NGO Budget usually comes across when a nonprofit organization needs to plan and implement a project activity. It will also come across when they are in the proposal development process. A proper and good budget plan is required to convince the fund donor for NGOs. Fund donor agencies have their limits and distribute financial resources among nonprofit organizations. It was not based on their project plans but also according to their present budget.
A budget plan is a document in which you can specify how much income or money you need to spend if your company has grant proposals. In business terms, a budget includes the money like its monthly or yearly income. In NGOs, we need to look at how much expenses can be covered and money is saved for future activities. However, a budget is all about planning fixed expenditures and saving money for future activities. Many nonprofit organizations plan a budget when they want to develop a proposal for an agency. They think of a short-term project for the sustainability of the company or organization.
How to Create an NGO Budget?
Here are a few tips or steps that you need to follow to create a comprehensive budget plan for NGOs.
Make a Calendar
In this step, you need to set internal deadlines for initial drafts when the board of directors needs to approve the final budget.
Clarify Your Goals
You should confirm your financial and programmatic goals and your good approach for team members will help through them. Your goals must be clear and understood by everyone in your team.
Provide Specified Data
Provide full access to your members to use past financial reports and final year projections as references to make a good plan.
Pick Your Template
Distribute a budget plan template to your team for consistency and to clear the confusion among them that they use to build their budgets. You can download any exclusive template for the NGO Budget Plan given below.
Create Your Budget
Tell your team members to draft the budget for their departments. Track the cash-ins and cash-out to ensure cash-in-hand throughout the final year.
Point Out Gaps and Clear Solutions
When the budget is ready for each department, your members need to ensure budget gaps and shortage of cash flow. Specify a fixed time for the financial lead to meet up with suitable adjustments. After the first draft, each member needs to check that the budget meets the organization’s goals and values.
Present the Final Budget to the Board Members
After planning the budget, present it to the board members including all assumptions, problems, risks, and opportunities. Don’t leave the time for questions, concerns, and feedback.
What to Include in NGO Budget Plan?
An NGO budget plan is a primitive tool. You can suppose it as a roadmap for the future financial plan or for the upcoming year. A specified budget plan shows your nonprofit’s ability to manage the financial resources and resolve its issues such as its donors, investors, and grants for institutions.
A well-planned budget must include:
- Expected Income: Such as grant proposals, fees for membership, and specified income for fundraising or investments for events.
- Fixed Expenses: It should include the overhead and programmed expenses. Overhead expense contains the general, management, and fundraising costs whereas the program expense includes fulfillment of the final mission.
Free NGO Budget Templates
Making an NGO budget is not an easy task along with all responsibilities. Here are some free exclusive NGO budget templates available on our website. You can use them to create your own.
Template No. 01 for NGO Budget
This wonderful nonprofit budget template comes in MS Excel format and provides a generic layout. You can use it to plan a specified budget for a nonprofit organization including major and minor expenses. All the outcome values will be updated automatically using built-in formulas.
Template No. 02 for NGO Budget
Here’s another Budget Worksheet for nonprofit organizations available in exclusive design and layout. The template features separate sections to manage the revenues and expenses. The chart will provide an overview of revenue and expenses. However, you can easily download it for free in MS Excel format in a zipped file.
Template No. 03 for NGO Budget
This annual nonprofit budget template displays the design in landscape view. Using this one, you can easily prepare an annual nonprofit budget in a single worksheet. It can provide the total amount for each month and the chart will show the difference as well. However, feel free and click on the download button to get this sample in an MS Excel file.
Template No. 04 for NGO Budget
Another example of our free nonprofit budget templates is here. This one will allow you to track your revenues and expenses for the current and fiscal year as well. Furthermore, the template also shows an overview chart at the bottom where you can easily get the difference in the expenses. You can also download it in an Excel sheet for free.
Template No. 05 for NGO Budget
In this nonprofit budget template, you can specify the amount details of income sources, location of the program, new person required, essential expenses, and other expenses. Moreover, the worksheet will calculate the total amount automatically for each section. Download the template for free of cost and enter the values as per your needs.
Template No. 06 for NGO Budge
This nonprofit projected budget plan template provides a blank Excel worksheet that is available in a different layout for free. It allows its users to calculate the revenues and expense costs for two programs and their sum as well. Using it, you can easily make a projected plan for your nonprofit organization.
Importance of NGO Budget Plan
NGO Budget Plan clarifies the transparency as well as clear accountability. This is the essential issue that the fundraiser and grantmakers look at before providing the money or funds. They want to know where the money they provide will be going or spent. A good budget plan ensures both the grant-makers and the donors that the NGO actively keeps an eye on the budget process. A good budget will also attract the board of directors.
Managing a good budget plan also provides proper control. It shows a clear picture of income and expenses. It allows one to make a better decision as well as avoid making mistakes and problems. Moreover, it allows the board members to make limits on expenses as necessary and plan to increase the income source when a breakdown shows.