Budgeting within Maltese voluntary organisations

Abstract

Purpose: Considering that research relating to voluntary organisations (VOs) in Malta is still lacking and the regulation of such entities has recently commenced; it was considered relevant to conduct research with the aim of portraying a profile of the situation of budgeting within Maltese VOs. The study set out to indicate the extent to which Maltese VOs use budgets as a tool to promote better financial management, and whether any characteristics of VOs exist, which could be associated with whether VOs prepare budgets. Design: Preliminary research indicated that larger VOs are more likely to use budgets. Thus, a hypothesis was developed and a survey was conducted among VOs enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations; in which, 141 out of a population of 506 VOs participated. Findings: Predominantly, VOs were found to use budgets and generally they feel that when preparing budgets they are managing their finances better. With regards to the main hypothesis, no association was found to exist between the size of VOs and whether they use budgets. However, it was established that VOs that consider finances to be important and VOs that have active volunteers are more likely to use budgets. Conclusions: The findings signify that local VOs are not only concerned about managing their finances but they are also taking action, such as preparing budgets, to manage their finances. However, from the statistical analysis of the responses obtained, one could not easily generalise whether distinctive features of VOs exist, which could be associated with whether VOs prepare budgets. Implications: The findings derived from this research call for the need for more training to be offered to local VOs in order to sustain their willingness to manage their finances.