The Financial Consultant and Chief Operating Officer, Intense Group, Bukonla Adebakin, has said that many purpose-driven organisations struggle because they lack financial structures and a proper understanding of data to support their mission.
Adebakin made this known during a recent event to mark her birthday and her book launch, in Lagos.
Speaking at the launch of the book titled “The Profit of Purpose”, Adebukonla said, “Four years ago, I asked myself a crucial question: how can social entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders gain the financial literacy needed to sustain a skill impact? At first, I thought my focus should be on communication or programme design or social impact. You know, areas I had extensively worked in and understood well. I found myself just settling into media communication and I thought that would be my focus…I saw an undeniable gap that was holding many organisations back. Through extensive research, engagement with social sector leaders and personal experience, one truth became abundantly clear.
“Financial literacy is the fundamental pillar of social impacts, money is a tool. So, in 2022, I reached out to a colleague of mine, I told him that he needed to run a poll so that I have clarity on the direction of what I would write. To my surprise, what I really thought was a major challenge didn’t make it to the first three. What made it to the top three were financial reporting, corporate governance and fundraising. Too many brilliant initiatives, too many game-changing ideas, too many purpose-driven organisations struggle, not because they lack vision, passion or dedication, but because they lack financial structures and don’t understand data to support their mission. So, the direction of the book I was writing shifted.”
Speaking on why it is important for businesses to be registered regardless of the quantum of support they get without registration, she said anyone thinking of long-term as an organisation must register his or her business. “That’s a given. And when you register your business, you ensure that your corporate governance is set because the people on your board are people you are accountable to people that you trust. You are able to do transparency with these people, even to your donors so that your donors can see that you are accountable to someone and the level of transparency is 100 per cent. If you are thinking long term, you have to register with CAC, even if you have friends and families that are able to support your organisation, you are still restricted because you can do more. So, when you register your organisation, you can apply to do a lot of things, even do so much more than you can imagine.”
Meanwhile, in her keynote address, the Chief Executive Officer of Faith Foundation, Adenike Adeyemi said that many organisations had collapsed owing to poor financial planning, noting that financial management should not be secondary to impact.
“Various organisations collapse under the weight of financial mismanagement, delayed salary, unsustainable project and even abrupt closures,” she said
