No doubt, developing a project or program budget can be challenging. A detailed budget should include ALL associated costs. Avoid rounding numbers unless guidelines state differently. Grantors demand transparency and accuracy in a program or project budget.
Begin developing a budget by creating an outline of TOTAL project or program costs. Include costs for personnel (wages/benefits), evaluation, operating, professional fees that may be incurred, capital development, purchases, supplies, In-Kind donations, secured and unsecured donations/requests, additional grant funding and funding sources, organization contributing funds, total cost of project and/or program and the amount requested. This outline will serve as a great resource when completing applications.
The cost of the project or program should NOT be the total amount of funding requested! Grantors want to help support a project or program, not be the sole support of it.
Some grant applications may provide a specific budget form. Otherwise, the organization should create their own budget form. Budget requirements are usually included in the Grant Guidelines.
A Project or Program Budget and an Organization Budget are not the same thing. Your program/project budget covers the budget costs to implement a specific program/project, whereas an organization operating budget provides the TOTAL current fiscal year budget to run the organization.
Grantors may also request a copy of the organization budget to discern whether the organization's fiscal stability, number of programs, staffing and stewardship can effectively implement the proposed program/project.
Add comment
Comments