Include planning; implementation, oversight, and follow-up
activities
Present activities chronologically, usually monthly
Allow enough time to complete activities
Strengthened by a detailed Time-Line
Step Eight: The Management Plan Do You Really Know What Youre
Doing?
3.
Present specific details
Target tasks chronologically
Essentially cover a 12 month period
Coincide with the RFP fiscal year
Include administrative and program activities
they inform when activities should take place Time Lines
4. Time Lines Reflect All Aspects of Program Management
Service delivery
Monitoring progress
Ongoing evaluation
Reporting to local authorities and grant source
5.
Program Activities drive the budget
There are no surprises in the budget for the reader who is
familiar with the program.
Cost estimates should be credible and realistic
Inflated budgets lose points
Never use the term miscellaneous.
Step Nine: Building the Budget Budget Recommendations
6. What are the factors that influence budgets?
Programs and services
Spending history
Agency needs
Consumer needs
Staff needs
Agency partner needs
7. Budget Categories
Direct Costs
Monies you are asking for from the funding source
In-kind or Local Contributions
Services, goods, and cash donated to the grant program
Indirect Costs
Local costs (usually administrative) associated with the
operation of the program
Actual payroll expenses for program employees
8. Direct Costs + Indirect Costs + In-Kind Contributions = Real
Cost of Operating the program
Personnel
Fringe Benefits
Travel
Equipment
Supplies
Contractual
Facilities
Curriculum
Direct Costs Include:
9. Personnel: Developing Salaries
Contact your personnel office
Check with other, similar programs
Determine range of salaries and allocate the median range
Offer higher salaries, grant jobs are soft money, short
term
Use salaries as a ladder for existing employees
If none of the above work, guess
10. Calculating Salaries Budget 10/01/05-09/30/06 Personnel
Year 1 Year 2 (See Appendix C for detailed job descriptions) 1.
Project Director: $35,000 annual salary with start date of 11/15/05
$30,618 $36,400
Year 1 Calculation: $35,000 /12 = $2,916 per month
10.5 months x $2,916 = $ 30,618
Year 2 Calculation: 35,000 + 4% cost of living = $36,400
11. Fringe Benefits
Fringe benefits are those taxes and other benefits the employer
pays
Primarily based upon gross salary
Range from 21% to 25%
Estimate 4% more than the current rate
List them as Standard Government Fringe Benefits Package As
Required By Law
Some reviewers dont know what they are and can be distrustful
of them
Required
FICA (Social Security and Medicare) = 7.65%
FUTA (Federal Unemployment Taxes) = 0.8% of first $7,000
SUI (State Unemployment Tax) = 0.6% of first $7,000
Workers Compensation = $300-$1000 group policy
12. Travel
This is an area that receives a lot of scrutiny.
Why?
Travel is viewed as a luxury
Agencies typically cut travel when funds are tight
What can be done to ensure that travel gets funded?
Provide detailed formulas and documentation for why you must
travel and how you calculated line items
Break travel into different categories
Avoid rounding numbers (e.g. $2,000)
If it costs $1,850 then put that figure on the line
Use realistic but conservative numbers
13. Equipment
Funding sources are usually suspicious of equipment
purchases
Computers are one such area drawing concern
Some funding sources will not purchase computers but allow you
to lease them.
Grant writers must document the need for the equipment before
budget reviewers will approve
Provide specifications on the equipment (see the computer lines
from the budget you were given)
Never state brand names, use compatible this allows you to
search a wider range of equipment. If you use IBM or Gateway, you
are limited to those brands.
14. Supplies
Most federal agencies define supplies as any purchase under
$5,000
Read the RFP carefully to determine how the funder defines
supplies
How does the state government define supplies
15. Contracted Services
Contractual work is any service that requires a contract,
written agreement or verbal agreement to implement.
The agency has no control over how the product is developed,
but it does approve the end product
The agency may or may not be able to dictate when the
contractor works. (Depends on the contractor)
The agency does not provide office space for the
contractor
No fringe benefits are paid for the contractor
Contractual work is best defined as a service or a product
16. Other
What if it doesnt fit into the first 6 categories?
Other is a catch-all category
Postage
Advertising
Printing
Video Services
Subscriptions
17. In-Kind Contributions
These donations prove the community cares
Required in Matching grant applications
Essentially called donations
The value of them is based on their street value
What would a person pay or be paid for the service on the
street?
They do impress the reviewer
Examples
Percentage of a staff persons time
Volunteers
Use of a building and utilities
Janitorial supplies
Use of existing telephone lines
Contributions of desks and chairs
Donation of books
Accounting, bookkeeping; and payroll services
18. In-direct Costs
Remember that these are the costs associated with the operation
of the grant
Typically they are administrative in nature
The RFP will specifically state the maximum allowable
percentage of the funding that can be spent on In-direct
costs.
Some applications will require a line-item for each In-direct
cost others will allow a percentage
19. Budget Appearance
Start the budget on a new page if possible
Use columns that are aligned (insert a table)
Name categories when listing items
Ex. Educational supplies
Designate main categories with a Roman numeral, all caps, and
bold
Ex. I. PERSONNEL
Fully justify text and right-justify dollar figures
Subcategories should be titled and include descriptive text and
appropriate formulas
Budget detail should allow the budget to stand alone
Even if the reviewer did not fully understand the program
narrative, they should get a good idea of what you are trying to do
by looking at the budget.
By standing alone, we mean that it is self-explanatory