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Foundation Center
Proposal Budgeting Basics
What is a project budget?
A project budget is the estimated financial plan for a project, for which funding is required. This document
should include the expenses you anticipate to incur for a specified period of time, as well as earned income that
will be generated during the course of the project. The budget is an important component of a proposal, as it
represents a financial picture of the project. A well-crafted budget can add greatly to the grantmaker's
understanding of your project.
Depending on the funder's guidelines, the budget may be a simple one-page statement of projected expenses,
or an entire spreadsheet including projected support and revenue and a detailed narrative, which explains
various items of expense or revenue.
Review
When reviewing proposals, grantmakers often look at the budget first.
Jane Geever, author of The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing, conducted interviews with a number
of grantmakers and found that many do, in fact, consider the budget to be the best way to get a feel for the
project without a lot of verbiage and hype. When asked the question, "How do you usually read a grant
request?" here's what some of the respondents had to say:
"I look at the budget. Over the years I've learned that narrative can be enriching, but the numbers are stark and
straightforward. I want to see that the money is doing the job described in the proposal." Joel Orosz W.K.
Kellogg Foundation
"I skip around the document in the following way: first the budget, to see if the request is appropriate and to see
the agency's financials; then the project section, to see what they want to accomplish; then the board list." Lynn
Pattillo The Pittulloch Foundation, Inc.
"I often look at the budget and then read the proposal backwards." Michael Gilligan The Henry Luce Foundation,
Inc.