Budgets
12 Apr Value Your Volunteers by AGS Staff
If your organization or program works with volunteers, you know firsthand that these individuals are often invaluable assets in delivering your mission. While volunteer management professionals know how to communicate the intrinsic value of these services to the community and the volunteers who provide them, we have to ask ourselves…. are we as grant professionals properly communicating their monetary value to current and potential grant funders? As we continue to celebrate National Volunteer Month, let’s explore ways to express the value of volunteer contributions. This will help you to present accurate and comprehensive grant budgets that fully express the extent of your organization’s in-kind commitment.
04 Oct What If You Have Too Much of a Good Thing? by AGS Staff
It’s normal and often encouraged to seek multiple funding opportunities for a single program, often referred to as braided funding (see Braiding Funds without Getting Tied Up In Knots – Approaching Budgets with Pre-Award and Post-Award In Mind by Julie Alsup, GPC). You might even request more funds than you need to run a program with the expectation that one or more proposals will fall through. As nonprofit organizations that belong to and are supported by the public, we should always be looking for new funding streams in case an existing source should dry up. But what if you ask for more than you need, and all the funders decide you shall receive?
31 Aug Clarify Your Financial Situation with a Braided Funding Template by AGS Staff
Every grant proposal requires some type of budget. Unfortunately, some of us tend to put off this component for as long as we can. However, it should really be the starting point. When we write a proposal, it should be for the purpose of filling a gap in our budget, not just to get money for money’s sake. In a previous blog, Julie Alsup introduced the idea of braided funding. Here, let's walk you through the nuts and bolt of implementing this useful concept.
23 Aug Braiding Funds Without Getting Tied up in Knots – Approaching budgets with pre-award and post-award in mind by Julie Alsup, GPC
Posted at 07:00h
in Budgets, Competency Five, Competency Four, Grant Reporting, Grants Management, Julie Alsup, GPC
Braided funding, supplanting, and leveraged funds are important concepts to understand for the purposes of effective grant planning (pre-award) and for successful grant management (post-award).
Put simply, braided funding refers to the concept of using multiple funding streams to support the expenses of an organization, program, or project. Having more than one funding stream helps to minimize risk should one funding stream dry up. In addition, having one or more confirmed revenue source helps build confidence among other potential funders.
29 Jun Tying Grant Budgets to Project Activities by Hayley Waynick, GPC
With quick turnarounds and tight deadlines, grant writers can often overlook the importance of tying the numbers in the budget to the activities of the project. While funders give us many opportunities to do this, they often cite the absence of this connection as one of their biggest critiques of grant proposals. I’ve heard it mentioned time after time in funder panels, trainings, and in direct feedback from funders. As you begin a grant proposal and rally the project team, encourage them to have a “budget first” mindset. The budget, after all, is the primary driver of what the grant is all about. When the budget is the last thing on the list to complete, this typically sets off a chain reaction of making last minute edits to the proposal narrative, budget narrative, timeline, etc. This is when the connection between the budget and the project itself can get lost. The two key places where grant writers can be sure to show this connection are the budget narrative and the proposal narrative.
22 Mar Grant Pro Tips for Discussing Budget Planning by AGS Staff
There are many ways to think about budgeting in relation to grants. Essential to a well-run grants program is planning what discerns program or project creation needs from budget relieving needs. Program/project creation - funds to help create a new program or project that aligns with the organization’s mission. Budget relieving - funds that help ‘plug’ holes and relieve existing expenses.
17 Feb Understanding and Articulating the Financial Needs of Projects by Julie Alsup, GPC
Many seasoned grant reviewers will tell you that they start with the budget.08 Feb Successful Grant Reporting: What About When You’re Left Without a Format by Hayley Waynick, GPC
Successful Grant Reporting What about when you’re left without a format!? Grant writers tend to be rule followers. We crave structure and details. We’re all about formats, deadlines, and word counts (well sometimes). But what should you do when a funder wants a report but doesn’t provide...