Creating the Budget and Timeline

The Budget

First important step: Relax. Remember, the best possible result of the grant process is that your organization receives money from the foundation. Therefore, think of the budget as a very concrete way of expressing to them what amount of money you are asking for and why.

Start by asking yourself these four questions:

• How much are we asking for?
• What is our agency's overhead rate and how much does the funder allow for overhead?
• What are the personnel costs?
• What are the supply costs?

After you fill in the answers to these questions, you will already have a good outline of your budget. From here you may see that each section will need to be broken down into subsections:

Personnel

• Site Coordinators (2)
• Boston: Harriet B. Stowe         $7,000
• Lowell: Sam T. Clause             $12,000
• Research Assistants (2)
• Boston: Kermit D. Frogg          $5,000
• Lowell: Foz E. Bher                  $5,000
  

Before going further, go back to the proposal guidelines and see if the funders have specified how the budget should be set up. When you are not given any formal directions for this section, go with a format that makes the most sense for your budget. A small budget could be presented as an itemized list, while more detailed budgets might include specific rows and columns to delineate costs that will apply on a yearly basis, i.e., separate columns for Year 1, Year 2, etc. And speaking of time . . .

The Timeline

The timeline is a great way to prioritize tasks for your project. Your organization will have a better chance of receiving funding if you can present a project that looks well thought-out in terms of what steps you will take and when goals will be met. Some funders will ask for the timeline in a specific format and you will want to adhere to those guidelines. Even if guidelines are given, you can make your timeline stand out by making each item as concrete as possible.

Good example:
Start developing a media campaign. 1/1/99

Better example:
1/1/99: Start developing media campaign to be completed by 1/31/99.

Outstanding example!
1/1/99: Develop media materials for TV and radio, flyers in grocery stores, libraries, and doctor's offices. To be overseen by Harriet B. Stowe and completed by 1/31/99.

Final Tips to Take to Heart

• Follow funder's guidelines exactly
• Be concrete
• Keep it simple and easy to understand

by Theresa M. H. Milewski

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