How to Complete the Budget Section

The Budget section captures the total cost of running the program you are reporting on. This information is used to calculate your program's cost-effectiveness, which is an important part of how funders evaluate impact.

What to include

Your budget should reflect the full cost of the specific program you are reporting on, for the reporting period covered by your report. Include:

• Direct costs: Costs directly tied to running the program (staff time, materials, supplies, facility costs, etc.)
• Indirect costs / overhead: A reasonable allocation of your organization's overhead costs (administration, finance, HR, etc.) attributed to this program
• In-kind donations: The estimated value of goods or services donated to the program that you would otherwise have had to pay for (volunteer time, donated supplies, pro bono services, etc.)

Reporting at the program level

Your budget should reflect the program you are reporting on, not your full organization budget. If you run multiple programs, allocate costs to this program only.

If you are unsure how to allocate shared costs, use a reasonable method, for example, allocating overhead proportionally based on staff time spent on each program.

Adding context

After entering your budget, you will have the opportunity to add notes. Use this space to explain anything that might look unusual, for example, if your program has a higher cost per participant than comparable programs due to the specialized nature of your work, or if certain costs are atypical for the reporting period.

If your costs look like an outlier

If you receive feedback indicating your costs are outside typical ranges, review both your total costs and your outcome numbers to make sure they are complete and accurate. Common issues include:

• Using an organizational budget instead of a program-specific budget
• Leaving out significant cost categories (overhead, in-kind donations)
• Entering outcome numbers that do not align with the scale of the budget