Money, Data & Research
Writing a grant budget a program officer Can Read.
The budget is often the page a funder reads most closely, and it should tell the same story as the narrative, in numbers.
By The Editors · The Game of Giving
A program officer reading your application wants to know whether you understand what the work will cost. A vague or padded budget answers that question badly, however strong the narrative.
Match the narrative
Every activity described in the proposal should appear somewhere in the budget, and every budget line should connect to something the proposal describes. If the narrative promises two workshops a month, the budget should show the space, materials, and staff time for them.
Show how you calculated each line
Instead of a single figure for personnel, show the position, the salary, and the share of that person's time the project will use. Instead of "supplies," list what you will buy and roughly what it costs. Many funders ask for a short budget narrative explaining each line. Even when they do not, a note under the table helps.
Include benefits and overhead honestly
Fringe benefits, such as payroll taxes and health insurance, are real costs of employing staff and belong in the budget. So does a reasonable share of indirect costs, such as rent, accounting, and insurance, which support the project even though they are not specific to it.
Funders have different rules about indirect costs. Federal awards are governed by the Uniform Guidance, which allows organizations without a negotiated rate to use a de minimis indirect rate, raised to 15 percent in the 2024 revision. Private foundations set their own policies. Read the guidelines, and when they are silent, ask.
Show other support
If the project is also funded by other sources, or relies on donated space or volunteer time, show that. It tells the funder their money is one part of a plan rather than the whole of it. Label in-kind contributions clearly and value them reasonably.
Check the arithmetic
Totals that do not add up are the most common and most avoidable problem in grant budgets. Build the budget in a spreadsheet, have someone else check it, and make sure the request amount matches everywhere it appears.
General information for donors and nonprofit leaders, not legal or tax advice. How we report is set out in our editorial guide.
