Grant Writing Budgeting Process
Abstract
Budgeting allows one to create a spending plan for one’s
money. It ensures that money will be on hand for expenses and items needed that
are important. Following a budget or spending plan will keep one out of debt,
pay unnecessary fees and services that may cut into financial goals. This paper
examines the types of budgets used in grant writing and how they are used. This
paper also differentiates between a process evaluation and an outcome
evaluation. Last, it will identify the benefits of an evaluation plan.
The budget is the most interesting part of a grant for the
sponsored projects personnel. Simply put, the project’s office responsibility
for compliance, the budget’s importance towards successful implementation, and
the reality of institutional liability are significant missions that ensure
relevant rules are applied to the budget, as well as the rest of the proposal
and that all costable items in the budget narrative are included. In any case,
it is imperative to understand and embrace the budgeting process and be able to
communicate effectively with sponsored project personnel (Kasdin, 2018).
The grant budget is to detail the costs of a program or
project needed by the grantee to resolve an issue that will impact a community.
It shows the funder exactly what the money is for, and should answer questions,
not raise questions. A well-thought out budget will provide the funder with
important details about the budget in order to make a well-informed decision.
.
Types of Budgets and How They are Used
There are several types of budgets used
in grant writing; foundation budgets, city county, and state budgets, and
federal budgets. Each type of budget has submission guidelines in which to
follow, depending on the type of grant funding foundation and what it requires.
Foundation Grants
Foundation budget instructions vary
from the simple sentence of “Submit a budget” to lengthy pages. All funder
materials must be read before preparing a foundation budget (Carr, 2014). A
well-crafted foundation budget demonstrates feasibility of the project, other
sources of support have been sought, and a thoughtful business plan is created.
For instance, suppose a nonprofit is requesting $25,000 from Foundation XYZ for
a $100,000 project, which requires hiring staff and holding conferences. This
budget is divided into two sections; projected revenue and projected expenses.
Beginning with the $25,000 requested funds, other sources listed might be
$40,000 from Foundation ABC and pledged funds of $10,000 from Foundation 123
and $25,000 in pledged contributions from sundry benefactors, all totaling
$100,000. These funding’s explain to the foundation how an organization will
carry out the program. As part of the projected expenses, this section might be
categorized as Salaries and Benefits, Conference/Events, and
Marketing/Administration. A project director may devote 100% of her time with a
$50,000 annual salary. Under Conference/Events it might be necessary to include
catering costs under marketing expenses. The above example would not be
exaggerated in hopes of getting more money. Enough information would be
included to answer a funder’s questions. (See table in appendix)
City, County and State Budgets
City, county, and state budgets create specific budget
requirements. Due to the U.S. having individuality between states, a uniform
submission is not feasible. Learning the federal requirements of submissions
will enable one to be well prepared for submissions to state and local
entities; however, every locality has its own context, tradition, and concerns
that can manifest various submission policies (Carr, 2014). These types of
budgets are used by tax revenues to provide budgets for services such as police
protection, education, road building and repair, welfare programs, hospital and
health care.
Federal Budgets
A federal budget is a government’s estimate of revenue and
spending for each fiscal year. Taxes are the primary source of revenue
generated for government budgets. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
makes rules that span the sundry agencies (Sobel & Crowley, 2014). This
allows for some uniformity, at least regarding required documentation and
allowable costs (Carr, 2014). Federal budget funds are used for public safety
and defense, transportation, and trade. For instance, the U.S. budget process
begins when the President submits a budget to Congress. Federal tax revenues
generate funds for technology investment, education, and goods and services for
the American citizen. The three biggest expenditures are Medicare, Medicaid,
and Social Security. The House Budget Committee reviews, modifies, and compiles
the entire federal budget for each fiscal year (Lewis, 2019).
The Benefits of an Evaluation Plan
An evaluation plan is a well-written document explaining how
a nonprofit or organization will monitor and evaluate a program, as well as how
it intends to use evaluation results for program improvement and
decision-making. The purpose of the evaluation is to demonstrate the overall quality
of a product, business, place, service, or program (Carr, 2014).
Developing and implementing such an evaluation has many
benefits including:
o
Better understanding the target audience’s needs
and how to meet those needs
o
Designing objectives that are more achievable
and measurable
o
Monitoring progress towards objectives more
effectively and efficiently
There are benefits to planning evaluations early. It gives
the researcher time to take measures and collect the right data. This data can
feed into the program activities and the researcher will determine and secure
resources.
Process
Evaluations and Outcome Evaluations
There are two types of primary evaluations used by
nonprofits and organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of a program or
project and its impact on a community. A process evaluation tells how and why a
program is effective. It describes a program’s services, activities, policies,
and procedures. The process evaluation provides early feedback as to whether
the program is being implemented as intended, what barriers have been
encountered, and what changes are needed (McGinn, et.al., 2019).
Project success is often determined by whether the original
timestamp was kept. The end of a project phase is a good time for a quality
review. All costs, stakeholder satisfaction, and performance to business care
should be reviewed. As opposed to outcome or impact evaluations, a process
evaluation focuses on the first three segments of a logic model (inputs,
activities, outputs) and also is a check point for program implementation to
ensure that a program is delivered according to design (Unite, 2019, p.2)
An outcome evaluation measures program effects in the target
population by assessing the progress in the outcome objectives that the program
is to achieve; whereas a process evaluation determines whether program
activities have been implemented as intended and resulted in certain outputs. Outcome
evaluations focus on participants and how much of a difference the program made
for the organization. An outcome evaluation assesses the effectiveness of a
program in producing change; for instance, outcome questions for a smoking
cessation program might be:
a)
Was the program successful in helping
individuals quit smoking?
b)
Did the program have an impact on various groups
of people?
c)
What parts of the program were most beneficial
to participants?
This type of evaluation is most often requested by
foundations. An outcome-based evaluation is a systematic way of assessing the
extent to which a program has achieved its intended result. It requires focus
on outcomes; events, occurrences, or changes, in conditions, behavior, or
attitudes that indicate progress toward a project’s goals. Outcomes are
specific, measurable, and meaningful.
Conclusion
Most organizations are formed to respond to certain
community needs. Many of these organizations rely on outside funding for
program or initiative support. These programs or initiatives will hopefully
have a great impact on a community or certain group of people that gets the
attention of a possible funder. Relying on grant writing, many nonprofits and
organizations can submit proposals with budgets that align with funder’s goals.
References
Carr, C. E. (2014). The Nuts and Bolts of Grant
Writing. Sage Companion. [University of Phoenix]. p 101-103. Retrieved from
https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781483323367/
Kasdin, S.
(2014). Budgeting rules and program outcomes. Public Administration Review.
78(5), p. 759-771. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=fc237048-a92e-49e0-a78b-94ee1fe79d31%40sdc-v-sessmgr02
Lewis, J. (2019). The
Federal Budget Process. Retreived from https://johnlewis.house.gov/federal-budget-process
McGinn, J.K.,
Ackers, S., Kloet, M.V., & Wagner, A. (2019). Dear, SSHRC, what do you
want? An epistolary narrative of expertise, identity, and time in grant
writing. Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 20(1) p. 454-477.
Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=fc237048-a92e-49e0-a78b-94ee1fe79d31%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=134349197&db=sih
Sobel. R.S.,
& Crowley, G.R. (2014). Do intergovernmental grants create ratchets in
state and local taxes? Public Choice 158(1-2), p. 167-187. Retrieved
from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=21b631b8-a3e2-4b05-9bc9-a3436d0a1800%40sessionmgr4006
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