Grant Writing For Dummies, 7th Edition

Chapter 18

Creating a Budget That Includes All the Funding You Need

IN THIS CHAPTER

Defining the guts in your budget request

Identifying matching funds

Eyeballing your budget from a funder’s perspective

Plotting expenses for multiple-year funding requests

Opting to use a fiscal sponsor

Many grant applicants create the budget section first, but it’s actually one of the last sections you should tackle. After all, you can’t develop an accurate budget for your grant request until you know all the costs involved in the funded project’s implementation. Where do these cost clues come from? The program design narrative (which I fill you in on in Chapter 16).

I also find it extremely beneficial if you can develop your budget information in tandem instead of tackling it when your proposal narrative is complete. If you’re working hand-in-hand with your finance staff or board treasurer or program administrator, you can work side-by-side in creating a budget during the narrative writing process. ...