CEPA’s financial objective is to support the research, policy and service orientation of CEPA by achieving a balance in revenue sources, so that CEPA’s market responsiveness is balanced with its ability to carry out independent research. The contribution to the Development Fund as an investment in CEPA’s future is another such objective.

CEPA has been going through financial turbulence since 2007 with revenue dropping by 13% annually. The situation seemed to come to a head in mid 2008, exacerbated by the departure of key members of the Finance and Administration Team. CEPA appreciates the professional support provided by the team from Strategic Inspirations, who were called in to fill the gap. Strategic Inspirations assisted CEPA in several ways. They provided a back up to the remaining members of the finance team until such time as a new Team Leader was recruited; they helped management mobilise the collective knowledge of the senior professionals, subscribing members and directors in identifying new directions for CEPA through a short strategic planning brainstorm; they analysed CEPA’s financial management systems and developed useful management information tools; and they instituted a systematic way of tracking CEPA’s pipeline of activities. The partnership gave CEPA the confidence to meet the financial challenges it was facing.

However, achieving an optimal balance of revenue sources was not easy. The fee-based services dominated the revenue figures accounting for 74% of the total revenue for 2008. The Poverty and Conflict programme was sponsored by funding from World Bank and European Union and accounted for 9% of the total revenue. Income from the investment of the Development Fund contributed Rs. 7.4mn, 15% of total revenue. As sponsorship for CEPA programmes of independent research, dialogue and exchange was minimal through the year, more and more fee-based assignments were taken on to keep the company afloat. Ironically, the workload and short time lines attached to fee-based activities made achieving an optimal balance in terms of income even more difficult.

The company adopted many cost cutting measures which resulted in controlling the increase in overhead costs to 5%. Given the high inflationary environment prevalent during 2008, this can be considered an achievement since the level of operations remained the same.