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You are here: Home > Business > Fundraising > How to Build a Better Budget in Your Grant: Advice from Grant Makers |
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Hub You - How to Build a Better Budget in Your Grant: Advice from Grant Makers
Advertising Divas and Consumer Queens and the only grant we had ever given was for $2,000, we received a grant request for $10,000. This mistake automatically eliminated the proposal from consideration and could have easily been avoided if the writer had done a little research on our past grants.In the past, the saying has always been “don’t underestimate the power of branding” but now the best advice seems to be “don’t underestimate the power of women!” Ignore it at your peril.If statistics out of the US are any guide for the rest of the world to follow, and in the past this has been the case, then everyone in the advertising 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The 1. Ask For a Definite Amount of Money Requesting “as much as you can give” does not make you more favorable to a Board because you are saving them by unburdening them from an excessive grant. Instead, it leaves several bad impressions: a) You do not have enough confidence in your program to believe it worthy of full funding; b) Your budget is either inflated or unrealistic; c) You have not fully thought out your budget and are unsure of the real costs of your program. When you make a request, make it confidently and show you know exactly how much you need. 2. Ask For a Reasonable Amount of Money During our second round of grant making, when our total assets were under $100,000 and the only grant we had ever given was for $2,000, we received a grant request for $10,000. This mistake automatically eliminated the proposal from consideration and could have easily been avoided if the writer had done a little research on our past grants. 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The B 1. Ask For a Definite Amount of Money Requesting “as much as you can give” does not make you more favorable to a Board because you are saving them by unburdening them from an excessive grant. Instead, it leaves several bad impressions: a) You do not have enough confidence in your program to believe it worthy of full funding; b) Your budget is either inflated or unrealistic; c) You have not fully thought out your budget and are unsure of the real costs of your program. When you make a request, make it confidently and show you know exactly how much you need. 2. Ask For a Reasonable Amount of Money During our second round of grant making, when our total assets were under $100,000 and the only grant we had ever given was for $2,000, we received a grant request for $10,000. This mistake automatically eliminated the proposal from consideration and could have easily been avoided if the writer had done a little research on our past grants. 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The 2. Ask For a Reasonable Amount of Money During our second round of grant making, when our total assets were under $100,000 and the only grant we had ever given was for $2,000, we received a grant request for $10,000. This mistake automatically eliminated the proposal from consideration and could have easily been avoided if the writer had done a little research on our past grants. 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The 2. Ask For a Reasonable Amount of Money During our second round of grant making, when our total assets were under $100,000 and the only grant we had ever given was for $2,000, we received a grant request for $10,000. This mistake automatically eliminated the proposal from consideration and could have easily been avoided if the writer had done a little research on our past grants. 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The 3. The More Detailed Your Budget, The Better The first rule of budgets is to follow exactly the format that the RFP requests. If there is no specific format requested, then take the following advice to heart. It is essential that you break your budget into, at minimum, the following categories: salaries, fringes, equipment, materials, purchased services, and indirect costs. Within some of those categories, be as detailed as possible. If you are buying equipment or materials such as books, computers, or other supplies you can easily predict their market cost by searching Amazon.com or an Office Depot Catalogue. Use these price listings and either reference them in your grant or attach copies of them. Our committee once shared a good laugh over an applicant who requested $100 for something we knew the Walmart in town sold for $20. 4. Don’t Ask For What They Don’t Give Foundations are usually very clear about what they will and will not fund. Read their website and grant guidelines carefully and be sure not to ask for that which they already said they won’t give. This seems obvious, but sometimes applicants excited about their projects hope that the funder will be just as excited and make an exception. Trust me, they
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