21778 Chap.8 The Internal Audit and SWOT Analysis
The Internal Audit and SWOT Analysis
Looking inside, then joining the picture
Week 4 closes the fundraising audit with the internal environment: the structures and processes that decide whether an organisation can act on what the external audit finds. Week 5’s tutorial and Assessment 1 then call for a SWOT.
This chapter shows how to build every SWOT entry from evidence, using the cricket club’s own figures, and repairs a weak entry step by step.
Why the SWOT is worth the effort
Although the Assessment 1 SWOT is unmarked, it does real work.
Building it forces you to check every claim against a source, to separate what the organisation controls from what it does not, and to see which strengths can meet which opportunities. The best executive summaries read as a guided tour of the SWOT, with each recommendation pointing back to two of its entries.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Why an internal audit is needed
- 02
Organisational structure for fundraising
- 03
Fundraising processes
- 04
Building a SWOT from evidence
- 05
Using the SWOT in Assessment 1
- 06
Repairing a weak SWOT entry
Worked example · free
Sort a festival's audit findings into a SWOT
- 1Internal: (b) is a strength and (d) a weakness, since both describe the festival itself.
- 1External: (c) is an opportunity and (a) a threat, because they arise outside it.
- 1Pair: use the volunteer strength to deliver the activities the tourism grant would fund.
Key terms
- Internal Audit
- The review of an organisation’s own structures and processes for fundraising, carried out alongside the external audit.
- SWOT Analysis
- A matrix that sets internal strengths and weaknesses beside external opportunities and threats.
- Organisational Structure
- Who holds fundraising roles and how they relate, including whether a full-time fundraiser exists.
- Organisational Processes
- The routines for receiving gifts, managing partner relationships and linking fundraising to other functions, examined in the internal audit.
- Executive Summary
- The opening section of a report that states its findings and recommendations; Assessment 1 is written in this form.
The Internal Audit and SWOT Analysis FAQ
Why is an internal audit needed as well as an external one?
Opportunities found outside are worth little if no one inside has the time, skills or processes to act on them. The internal audit checks structures, such as whether a full-time fundraiser exists, and processes, such as how donations are received and partners are managed.
Is the SWOT marked in Assessment 1?
The task description recommends a SWOT in the appendix and says it will not be marked and is not counted in the word limit. It is a reference point, so the marks sit with the analysis and the three recommendations argued in the executive summary.
What makes a SWOT entry strong?
It sits in the right quadrant, rests on a fact or figure, and leads somewhere. A weakness such as fee revenue at 65.5% of the total, with rising costs and a deficit, points straight to a recommendation, whereas a phrase like ‘not enough money’ does not.
What should the internal audit look at in a small volunteer club?
Who raises money and how many hours they have, whether anyone has grant or sponsorship skills, how donations and receipts are handled, how sponsors are kept informed, and whether fundraising is coordinated with the people running programs. In a small club these may all sit with one or two volunteers, which is itself a finding.
Where does the SWOT come from in the subject?
The Week 3 overview lists the SWOT as part of the fundraising audit, the Week 5 tutorial is devoted to it, and the Assessment 1 task recommends one in the appendix. It joins the internal audit, which supplies strengths and weaknesses, to the external audit, which supplies opportunities and threats.
Assessment move
Draft the SWOT from your audit notes, then delete every entry without a figure or named source. Pair strengths with opportunities to find growth moves and weaknesses with threats to find risks. Keep a list of who does what in the organisation, because recommendations need named owners. Before submitting, read the executive summary beside the SWOT and check that each recommendation cites at least one entry.
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