call +44 (0)208 741 7000.'

You can read the full double-page spread in AIA's International Accountant Magazine here.