Reference no: EM132739987

The grant budget portrays your request in numbers and encompasses the whole of all costs - for merchandise and services extending from hardware and materials to overhead and executive expenses - needed to execute the program. You may likewise incorporate a support and revenue statement, which depicts what has money has also been disbursed and what goods or services have already been paid for and from whom you intend to request the remainder of the funds needed. A vital component of showing support and revenue is to comprehend in-kind support - noncash commitments of monetary value made by your organization, another grantor, unpaid workers, or different organizations. The last part is the budget narrative, which clarifies how you got to the final figures that make up the budget (if it's not evident) and how often each detail or line item on your budget fits into the overarching project (Wason, 2004).

Program expenses comprise everything needed to run your project, ranging from employee compensation to the lease for the building that houses the program. Typically, expenses land in two common categories: direct costs and indirect costs (Wason, 2004).

Direct costs come when you buy any goods or services required to execute your current program. The average line-item budget incorporates the following direct-cost groups:

Employees

Gear / Equipment

Materials

Trips (Wason, 2004)

Each time an employee is needed to administer a part of your project, there is an expense connected with that person's time. This person may be paid or unpaid staff - whether or compensated or uncompensated, or even a third-party vendor. Many grantors do not cover costs related to employees. Nonetheless, the costs for employees must have its line item in the budget. At the same time, be sure to ask the grantor when incorporating costs for employees in your grant proposal (Wason, 2004).

Capital expenses are the agency's most significant costs and include such things as buildings and land. These things become assets and can increase in value over time. Such expenses must be explained in the budget narrative, and you may need paperwork to accompany the estimated value of the assets. Gear or equipment is a capital expense that the agency will either buy or lease, such as chairs, desks, computers, telephones, printers, copy machines or software. Depending on the program itself and its scope, equipment may also include cars or trucks. Materials or supplies are the daily-use items, like staplers, pens, pencils, file folders and paper-clips. Again, depending on the project supplies may include items needed for building or construction like paint, or paintbrushes (Wason, 2004).

Indirect costs are the needed to operate the agency every day, even if the program is not executed. Indirect costs are typically hard to grasp and calculate by commonly incorporates overhead and executive costs. The sum of indirect costs can be measured in one of two ways:

A portion of the whole of the direct costs

A part of the whole of the employee costs

Again, check with the grantor as to what needs to be included in the grant proposal related to indirect costs (Wason, 2004).

Some grantors call for grantees to include a support and revenue statement with the proposal. The support and revenue statement can be included in the grant proposal in a variety of ways (Wason, 2004).

Revenue is any money the agency makes. Some things that constitute income is:

Any money generated through fundraising and are used for the current project

Ticket sales (if applicable)

Association fees and dues (Wason, 2004)

Support can be defined as

Grantmakers

Board of Directors

Individual contributions

In-kind donations - this can be bestowed supplies or services (such as landscaping services). You need to denote the market value of the good or service at the time the donation is made or given. If someone volunteers their time to say, rake leaves for your agency in the fall, you need to ask, "how much would we compensate someone we hired to do the same thing?" It is essential to include the in-kind donation in the support and revenue portion of the budget because this giving is the same as donating money to the agency (Wason, 2004).

Before writing out the budget, it is critical to making a list of all the costs and support. It will make the next step of organizing the line items easier when the time comes.

The typical way to present budget data is by a line-item budget, which lists all cost categories next to their correspondent costs. The organization can tweak the line-item budget based on the level of detail you are asked to convey. It's good to keep in mind that the level of detail included in the budget will be dictated by the grantor. Some grantors will supply a budget template electronically, while still others will supply a blank budget sheet for the organization to fill out. When no forms or instruction is given, call the grantor to get an understanding of that they are looking for. It could be a basic expense statement or a complete budget that includes a support and revenue statement.

References:

Wason, S. (2004). Webster's new world grant writing handbook. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons