5 Steps to a Successful Nonprofit Budget Template

To clear up any confusion surrounding these resources, we’ll begin by answering some common questions about nonprofit budgets. You can keep all the information in one excel sheet, or break it up into different pages. But make sure you delete any line items that don’t apply to your work and add anything that’s missing. This is where your budget becomes an effective management and operations tool. Understanding your cash flow is extremely important in order to make assumptions about future spending.

Planning a Nonprofit Program Budget

Forming new connections you can trust takes time and effort – so work on keeping the ones you have as this will help you in the long-term. These are only some of the many benefits a good budget brings to an organization. Donors and stakeholders demand transparency in how their contributions are utilized. A lack of financial clarity can erode trust and deter future funding. A thoughtful budget is not restricted to being an operational tool, it’s a statement of accountability, a roadmap for growth, and a catalyst for change.

How to build your dream fundraising team (without the burnout)

A nonprofit budget template is a fillable document that simplifies your budgeting. It should include some typical sources of revenue and expenses, which saves you time on listing everything out. If any of the sources don’t apply to you, you can just delete them—likewise, you can add anything that’s missing. Without an annual nonprofit budget, you’re essentially operating in the dark. You could easily overspend, winding up deep in debt or worse – unable to continue serving your beneficiaries.

Project Budget for a Community Education Program

• This template allows the administrators to plan out their functions and set targets.
• During your last budget review meeting of each quarter, review your financial data more closely and take more time to visualize the current and future state of your organization’s activities.
• If any of the sources don’t apply to you, you can just delete them—likewise, you can add anything that’s missing.
• Pulling off a fundraising event requires a large amount of planning and preparation.
• Because as I said above, the numbers tell a story — but you need to learn how to tell it.
• If that has not been your practice we urge you to gather some accurate information by completing a timekeeping report or adding time reporting to payroll or database records.

For some nonprofits this will mostly cover local mileage claims and transport to events, but for others you might be recording international flights and hotel bookings. While program revenue often accounts for the majority of nonprofit income, sales are also really common. Here you can include revenue from memberships, products, and other resources that you sell alongside your programs. Having a budget will also make you look super organized and efficient. With a proper budget set you can concentrate on discussing items that matter and making the big decisions, because you don’t need to spend time worrying about your cash flow. You might be looking at a nonprofit budget example or template thinking, “This is a lot of work.” Sure, it needs some upfront investment of your time, but it’s totally worth it.

These professionals focus on your financial strategy and can use specialized tools to forecast your nonprofit’s cash flows for more effective resource allocation. You also want to pay close attention to different budgets within your nonprofit’s plan. Start with a nonprofit budget template excel sheet that includes all the expenses you can think of. A budget describes your project in numbers just as a proposal describes it in words. Often funders will look at the budget component of https://nerdbot.com/2025/06/10/the-key-benefits-of-accounting-services-for-nonprofit-organizations/ your proposal before they read anything else.

• The finance committee charter is drafted and approved by the board of directors to enact the financial committee’s authority.
• Often, the definition of programs is evident in how your organization delivers services and functions internally.
• This guide and accompanying spreadsheet template break down the process of understanding true program costs, either through budgeting or financial reports, into several stages.
• This nonprofit startup operating budget template features sections for total one-time startup expenses, monthly expenses, and total funds required to operate.

Everyone in your nonprofit will have different expertise, so check in on what they might know that you don’t. Once your costs are set, you know precisely what numbers you can expect to work with. Making a budget is a whole lot easier when you’re not relying on guesswork. One tip for goal-setting is to look beyond what you want for this year.

• If you have an easy-to-understand budget prepared, you can keep your fellow nonprofit leaders in the know and avoid those difficult questions.
• If you want to hire a new marketing director, you can look up salary trends to discover how much you need to pay them.
• List program expenses (staff salary, insurance, supplies, fundraising fees, etc.) to see your total nonprofit program expenses vs. your actual revenue.
• Grassroots nonprofits, by stark contrast,  often scrape by to fit within their annual nonprofit budget plan.
• These are financial means that are given to organizations with a mission and the success rate worthy of investment.

Nonprofits must create program budgets to showcase the direct impact of donations and grants. As we look towards 2025, nonprofits face a unique set of challenges and opportunities. From fluctuating income streams to increasing demand for programs, organizations must plan carefully to navigate financial complexities while maximizing impact. Whether you’re managing general operations, launching a new program, or amplifying your marketing efforts, a thoughtful budget can be the difference between a successful year and a strained one. Keep monthly and quarterly tabs on your nonprofit’s cash flow with this all-inclusive, customizable template. Pre-filled income sources — such as grants, donations, etc. — enable you to track monthly and quarterly income actuals.

• This is also because everything depends on how much grants non-profit collects must be more than how much it can afford to spend.
• The final analysis will clearly show what program areas require these sources of support and enable leaders to make the all-important decision about how to best attract and direct flexible funds.
• A key component of financial sustainability is the commitment of board and staff to financial management that includes timely review of financial reports and advance planning.
• Most sample budget in Word format provide the budget outline for these one time projects done by nonprofit organizations.
• The CFO reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and provides direction and support for internal operations, staffing, programs, and any new business developments as they relate to the budget.
• ‍He’s quick to remind his clients that a realistic budget is a winning budget.

Depending on the type of grant you win, the award will cover only direct costs, or, if a general operating grant, it may cover much more. A well-planned budgeting process is key to your nonprofit’s success. A nonprofit budget is a planning document used to predict expenses and allocate resources for your organization. It details the costs your organization will incur and the revenue you expect to receive over a set period of time. Running a nonprofit is hard work, and an essential part of that is budgeting. Since we’re in the business of helping nonprofits, and creating the tools they need to do more good, we wanted to help by creating a sample nonprofit budget template that is free to download and use.