In a recent workshop, Corinna Hartwig (aka The Funding Dr) explained how to build a funding strategy that sets you up to economise and budget for success.
Watch the workshop recording and have a look at the slides from the session to get to know your capital costs from your revenue costs and come away ready to make the most of the three Bs rule.
How to write a budget in 5 simple steps
1. Create a list of what you need to pull off your project.
- Be daring! List everything and anything you think you’ll need
- Brainstorm as a team, using a white board (you can do this online using a zoom white board, jam board or google sheet) to capture all of your ideas
- Check to make sure you’ve included everything, from team recruitment and staff time to training, travel, internet, advertising …
2. Add all the juicy details to your list.
- Beside each item, add the quantity you’ll need
- Beside each item, add the price per unit
3. Group your costs.
- Capital costs – these are one off, major costs like long lasting equipment purchases (a computer or a vehicle for example) or a down payment for a building
- Revenue costs – these are running costs like wages, national insurance, pension contributions, volunteer recruitment costs, electrics, maintenance, printing, promotional materials, consumables, PPE
4. Remove anything you don’t absolutely need.
- The simplest and quickest funding tool is the red pen. There are always more things you want to do than there is money and resources to do them. So, focus your efforts and use your red pen to cross off all luxuries and nice to haves.
5. Apply the 3 Bs rule.
- Go through your list and figure out what you could beg, borrow, or barter. Be creative and have some fun dreaming up ways in which you could pay in kind or businesses you could borrow from. Anything that you can apply the 3 B rule to can be removed from your list. Once you’ve done this you’ll have a completed budget.
Use these 5 steps to create budgets for your ActionFunder projects. Once your project budget is ready you can upload it to the “budget breakdown” section of your project pitch.
Creating an annual funding strategy:
Use these 5 steps to create your annual funding strategy too! Annual funding strategies are an important part of your organisation management, ensuring you don’t get stuck in a financial shortfall.
Your annual funding strategy should include:
- Estimated costs of all the work you hope to achieve in the coming year. This can be broken down into projects.
- A mix of funding streams (including ActionFunder!) that will make up your income. Check out our guide on sustainable funding to find out more about this.
Further support
- Have a look at the institute for fundraising on youtube. They have great 5 minute videos including one on how to build a strategy and another on how to write up a fundraising schedule – here
- Check out Corinna’s workshop on how to attract funding here
- Check out Corinna’s workshop on where to access funding here
