Budgeting and Planning

Not all budgeting is created equally. For nonprofits especially, it can be challenging to project uncertain revenue streams and to fully capture the full costs of running programs.

I help nonprofits break their budgets out by programs to effectively project revenue, and to split shared expenses across their grants and programs. That's just the beginning. With accurate budgeting, we can use the budget to actual reports to track fundraising and spending, run scenario budgets for uncertain futures, and have confidence in the organization's future.

Nonprofit Budgeting Services

Planning and Stress Relief

I've helped dozens of organizations create their annual budget and implement it throughout the year so they can track their actual activity to their planned activity. This process of planning and having confidence in the plan relieves stress.

Building an Operating Reserve

Budgeting starts with the operating reserve. Does your organization have an operating reserve of 3-6 months? Do you know what this is? If not, I can help you create a plan to achieve it. The budgeting process has a strategy with a beginning and an end.

Budgeting By Program and Getting the Most Out of Your Grants

Your organizational budget should be broken out by program. Each program should show its income and expenses. These expenses should include a fair share of the shared operating costs, such as rent and management staff's time. With complete program budgets, grant proposals can be written that include these costs. Too often, grant proposals only include the most attractive 40% of the program's true costs. This leaves the organization struggling to pay for the rest.

Revenue Projections

There is a science to accurately projecting uncertain futures. This is the essence of nonprofit revenue projection. By using several revenue projection techniques and analyzing them together, we can get an accurate projection of your revenue. These revenue projections inform your fundraising plan.

Shared Operating Costs (Indirect Costs)

With changes to GAAP, nonprofits now need to explicitly state their functional expense allocation methodology. Don't know what this is? Don't worry. I can help you implement a consistent, coherent system so that your programs and grants pay for a portion of your expenses.

Compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

GAAP has new requirements for nonprofit accounting standards. I stay abreast of all changes and help my clients to stay in compliance.

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