Upload File

how to develop a budget for your project proposal

1
As project activities influence the budgeting of your project, it is important to gain greater clarity about them. If you know the specifications of your project activities, then budgets can be developed more easily and more frequently. We will understand this from the following example. Developing budgets for your project or for even your organization is one of the most time- consuming tasks. Often we think that a budget is a simple format attached to a project proposal and you need to fill it according to the activities and strategies proposed in the project. However, when you start opening up a proposal backwards, you will realize that the budget is a critical component of the project. This is a very important question because a project proposal is a lengthy document comprising of several different components. There is an introduction part, a background story, an explanation to justify the project, there are of course goals, objectives and strategies. But what is that single page in the proposal to which every donor would turn and look into before giving a final decision. Activity budget, as the name suggests, covers the costs required for implementing a project activity. For example, if your project strategy is about building the capacity of civil society leaders in your area, then you usually organize workshops as part of the activity. Organizing workshops has costs involved: There are costs towards hiring resource persons, booking a venue where participants can gather, their transportation cost, food, lodging and materials and handouts. Donor agencies emphasize on covering activity costs. In fact, some donors can only fund activities. However, for larger project proposals, there will be overheads and staff costs on top of the activities that are listed out. To implement activities you are required to have human resources, an office and other operational mechanisms. These costs often fall under the line-item budget. In some project proposal formats, you may have come across ‘staff time’ or the number of ‘man hours’ required in the project. Large donors are very meticulous about these details and require minute calculations for the money they are going to give to organizations. So they expect budgets to be clear to the last detail. Overhead costs refer to those expenses that are required by the organization to run its operations and they do not cover any direct expenses of project activities. However, they still form a part of many project budgets. Overheads can include office rent, telephone expenses, accounting fees, salaries to the organizational staff, repairs, supplies, travel etc. Often you must have come across in RFPs and other donor proposal guidelines that only 90% of funding will be given for the project. So where will the 10% come from? This 10% is referred to as the matching contribution towards the project. It does not mean that the donor agency is refusing to take responsibility for this 10% but rather it wants to ensure that there is a certain presence of partnership and a sense of ownership about the project and other stakeholders become part of it. What does the donor look for in a proposal? What are the types of budget? How can I use Project Activities to prepare my project’s budget? What are the other costs that can be mentioned in a project budget? How to calculate staff time in a project budget? How can I include overhead costs in my project budget? What is a Matching Contribution and from where can my NGO get it? Read full article here Read full article here Read full article here Read full article here Created By: FundsforNGOs What are the types of budget? Read full article here Read full article here Read full article here

Upload: fundsforngosorg

Post on 21-Mar-2017

5.093 views

Category:

Government & Nonprofit


6 download

Report

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: How to Develop a Budget for your Project Proposal

Asprojectactivitiesinfluencethebudgetingofyourproject,itisimportanttogaingreaterclarityaboutthem.Ifyouknowthespecificationsofyourprojectactivities,thenbudgetscanbedevelopedmoreeasilyandmorefrequently.Wewillunderstandthisfromthefollowingexample.

Developingbudgetsforyourprojectorforevenyourorganizationisoneofthemosttime-consumingtasks.Oftenwethinkthatabudgetisasimpleformatattachedtoaprojectproposalandyouneedtofillitaccordingtotheactivitiesandstrategiesproposedintheproject.However,whenyoustartopeningupaproposalbackwards,youwillrealizethatthebudgetisacriticalcomponentoftheproject.

Thisisaveryimportantquestionbecauseaprojectproposalisalengthydocumentcomprisingofseveraldifferentcomponents.Thereisanintroductionpart,abackgroundstory,anexplanationtojustifytheproject,thereareofcoursegoals,objectivesandstrategies.Butwhatisthatsinglepageintheproposaltowhicheverydonorwouldturnandlookintobeforegivingafinaldecision.

Activitybudget,asthenamesuggests,coversthecostsrequiredforimplementingaprojectactivity.Forexample,ifyourprojectstrategyisaboutbuildingthecapacityofcivilsocietyleadersinyourarea,thenyouusuallyorganizeworkshopsaspartoftheactivity.Organizingworkshopshascostsinvolved:Therearecoststowardshiringresourcepersons,bookingavenuewhereparticipantscangather,theirtransportationcost,food,lodgingandmaterialsandhandouts.

Donoragenciesemphasizeoncoveringactivitycosts.Infact,somedonorscanonlyfundactivities.However,forlargerprojectproposals,therewillbeoverheadsandstaffcostsontopoftheactivitiesthatarelistedout.Toimplementactivitiesyouarerequiredtohavehumanresources,anofficeandotheroperationalmechanisms.Thesecostsoftenfallundertheline-itembudget.

Insomeprojectproposalformats,youmayhavecomeacross‘stafftime’orthenumberof‘manhours’requiredintheproject.Largedonorsareverymeticulousaboutthesedetailsandrequireminutecalculationsforthemoneytheyaregoingtogivetoorganizations.Sotheyexpectbudgetstobecleartothelastdetail.

Overheadcostsrefertothoseexpensesthatarerequiredbytheorganizationtorunitsoperationsandtheydonotcoveranydirectexpensesofprojectactivities.However,theystillformapartofmanyprojectbudgets.Overheadscanincludeofficerent,telephoneexpenses,accountingfees,salariestotheorganizationalstaff,repairs,supplies,traveletc.

OftenyoumusthavecomeacrossinRFPsandotherdonorproposalguidelinesthatonly90%offundingwillbegivenfortheproject.Sowherewillthe10%comefrom?

This10%isreferredtoasthematchingcontributiontowardstheproject.Itdoesnotmeanthatthedonoragencyisrefusingtotakeresponsibilityforthis10%butratheritwantstoensurethatthereisacertainpresenceofpartnershipandasenseofownershipabouttheprojectandotherstakeholdersbecomepartofit.

Whatdoesthedonorlookforinaproposal?

Whatarethetypesofbudget?

HowcanIuseProjectActivitiestopreparemyproject’sbudget?

Whataretheothercoststhatcanbementionedinaprojectbudget?

Howtocalculatestafftimeinaprojectbudget?

HowcanIincludeoverheadcostsinmyprojectbudget?

WhatisaMatchingContributionandfromwherecanmyNGOgetit?

Readfullarticlehere

Readfullarticlehere

Readfullarticlehere

Readfullarticlehere

CreatedBy:FundsforNGOs

Whatarethetypesofbudget?

Readfullarticlehere

Readfullarticlehere

Readfullarticlehere

http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370
http://www2.fundsforngos.org/?p=370

ATASS Budget Proposal

Capital Budget FY17 Proposal

Budget Proposal

International Budget Partnership OPEN BUDGET … Executive’s Budget Proposal ... ... 09-English-2.pdf

Crewing budget proposal

Obama Ed Budget Proposal

TriCities Regional Airport 2006 Budget Proposal 2006 Budget Proposal

Mu chorale budget proposal

Ansonia School Budget Proposal

LFPOA PROPOSED BUDGET Proposal Gather Information Develop Proposed Budget Decide Proposed Budget Budget Prioritize Projects Final Budget

Alternate Budget Proposal

Chattanooga FY17 Budget Proposal

Writing a Proposal Budget: Lab - UC Davis Office of …research.ucdavis.edu/.../Writing-a-Proposal-Budget-Lab-Presentation... · Writing a Proposal Budget: Lab January 18, ... •

RSC FY2011 Budget Proposal

2017 budget proposal

Budget Proposal Sample (1)

Budget Proposal..Final..14.3.11

FY 2006 BUDGET PROPOSAL

AESO 2017 Business Plan and Budget Review Process...Budget Proposal Abbreviated document Comprehensive document Business Initiatives Continuation of existing ... Develop programs to

EmpowerLA Budget Proposal

CPD Budget Proposal FY2016

Paul Ryan budget proposal

Read Obama's budget proposal

Services Proposal for: Request for Proposal Budget

Budget beauty orange franchise proposal

HSRI Report: Budget Methodology Proposal...METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL DHS seeks to implement an individual budget methodology. Work to develop this methodology is ongoing and

Fy 2017 Budget Proposal

Preparing a Proposal Budget - physics.illinois.edu · Learn how to develop a proposal budget Understand the difference between “eligible” and “ineligible” costs Learn how

FY17 BUDGET PROPOSAL BUDGET HEARING · BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FY17 BUDGET PROPOSAL BUDGET HEARING March 7th, 2016 . BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2 Agenda ... Our proposed investments:

Derby BOE Budget Proposal

School Department Budget Proposal - Amazon Web Services · STONEHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS FY19 BUDGET PROPOSAL Operating Budget The district’s operating budget is an allocation from the

Budget Advisory Council Budget Proposal · Budget Advisory Council Budget Proposal Enrollment Management & Student Success. Division Overview EMSS is comprised of 12 student service

PSX Budget Proposal

House Budget Committee FY 2017 Budget Proposal

Summit Budget Proposal