Grant Budgeting for Nonprofits: Direct Costs, Indirect Rates & Cost Share

What you'll build

What you will be able to do

Each lab ends with a concrete result that you build yourself and the checker confirms, cell by cell.

• Charge each position's salary to the grant by % effort, apply a funder salary cap, add fringe by employee type and find the effective fringe rate.
• Price every non-personnel line as quantity × unit cost, total the budget categories with SUMIF and work out the direct cost per household served.
• Build the indirect cost base by excluding lines the way an MTDC-style rule does, apply the indirect rate and compare it with total direct costs.
• Work out the required match for two different definitions, value cash and in-kind match sources and check whether the pledged match covers the requirement.
• Grow each line by its escalation rate into years 2 and 3, recalculate fringe, total each year and the whole award and measure the growth against year 1.
• Nine months into the year, you compare each line with the straight-line pace, project year-end spending, find the line furthest behind and work out the monthly spend needed to use the budget.
• Compare a proposed revised budget with the approved one, measure the cumulative transfers against the funder's threshold and spot changes that need prior approval anyway.
• Compare % spent with % of time elapsed for six grants, total the portfolio, count the grants that are well behind pace and chart spending against time.