How to Review and Amend Your Nonprofit’s Budget

2 Comments

  1. Karen French

    The nonprofit I work with did a zero-base balanced budget this year. They based it on the previous year’s membership fees. Fundraising money is specifically used for scholarships and community based programs. Apparently all money raised is targeted in the bylaws for outreach. A huge donation came in a couple years ago. The donation was put in several CDs. One came due at the beginning of the fiscal year. The interest accrued was almost more than the entire yearly budget! Is it possible for the budget to be revised using part of the interest to keep the nonprofit running in the black and allow for the reinstatement of member programs that were zeroed out or underfunded in the original budget? The budget committee states this “interest” money is not able to be included as part of the base budget although from here on out, it will be a constant source of funding. Is this true? They will allocate a portion of this money, provided they follow the nonprofit guidelines on approving proposals, However, they continue to state we are operating in the red. How can the budget base be revised to demonstrate the nonprofit is now operating in the black?

    1. Traci Hahn

      Hi Karen,

      That’s an interesting situation and great questions. You will probably need to work with your board and/or budget committee to work this out based on your by-laws and guidelines.

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