County Treasurer of a charity

COUNTY TREASURER for LONDON (Volunteer) 

The National Garden Scheme (NGS) has been opening private gardens since 1927 to raise money for nursing and health charities. In 2022 we donated over £3 million to beneficiaries such as Macmillan, Hospice UK, Marie Curie and the Queen’s Nursing Institute. This was reduced by the effects of the pandemic and those charities now need our help more than ever before.

In common with many organisations, the pandemic has accelerated our transition to a more digital way of working and it is an exciting time to be part of this. London is one of the larger counties in the NGS and the County team is looking for a Treasurer to join them. This is a great opportunity for someone with the right skills to be part of an organisation that gives pleasure and joy to the hundreds of thousands of people who visit NGS gardens every year and provides much needed funds to our beneficiaries.

Role:  To be accountable for the financial management of the County function and to provide financial information to County Teams and the Finance Manager at NGS Head Office.

Reports to:  County Organiser and indirectly to the Chief Executive and Honorary Treasurer, through the Finance Manager.

Location:  Home based but with occasional travel to events/meetings. It’s not essential that the treasurer lives in London.

Time required for the role: The work is seasonal. During the spring and summer, when most garden openings take place, it requires the equivalent of two or three days a month to monitor the receipt of garden income. Much of the planning happens out of season and the Treasurer’s time commitment to this is less. 

Core activities:

• Maintain the online County financial records (an online Microsoft 360 spreadsheet) reconciling to the County bank account and our Online Garden Administration system (OLGA).
• Assist Garden Owners in recording the record of their garden opening and the income raised through OLGA where necessary. Many Garden Owners are happy to enter their own details. The County Organiser and the team of Assistant County Organisers also help with this.
• Ensure that Garden Owners receive appropriate acknowledgement and thanks when their garden income is completely received in the County bank account and reconciles with OLGA. It is possible to do this by relying on automated emails.
• Manage disbursements from the County bank account, principally reimbursing members of the County team for out-of-pocket expenses, in line with NGS policy. The volume of such transactions is low. 
• Liaise with the booklet co-ordinator where necessary to ensure that advertising invoices are paid promptly. These invoices are issued annually by the Finance Manager at Head Office who also maintains the debtors’ records. 
• Attend County team meetings as requested – usually one or two a year. There is also an annual Regional Meeting and periodic County Treasurer meetings. 
• Produce reports of garden income received and budgets and forecast for the year and other County financial information if requested by the County Organiser.

Skills:

• Ability to work with spreadsheets and other financial documents in Excel.
• Ability to prioritise and to work under pressure at times.
• Pro-active thinker to suggest ideas to improve systems.
• ICT skills are an advantage and accounting experience would be useful.

Personal qualities:

·       Should enjoy working as part of a close team, showing a mature, helpful approach to other members of the County team and Garden Owners.

·       Persistence and patience in implementing sound financial practice and ensuring that it is maintained.

·       Accuracy in recording information and in forecasting activity.

·       Pro-active in contributing ideas to benefit the NGS. 

·       An enthusiasm for gardening - either actively or as a visitor -and our commitment to supporting nursing and health charities.

If you would like to apply for this role please contact:
Penny Snell, London County Organiser via pennysnellflowers@btinternet.com

For more information about the National Garden Scheme please visit www.ngs.org.uk