Too often, charities work on their budget at
the last minute. They will only focus on the budget after they have
written much of the grant. This is odd, when you think about it,
because the grant writer would have a better idea of what to write if there was
a realistic budget.
Ironically, some busy grant reviewers
will skim (or not read at all) the text of the charity's grant
application.
Instead, they turn to the budget to make
an informed decision about whether the charity has a clear enough plan and a
realistic understanding of their proposed project. In this context, it is
easier to understand why a strong, detailed, accurate budget will always give
an agency an unfair advantage over its competition.
Since the budget is a great management tool for
overseeing the implementation of your grant project, the short-cuts used
by the hurried grant reviewer may actually be a shrewd and effective use of
their time.
One of the best ways to get started on your
budget is to work off of a copy of an existing, winning budget. You can
obtain copies of winning budgets from other agencies, through the
internet, or from your own agency's own previous grant applications.
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