The S in the G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula
Strategic Budget Development for Grants – the S in the GRANTS Formula
Are you struggling with developing a strategic budget for your grants?
Many people find the budget section of grant applications daunting and overwhelming.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Do you know how to develop a strategic budget for your grants?
Money is often a fun thing to talk about, yet so many people cringe when they think of the budget section of the grant. For me, I used to cringe, but now, I find it’s like a puzzle piece that needs to be sorted well – and early – so that the entire grant makes sense.
Today, Holly Rustick is going to show you how to create a strategic budget that you can use for every single grant that you write.
By the end of the resources inside this article, you will have the tools to create an amazing budget. Having a simple and unified budget format could save you hundreds of hours of frustration.
Here’s a quick review of the previous pieces of the G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula:
G – Get the FOA or RFP and use it as a template
R – Research needs
A – Articulate goals
N – Narrow your objectives
T – Timetable your activities
Let’s get started with the final letter of the formula today, “S” is for: Strategic Budget for Grants
Strategic Budget for Grants
Every single FOA or RFP is going to ask you to submit a budget. Remember, you can only ask for the maximum of the grant! If there is a federal grant that has a ceiling of $450,000, then you can only ask for $450,000. Don’t ask for $450,001. They will throw out your grant. Having said that you need to make sure that your project is realistic with the ceiling amount for the grant.
So, how do you figure out your budget? Well, a great starting point is to look at everything you have already developed. If you have your needs statement, goal(s), S.M.A.R.T. objectives, and sufficient activities for making it all happen, you now have your entire outline for your budget!
Make sure you include any connections between your activities and your budget. If you are hiring staff as an activity, make sure you add it in your budget and vice versa. If it’s in your budget, make sure you have an activity line for it.
Your categories should include the following, unless specified by the RFP or FOA that they want it in a different way! (Then follow that!) However, this is the format most federal agencies will use and many times foundations do not give you a format.
- Personnel
- Fringe Benefits
- Travel
- Equipment
- Supplies
- Consulting/Contracting
- Other
- Indirect
- Total
Our example we’ve been using is a nonprofit in New Mexico that serves pregnant teens and teenage parents.
In the article ‘R’ Research, we devised a problem statement:
The teenage pregnancy rate in New Mexico is the highest in the nation, with 62 out of 1,000 teenage youth pregnant compared to the U.S. average of 18.8 (CDC, 2017).
We then went onto ‘A’ Articulate the Goal, and defined the goal as:
The Project will increase fiscal management and job wages for pregnant teenagers and teenage parents.
In ‘N’ Narrow the Objectives, we devised three objectives:
- Objective 1: 100 pregnant youth or teenage parents will receive 20 hours of financial literacy training by July 31st, 2020.
- Objective 2: 75 pregnant youth or teenage parents will have completed their GED or High School diploma by June 30, 2020.
- Objective 3: 20 pregnant youth or teenage parents will be employed by December 31st, 2020.
In ‘T’ Timetable your Grant Activities, we developed a timetable for activities to reach objective one.
Now let’s see what our budget would look like for objective one:
BUDGET LINE BY LINE WORKSHEET |
||
PERSONNEL |
||
Position Title | Computation (Hourly rate x # of hours) |
Grant Request Total |
Executive Director | ($35 per hour x 2080 hours) x 5% | $3,640 |
Project Coordinator | $25 per hour x 2080 | $52,000 |
Personnel Subtotal | The sum of all personnel | $55,640 |
FRINGE BENEFITS |
||
FRINGE BENEFITS | Rate |
Grant Request Total |
FICA | Multiply the total of the personnel salary by 7.65% | $4,256 |
Workers Comp | Multiply the total by 1.5% | $835 |
Fringe Benefits Subtotal | $5,091 | |
TRAVEL |
||
Type | Computation |
Grant Request Total |
Mileage for driving for work | Driving the van for five months – average 100 miles per week x 20 weeks x $ .535 per mile. | $1,070 |
Travel Subtotal | $1,070 | |
EQUIPMENT |
||
Items | Computation |
Grant Request Total |
One Minivan | Purchasing a minivan | $20,000 |
Equipment Subtotal | $20,000 | |
SUPPLIES |
||
Types of Supplies | Computation |
Grant Request Total |
Consumables | Paper, staples, ink, cleaning supplies at $100 per month x 12 months | $1,200 |
Supplies for financial literacy training | 110 pax x $25 book | $2,750 |
Participant supplies | Incentives such as gift certificates, pens, etc. @ $10 per 110 pax | $1,100 |
Supplies Subtotal | $5,050 | |
CONTRACTUAL |
||
Types | Computation |
Grant Request Total |
Digital Advertising | 2 months x $1000 | $2,000 |
Financial Consultant | 100 hours at $25 per hour | $2,500 |
Contractual Subtotal | $4,500 | |
OTHER |
||
Types | Computation |
Grant Request Total |
Computers | $1,000 x 1 computers | $1,000 |
Room for financial literacy | 150 sq. feet at $25 per hour for 100 hours | $2,500 |
Internet | $100 per month x 12 months | $1,200 |
Other Subtotal | $4,700 | |
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS |
||
Computation |
Grant Request Total |
|
Direct Costs Subtotal | Add up all subtotals | $96,051 |
INDIRECT COST |
||
Indirect Cost Rate | Grant Request Total | |
10.00% | $9,605 | |
TOTAL COSTS | Add up Direct Costs with Indirect Cost Rate | $105,656 |
So, there you go! That is how you create a strategic budget that aligns with all of your activities. Of course, you would hash out your other activities for your other two objectives as well.
You can see how simple this really is and that budgets do not need to be rocket science!
That wraps up our G.R.A.N.T.S. Formula!
GRANTS Formula Episodes & Articles
- The G in the GRANTS Formula – Get the FOA
- The R in the GRANTS Formula – Research for Grants
- The A in the GRANTS Formula – Articulate Grant Goals
- The N in the GRANTS Formula – Narrow Grant Objectives
- The T in the GRANTS Formula – Timeline Grant Activities
- The S in the GRANTS Formula – Strategic Grant Budgets
- Free Master Class on the GRANTS Formula
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