Explain the design components and strategies of effective proposal budgets

When organizations seek general support, they are responsible for submitting the full budget along with the request for unrestricted funds (Anonymous, 2008b); in case of the need for funding a specific project, organizations must develop a precise budget and provide anticipated revenue information. Regardless the purpose, the budget component should include the following elements:

(1)   project budget – the income and the expenses the organization will need to carry in order to make the project real;

(2)   agency budget – the income and the expenses which the whole organization will have to carry in the process of project realization;

(3)   justified budget – the detailed explanation of all items included into the list of income and expenses;

(4)   in-kind contribution budget – the donated goods and services that will be used to fund the project (Anonymous, 2008b).

Budget component of grant proposal is usually designed in ways that provide funding organizations with detailed and comprehensive information regarding the need for funding, the scope of funding, and the period of funding. An effective proposal budget will specify the budget period, estimate expenses, overhead costs, donated goods and services, and anticipated revenues (Anonymous, 2008b).

To guarantee successful presentation of budget component, organizations do not have to include and describe all budget possible budget components; rather, organizations should specify and describe the most relevant and useful budget components that are directly related to the project.

The budget component of the grant proposal should make sense, offer a logical sequence of funding items and “convey the right message to the funder” (Anonymous, 2008b). The budget component should wisely combine funding details with brevity and preciseness of financial information, to guarantee that funding organizations are able to grasp the essence of the project itself, as well as to evaluate the appropriateness and the need for external funding.

References

Anonymous. (2008a). Developing sustainability strategies.

Anonymous. (2008b). Preparing the program budget.

Ostrower, F. (2005). The reality underneath the buzz of partnerships. Stanford Social

Innovation Review, 3 (1): 34-41.

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