Grant Budget Template
A budget is read as a test of whether the plan is real. Reviewers check it against the narrative before they judge either, because a project that promises four staff and funds two has told them something about the whole application. This is how the standard categories work and where the arithmetic usually goes wrong.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ Personnel and fringe, with effort expressed the way funders ask for it
- ✓ Direct costs: travel, supplies, equipment, contracted services and participant costs
- ✓ Indirect costs, and what to do when a funder caps or refuses them
- ✓ Cost share and matching funds, including in-kind contributions and how they are valued
- ✓ A justification column that explains how each figure was reached
How to use it
- List every activity in the plan and cost it, before deciding what the total should be.
- Convert staff time into the unit the form asks for, whether that is percentage of effort or hours.
- Check the funder's rules on indirect costs and unallowable items before totalling anything.
- Read the budget and the narrative side by side and make every shared figure agree.
How reviewers test a budget against the plan
The first thing an experienced reviewer does with a budget is cross-check it. If the narrative says two part-time coordinators will run forty sessions, they look for two part-time salaries and enough hours to deliver forty sessions. If the evaluation promises an external evaluator, they look for the fee. Each mismatch is a small signal that the plan was written by one person and costed by another, and small signals add up.
Reviewers also look for proportion. A request where two-thirds of the money goes to management for a project described mostly as direct service will prompt questions, and so will a line for equipment that the narrative never mentions.
Working through the categories line by line
Personnel comes first because it is usually the largest category. Show each role, its annual salary or hourly rate, and the share of time charged to this project. A coordinator paid $52,000 a year who spends half their time on the project costs $26,000 in salary. Fringe benefits are then calculated as a percentage of that salary using your organization's actual rate, so a 22% fringe rate on $26,000 adds $5,720.
Direct costs follow, grouped the way the funder asks, commonly travel, supplies, equipment, contractual services and participant support. Each line needs a basis for the number, such as 40 sessions at $30 of materials each. Indirect costs are calculated last, on the base the funder specifies, and only if the funder allows them. Federal awards follow detailed rules on this, including negotiated rates and a de minimis option, and the notice of funding opportunity tells you which applies.
Writing the budget justification
The justification is the prose that explains each figure. Write one or two sentences per line, naming the calculation and why the cost is needed for the project. A reviewer should never have to guess how you reached a number. Unit 5 of the Professional course builds a full budget and justification from a worked project, and the budget calculator on this site will check your arithmetic as you go.
A filled-in example
| Program coordinator | $52,000 salary x 50% effort = $26,000 |
|---|---|
| Fringe benefits | 22% of $26,000 = $5,720 |
| Tutoring materials | 40 sessions x $30 = $1,200 |
| Local travel | 1,200 miles x $0.60 per mile = $720 |
| Contracted evaluator | 8 days x $500 = $4,000 |
| Direct cost subtotal | $37,640 |
| Indirect costs | 10% of $37,640 = $3,764, where the funder allows it |
| Total request | $41,404 |
Mistakes to avoid
- Working backwards from the maximum award. Budgets built to hit a ceiling show it, because the lines have no basis. Cost the activities first, then trim scope if the total is too high.
- Forgetting fringe on new staff. Salary alone understates what a hire costs. Apply your organization's real fringe rate to every personnel line charged to the grant.
- Charging indirect costs a funder does not pay. Some foundations cap overhead or refuse it entirely. Read the guidelines before adding the line, and move genuinely direct costs into direct categories rather than disguising overhead.
- Leaving the justification thin. A line reading Supplies $3,000 invites a cut. Show the unit cost and quantity so the reviewer can see the figure is real.
Grant Budget Template FAQs
What are indirect costs in a grant budget?
Indirect costs are the shared costs of running an organization that cannot be attributed to one project, such as rent, utilities and administration. Funders vary widely in whether they pay them and at what rate, so the guidelines decide this rather than the applicant.
What is cost share?
Cost share, or matching funds, is the portion of the project cost covered by somebody other than the funder. It can be cash or in-kind, and it is often either required, encouraged or explicitly not considered, so check which of the three applies.
Should the budget round numbers?
Show the arithmetic honestly. A column of round numbers reads as an estimate, and a reviewer who suspects the figures were assembled backwards from the maximum award will read the rest of the application that way.
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