Budget Preparation The who, what, when, where, and how of grant budgets. The phrase “who, what, when, where, and how” may be a cliché you have heard many times before, but it is essential to work through these steps when preparing a proposed budget for a grant. Note the “why” is missing from this phrase. The “why” should be covered within the body of the grant proposal (needs statement). A well written grant proposal is essential, but an experienced grant reviewer may very well review the budget immediately after reading an abstract. An inadequate or haphazardly prepared budget may signal to a grant reviewer the grant seeker does not know what they are doing and is incapable of successfully completing the project. A general rule of thumb is a grant budget should be able to stand alone and answer questions about the grant proposal. Think about the following questions during the budget preparation process. Who Who will do the work of your proposed project? Staff, consultants, and principal investigator/project manager salary buy-out should be included in the budget if allowed by the funding agency. Do not forget to add any needed support or administrative staff costs. Organization ancillary staff may only spend a portion of their time helping with the project, but a commiserate portion of their salary should be compensated for within the budget. If volunteers are being used for any work, they should be listed as a line item on the budget as well with no corresponding costs. What List all direct costs line by line. All supplies, postage, equipment, transportation costs, and anything else necessary to complete the project needs to be listed. Do not forget to add the value of any supplies on hand. For example, just because you have enough printer ink in stock to complete a project, does not mean the grant budget should not include the cost of replacing that stock. Indirect costs will most likely need to be included as well. Indirect costs are expenses that do not count as part of the project but will be incurred by the organization to submit the completion of the project. Some examples of indirect costs are rent, utilities, accounting, or banking fees. When When will the project take place? What period of time is the grant meant to cover? The expenses listed in the budget should align as closely as possible with the dates listed in the project timeline. Where Any associated location costs for where the project will be carried out need to be included in the budget. Relevant costs need to be included when the project will take place outside of your organization’s available space. Consider if facilities or equipment need to be rented to carry out the project purposes. For example, do you need to rent a facility for a health fair? If your project will be carried out within the organization property – this expense should also be included under indirect costs. The organization can be reimbursed for a fair portion of any rent, utilities, etc. How The “how” tells the funder how you expect to carry out the project. Will the funds from the grant pay for the entire project? Will additional funding be needed? If so, do you have financial commitment(s) from the organization or other funders to cover the additional expenses? Will there be service fees charged to clients? Will you have any in-kind income, that is, will anyone, such as your volunteers, donate goods or services to the project? List everything here. The more sources supporting your project, the better it will look to the funding agency. Budget Narratives Sometimes everything just cannot be clear from numbers alone, so make sure to add narrative explanations of expenses. This puts important expenses into context. Your largest expenses will most often need explanation, especially if their roles in the project are not clear. For example, if you have large travel costs, and your project takes place locally, you might want to explain that the travel costs will allow you to bring in an expert from across the country to take part in the project. Remember the budget will instantly tell the funder whether or not you know what you’re doing. 1. Please prepare a mock budget for the proposed project. 2. At the top of the page, include a brief summary (the abstract would work) of your project for reference purposes. 3. Instructors reserve the right to not grade any submissions without the project summary included. 4. A missing project summary will mean the submission is incomplete and ineligible for resubmission. 5. Be sure to include example of both direct and indirect costs within the budget. 6. If indirect costs are not allowed by the funding agency you have identified, please state so within the budget. 7. Upload the completed document into the assignment link. 8. Make sure to add an APA formatted cover sheet with the title of your project.
The post Budget Preparation The who, what, when, where, and how of grant budgets. The phrase “who, what, when, where, and how” may be a cliché you have heard many times before, but it is essential to work through these steps when preparing a proposed budget for a grant. Note the “why” is missing from this phrase. The “why” should be covered within the body of the grant proposal (needs statement). A well written grant proposal is essential, but an experienced grant reviewer may very well review the budget appeared first on My Academic Papers.
The post Budget Preparation The who, what, when, where, and how of grant budgets. The phrase “who, what, when, where, and how” may be a cliché you have heard many times before, but it is essential to work through these steps when preparing a proposed budget for a grant. Note the “why” is missing from this phrase. The “why” should be covered within the body of the grant proposal (needs statement). A well written grant proposal is essential, but an experienced grant reviewer may very well review the budget appeared first on study tools.
