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Hourly billing template for non-profit organizations

grant funders read the budget section of a grant proposal very carefully so in this video i'll answer why grant funders take your budget numbers seriously what grant dollars pay for and what they don't and how to complete those budget forms and as always at grant chatter you'll find two things in the description below a comprehensive set of links to free online resources and time stamps to help you focus your study let's get started number one why grant funders take your budget numbers seriously grant funders often read the budget page of your proposal first why grant reviewers look for organizational experience and capacity to handle a grant award and the funder also wants to see broad community support of the project because the funder is most often not interested in being the sole supporter of a project that said which budget are we talking about anyway your organization's annual operating budget yes if you're applying for general operating support a specific program's annual budget yes if you are applying for a single program if you would like more information on nonprofit budgeting in general i have links to free resources in the description below number two what grant dollars will pay for and what they won't grants will support direct program expenses such as supplies training or registration costs for those who can't otherwise afford the program grants will support a small portion usually five to ten percent of indirect costs such as administrative staff or facility costs and here is a list of expenses that most often grant funders will not support because these actions do not result in measurable outcomes over the grant award period which is usually one year debt fundraising memberships political purposes athletic leagues teams or clubs contributions to an endowment fund or religious practice side note religious practice is different from a religious institution's community service such as food pantries child care shelters which do receive grant support so far we've answered why grant funders take your proposal budget so seriously and what grant funders will pay for let's move on to the how number three how to complete a grant budget form grant funders use a wide variety of budget forms and formats but there are a lot of similarities to best illustrate how a grant budget form works we need two things first a common style grant budget form i created an example to use in this video based on the many grant proposal budget forms i've completed over the years but they're in three parts income expenses and a small but important summary section at the bottom of the form funders will be looking for a particular dollar amount in this section so be sure to keep watching this video to get this important tip second we need a project to fill in the blanks so i invented a fictional example a fictional county historical society is preparing for its annual exhibit this year on renewable energy connecting the history of energy use in the county to futuristic plans for renewable resources especially water wind and solar power this fictional historical society will submit a grant proposal to the fictional local community foundation to support a portion of this exhibit now let's fill in the community foundation's grant proposal budget form starting with the income section which has four columns column number one sources of income funds are donated by public agencies private foundations and or individuals or funds are earned by the non-profit through its activities ticket sales membership etc and or volunteer time and donated items are valued ing to standard sources and that dollar amount is called an in-kind donation there are links to free resources in the description below to give more information on earned income and in-kind donations both have some specifics to be aware of but there is isn't time to cover them in this video let me know in the comments below if i should cover them in another video column number two amount of income per source pro tip double check your math numbers that don't add up can result in no support column three a few were to describe how you arrived at the income amounts it can be called budget narrative budget justification or description this is a brief but important place to tell the grant funder that you have thoroughly considered all the project costs column number four the status of each income line at the time you submit your proposal committed means the money is in hand or is confirmed to arrive soon like we see in the local government support from the county commissioners pending means the money has been requested but the answer hasn't been received yet like this request to the fictional community foundation where the hoped for dollar amount is listed and the status is listed as pending then n a or not applicable because sometimes a row in a grant proposal budget form doesn't apply to the project for example the historical society did not request support from a state agency so the dollar amount is zero dollars and the status is in a the income section closes out with a total five thousand dollars the expense section is similar in format column number one breaks out the types of expenses which are most often the people places and supplies directly needed for the project column number two again asks for the dollar amount of each line item and again double check that math call number 3 is again the budget narrative or budget justification or description you'll see that the status column from the income section does not appear here here we see the in-kind donation to this project spelled out an electrical engineering graduate student volunteered 10 hours to consult with the society at the start of the exhibit planning the society estimated the value of that time by searching a well-known employment website which shows 42 dollars an hour is average for electrical engineers times 10 hours the link to an employment website with salary information is in the description below you can also see where the society intends to spend the foundation's grant dollars if awarded in the supplies and equipment section for an interactive kiosk to be installed so that visitors can learn more about energy production and finally the total expense line closes out this section totaling five thousand dollars we've now come to the last part of the grant budget form don't skip past this little section at the bottom of the grant budget form the income minus expense section this is a huge pro tip your total income and total expenses should be equal in our fictional example the income totals five thousand dollars the expenses total five thousand dollars that gives us that one little number that grant funders want to see here zero dollars remaining this makes the proposal more competitive because if you have more income than expense the funder might assume that you don't need their dollars if you have more expense than income the funder might assume that your organization doesn't have enough community support and can decide against awarding a grant for your project yes some of these dollars are estimated but your description column shows that you thought out the process that the numbers are reasonable and is therefore more competitive and now you've made it through a commonly styled grant budget form thank you for your time here on grant chatter i hope you find that this information will equip you with the skills you need to grow your grant seeking results and now the closing b-roll a series of video and still photos compiled over all four seasons from the same cozy vantage point see you in the next video foreign