ABSTRACT
We are of the opinion that the voluntary sector financial manager has to be aware of the public policy context in which the voluntary sector operates. Understanding policy and the implication for funding and accountability is vitally important in being able to contribute to planning and forecasting. Independence from the State as advocated by Whelan (1999) is more complex than simply not taking government funding. Voluntary organizations with a portfolio of different income sources in contracts can exercise a degree of independence of action that many a supposedly ‘independent’ charity with no government funds but instead subject to the ‘mood of the public’ would envy. All sources of funding have associated problems and issues as, for example, the British Heart Foundation discovered in its partnership with food manufacturers Nestlé and ‘bite-sized’ Shredded Wheat which it withdrew from after a Sheffield court could not support the claims made. Even the endowed trust is not immune as the Baring Foundation unfortunately discovered.
