The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Budgeting + Free Template

This comprehensive approach makes it valuable for both seasoned financial professionals and those new to nonprofit budgeting. In this article, we will discuss what should be included in a nonprofit budget, how to create one, and provide a template and example budget to help guide you through the process. The Vermont Community Foundation offers a sample organizational budget template designed to assist nonprofits in planning their annual financial activities. This sample budget outlines various categories for both income and expenses, providing a clear framework for organizations to project their yearly financial operations. The template is aimed at helping nonprofits organize their financial records efficiently, ensuring they can track funding sources, manage expenditures, and plan effectively for future financial needs. The Nonprofit Annual Budget Template is designed specifically for nonprofits looking to streamline their yearly financial planning.

Strategic resilience for mission-driven organizations

• This template provides an accurate picture of your nonprofit’s budgeted operating costs and all-around fiscal health.
• Having your program directors carefully create budgets for each of their programs will knock out a big portion of the data you need to produce an overall nonprofit budget.
• These projects probably won’t be delivered every year, so separating your operational budget from your capital budget is the best way to go forward.
• You’d then use those numbers in your budget (e.g. if you allocated a 50% chance to a $10,000 grant – you’d use $5,000 in your budget).
• The third is to make sure that the expenses are affordable and realistic.
• In this role, she leads efforts to share the impact of the Cradle to Career Network, build awareness and move supporters to action.

For a nonprofit, the operating budget is the organization’s plan for the future. It shows how much revenue your operation plans on bringing in and how you plan on spending it. Using your mission statement as the guiding light, your operating budget guides your organization to fulfilling both its financial and philanthropic goals.

Nonprofit Operating Budget Template

The balance gives a snapshot of the nonprofit’s financial status at a certain moment. You can find the balance by taking the total income and subtracting the total expenses. If the result is positive, it means the organization is earning more than it’s spending, which leads to a surplus.

• Since your nonprofit is new, you don’t have historical numbers to look at and base your projections on.
• Candid recommends consulting with an accountant or financial consultant for detailed assistance.
• Nonprofit organizations continually grapple with maintaining and improving their operations, especially in today’s volatile economy and a rapidly changing world.
• Budget-to-actual performance should be reviewed monthly by both management and the Board.
• I know that not everyone is comfortable with numbers and that budgets can be overwhelming.

Financial Ratios

It tells in numbers what you’re planning The Key Benefits of Accounting Services for Nonprofit Organizations to spend money on during the year. While program expenses are the core of your organization’s mission, fundraising and administrative costs also need to be properly accounted for to keep the lights on. Therefore, it can be helpful to establish these first and figure out what’s left.

The «Fuzzy Math» section includes tips about better bookkeeping and financial transparency. Next, take a look at our Proposal Budget sample documents https://nerdbot.com/2025/06/10/the-key-benefits-of-accounting-services-for-nonprofit-organizations/ (you’ll need a free Candid Learning account view them) to see how other nonprofits have formatted their budgets and what was included. Unfortunately, it often excludes people outside an organization’s finance team.

A budget for non-profit organizations needs structure without unnecessary complexity. Well-designed budget templates streamline financial management while ensuring you capture all essential information for decision-making and reporting. Even profitable programs can face challenges when expected revenue arrives months after expenses occur or when donation patterns don’t align with regular operational costs. Mastering cash flow management helps prevent these timing mismatches from disrupting your mission-critical work.

• A key part of running a nonprofit is ensuring you have enough funds to sustain your mission throughout the fiscal year.
• For more on start-up and small business budget templates, see Free Startup Budget Templates and Free Small Business Budget Templates.
• His time at Amnesty reinforced Steve’s life-long commitment to giving back to the community through charitable causes.
• This is the budget of revenues received and expenses paid, broken down monthly to ensure cash will be there when needed.
• This can be based on the amount of money you need to raise to cover your expenses, or it can be a specific dollar amount that you would like to raise.
• Budgeting your revenue based on its source allows you to make the most accurate projections.

To help you get started, we’ve created a basic nonprofit budget template to track your revenue and expenses. It will work as a framework regardless of your nonprofit’s area of focus. A well-structured budget helps ensure the organization has the necessary financial resources to cover operational costs and fulfill its mission over an extended period. Nonprofits can also forecast their financial position for the upcoming months or years, allowing them to anticipate potential challenges or opportunities. This forward-looking approach enables organizations to develop strategies to address economic gaps, explore new revenue streams, and plan for contingencies. A well-structured budget provides non-profit organizations a clear understanding of their financial resources and obligations.