Sample Project Budget for a Grant Proposal

When Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine submits grant proposals to foundations, the group breaks down program income budgets into three categories: committed, pending, and planned.

Committed income is money the organization has already received. Pending income is made up of grants for which the nonprofit has applied. And planned income consists of grants the nonprofit is considering applying for next.

The goal is to give the funder “an immediate snapshot of where the project stands,” says grant-writing consultant Bill Bayreuther, who works with the organization.

Mr. Bayreuther, who teaches workshops for the Maine Association of Nonprofits, started using this kind of program income budget at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, where he worked as a grant writer for 11 years.

“The more time a prospective funder spends looking for things, the less they’re focused on the good work a nonprofit is doing,” he says. “Try to make their job as easy as possible.”

In the planned category, including the names of foundations rather than just writing “other foundations” lets the reviewer see that you’ve done your homework, says Mr. Bayreuther.

This sample budget is for a program that supports mentoring for youth in two of the six counties the organization serves. The group determined the budget by calculating the number of youth the organization serves in that area. Although that figure changes from year to year, Alex Gaeth, the nonprofit’s chief executive, and the program and development directors generally draft budgets for two years into the future, as many funders want to see planning for multiple years.

Employees give input about the program’s needs before the draft goes to a program development committee. As in this example, there’s often accompanying text that explains different aspects of the budget.

The budget includes the project title, prospective funder’s name, date submitted, and time period for which funding is being requested.