The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Budgets + 3 FREE Templates

Mid-size nonprofits with dedicated finance staff often leverage QuickBooks templates to centralize their budgeting and reporting. Organizations with multiple funding sources find the restricted fund tracking invaluable for managing complex grants. Nonprofits requiring detailed financial reporting, such as those seeking government funding, appreciate the robust reporting capabilities. This versatility makes QuickBooks a practical choice for a range of nonprofit sizes and structures. The key advantage of QuickBooks templates lies in their integration with the QuickBooks ecosystem.

Annual Nonprofit Operating Budget Template

Driver-based budgeting helps your nonprofit align its financial planning with operational activities, making adjusting to changes and improving decision-making easier. Preparing a real-world budget example for nonprofit organizations can help guide your approach and aid in the decision on whether to use these budgeting methods or another variant. It indicates which items are subject to specific stipulations—otherwise known as restricted funds—which typically make up the bulk of revenue for nonprofit organizations. Think of it as a roadmap that helps your team manage financial resources effectively, ensuring you have the funds to support your programs and initiatives. A successful budget narrative clearly outlines the student’s stipend request, justifying the amount based on cost of living and institutional guidelines. It also details how research funds will be utilized, specifying expenses for travel to conferences, specialized software, or access to research databases.

• Apart from fundraising, nonprofits may occasionally feed volunteers or entertain potential donors as part of their development efforts.
• This resource from Tooling Studio highlights top strategies for optimizing your sales process, which can inform a more strategic approach to budget allocation.
• It can be an Excel spreadsheet or a budget worksheet that can help you in creating the nonprofit program budget.
• The cost of administration, categorized as indirect costs, adds value to every program at a nonprofit.

Download Free Non-Profit Budget Templates

• As your nonprofit grows you might find your professional support costs rise, but they’re often well worth investing in (especially when it comes to legal and finance).
• Cash flow refers to the monthly movement of money coming in and out of your organization.
• When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.
• Leaders can use this information to analyze the financial model of programs individually and as part of the whole.
• It’s essential for demonstrating financial responsibility, ensuring transparency, and justifying the requested funds.

„Our nonprofit will increase overall contributions by 20% by the end of 2024 through partnerships with local businesses and corporate sponsors.“ Unlock the secrets to transforming your business from a job into a profitable, cash-generating machine. Using the budgets, you can determine where you’re losing and earning the most. Throughout the year, you’ll be able to track which avenues are working best for you. There should be enough lines in your budget to provide for a comprehensive understanding of the financial situation.

Risks of not budgeting 😦

Regular nonprofit budgets should be split between expenses and revenues, with expenses split between program, and general and administrative expenses. Including insurance in a nonprofit operating budget helps protect your organization from unexpected financial risks. This can include covering liability for employees or volunteers, property insurance for buildings and equipment, and insurance for https://greatercollinwood.org/main-benefits-of-accounting-services-for-nonprofit-organizations/ events or activities that your nonprofit hosts. Including contracted services in the budget lets you plan and allocate funds for these essential services. Travel may be necessary if staff members or volunteers attend conferences, meetings, or events related to your mission.

Get smart about budgeting

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on accounting services for nonprofit organizations work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. Use this budget for nonprofit project template to determine where you have room to grow and where you might need to cut back. Discover how to get the most out of your nonprofit’s business plan by reading Free Nonprofit Business Plan Templates. For example, ASF charges $5 per student per session, so their revenue would be the total number of students served multiplied by $5 each. They also have individual donors and crowdfunding donations that are counted as revenue.