How to Develop Next Year’s Budget

Following is a transcript of this podcast episode, with audio/video below.

Welcome to the Two-Minute Treasurer’s Tip Podcast. I am your host Cyndi Meuchel where we’re hoping to make your life as a volunteer way easier.

Lauryn writes: We’re just starting to look at next year’s budget. What suggestions do you have for getting started?

Gosh, this question really deserves more than 2 minutes, but let’s see if I can distill it into a quick summary for you Lauryn. I would recommend starting by gathering your committee. 5-7 people is ideal to truly represent your group. But let’s be real, oftentimes it’s just the Treasurer and/or the President who does this.

Start with the vision. Before you put numbers on paper, make sure that your board agrees on common goals for the year. If you have enough time, you might survey your members to get input on what they feel is most important this year.

Next, set some goals. What is it that you want to accomplish? What projects are important? What services do you want to provide? What are your overhead costs? Figure out all of the expenses you’re looking at, given the things you want to do.

Then you need to figure out how you’re going to pay for these things. In other words, how much you need to raise. That would include things like fundraisers, membership, donations, grants, pledge drives, corporate matching funds and lots more probably.

There are other more nuanced things you might consider in your budget. Like, what you have to carry forward from last year, any restricted line items, wiggle room for unanticipated costs. But we only have time to skim the surface here.

To dive deeper into those things, check out our Guide called Budgeting Basics.

That’s it for today! Thank you for listening! If you have a question you’d like answered, just email it to me at [email protected]. My name is Cyndi Meuchel and this is your Two-Minute Treasurer’s Tip for today.