An organization’s capital budget is different from a capital campaign budget, which is usually for bricks-and-mortar or other finite project(s). Annual capital budgets accompany annual operating budgets and include non-operating cash requirements for items such as equipment, improvements, and other financial goals such as building operating reserves and other special purpose funds.
After allocating each line item across the organization’s mission and support activities, each line item should also be spread across the months of the fiscal year. To be truly useful, this should not be just a universal “divide by 12” exercise, especially for revenue line items.
Personnel costs are often the largest portion of the budget for most small and midsize nonprofits. Folks who work for small and midsize nonprofit organizations generally are intensely devoted to mission accomplishment, sometimes working longer hours at lower pay than their for-profit counterparts. They deserve good tools and ongoing professional development opportunities and skills training. Budgeting to provide equitable pay and benefits for staffers is also a way to keep those well-trained folks with you.
After allocating each line item across the organization’s mission and support activities, each line item should also be spread across the months of the fiscal year. To be truly useful, this should not be just a universal “divide by 12” exercise, especially for revenue line items.
Once the mix of programs has been confirmed during the preparation phase of budgeting, activity-based budgeting is a way to show how the organization plans to allocate resources to the mission and support (functional) activities of the organization (programs, management, and fundraising).
From time to time, Organizations may face the prospect of an endowment going underwater, it may become especially relevant in uncertain economic times as markets fluctuate.
The budget process was described earlier in the Budget section as the way an organization goes about building its budget. In this, the fourth of a four-part series on good budgeting approaches, we discuss ways to present the budget for maximum understanding and clarity.
The budget process was described earlier in the Budgeting section as the way an organization goes about building its budget. In this, the second of a four-part series on good budgeting approaches, we discuss budgeting for revenue, with an emphasis on contributions.
Practice revenue-based budgeting. Budgeting is a form of risk management, and the most reliable budgets yielding the best fiscal results for the organization are conservative and revenue based. This means:
