As you begin creating any of these types of budgets, there are templates and resources available online to help you organize your nonprofit’s unique structure of revenue and expenses. However, the best way to ensure an effective budget is to work with a nonprofit accountant. Given the significance of personnel expenses to our finances, allocating these costs is essential to understanding true costs.

Gather the Data

Take our 2-minute survey to find out if outsourced accounting and bookkeeping is a good fit for your organization. Looking over your budget with new hard data will allow you to make any tweaks as necessary and head off serious potential problems. Without a budget, you can find yourself in deep water, fast, with more money going out than coming in. Feeling inundated with too many spreadsheets, repetitive data entry, and version-control issues? When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Before putting the numbers down, talk to all foundation and corporate donors to determine the likelihood of their repeat gifts.

• So here are some definitions for you newbies to get you started out right with your nonprofit event budget.
• This toolkit goes beyond basic templates, offering a range of resources including various template options, practical budgeting strategies, and guidance materials.
• Involving a team in your budgeting efforts helps share the responsibility and leads to increased accountability.
• Board management software is a valuable tool in assisting nonprofits in budget planning.

Reviewing and Adjusting the Nonprofit Operating Budget

It outlines expected income and planned expenses for a specific period, typically a fiscal year, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and transparently. For nonprofits, budgeting plays a pivotal role in aligning limited resources with their mission-driven objectives. Candid, formerly known as the Foundation Center, offers a suite of free, comprehensive budget templates within their extensive nonprofit resource library. These templates are specifically designed to help organizations craft professional, grant-ready budgets for both operational planning and funding applications. A key feature is the inclusion of detailed line items frequently required https://nerdbot.com/2025/06/10/the-key-benefits-of-accounting-services-for-nonprofit-organizations/ by foundations and government funders, complete with built-in formulas for simplified calculations.

• A key feature is the inclusion of detailed line items frequently required by foundations and government funders, complete with built-in formulas for simplified calculations.
• Creating a nonprofit budget that will set your organization up for success requires a thoughtful process that considers multiple factors that are specific to your organization.
• This fund will act as a financial cushion, helping you navigate unforeseen challenges without straining your budget.
• Each of these budget types serves a different purpose and covers a different time frame, but they have two characteristics in common.
• A capital budget is also used to plan for major expenses like construction costs and other big, one-time expenses that take more than a fiscal year to fund.

Contracted services and fees

These examples highlight the versatility and adaptability of NFF’s approach. TechSoup’s budget planning resources have been widely adopted by diverse organizations. Small community organizations just starting their budget planning process have found the simplified templates an invaluable starting point. Volunteer-run nonprofits, often lacking dedicated financial staff, leverage the video tutorials and guides to navigate the complexities of budgeting.

• Capital grants are usually for large-scale items like construction, renovations, or equipment.
• If you are still unsure of how to develop a budget, you can consult with a financial advisor or accountant.
• Launched Queen Bee Fundraising to share the art of nonprofit event planning with organizations worldwide.
• Assign an average value for flights ($600), hotel stays per night ($250), per diem rates for food ($50), transportation ($50) and more to make it easier to calculate trip costs.
• When creating your budget, you will need to estimate the income you expect to receive.
• To avoid omitting necessary expenses, take a look at your organization’s past nonprofit event budgets and see what line items exist on that document.

Types of Nonprofit Budgets and How to Create Them

This is not a fast activity, so commit to taking the time to do it and do it right. Since your nonprofit is new, you don’t have historical numbers to look at and base your projections on. That means you have a lot of estimating to do for your nonprofit’s first budget. Mark off a couple of blocks of time on your calendar to research things like supplies, materials, and equipment online or call local vendors to find out what things cost. It’s best if you get 3 estimates for each line item on your budget so you know your estimate isn’t too low or too high. Budgeting for nonprofit organizations should always be in alignment with your strategic plan, and it should help to further your accounting services for nonprofit organizations nonprofit’s goals and objectives.