Writing Hints:

 

Make your budget realistic. Carefully think through exactly what you will need from the funding agency to carry out the project and establish your budget around this amount. (Do not forget, funding agencies receive lots of requests for funding. They can easily tell when someone has inflated a budget in order to procure funds for other purposes. Don't get caught in this situation.)

Have someone else in your organization review your budget to see how realistic you are.

Do you really need a large amount of funding at the beginning of the project or will your project be "phased up" over a period of time? Sometimes it's not very realistic to expect a new project to be able to be up and operating (and spending large amounts of money) during the first 6 months or year of operation.

A good strategy to use with a potential funding agency is to ask for a small amount of funding for the first phase of the project. Specify in your proposal what you expect to achieve during this "minimal funding phase" and when you will be returning to the funding agency to ask for funds for the next phase. This can suggest to the funding agency that they can terminate the relationship easily if your project is not successful (and then it is essential for you to make sure the first phase IS successful).

Check with the agency to see if they have suggested/required budget categories that they want you to use.

If the potential funding agency doesn't have any suggested/required budget categories, organize your budget around a set of meaningful categories that work for the project you are proposing. Categories that you may want to consider for itemizing your budget are:
 

Personnel (salary and benefits)
Consultants (salary)
Instruction
Equipment
Supplies
Communication (telephone/postage)
Materials preparation
Travel
Rental of facilities
Evaluation
Other expenses
Indirect costs (costs that your organization requires that you include)

 

A suggested budget format for a three year funding proposal:

 

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