Budgeting is a story in numbers.

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Budgets help you raise money, not just spend it.

And financials are part of your messaging too.

Because “a well-communicated budget is a fundraising tool,” says Robin Bruce. That’s why our brand training for Dovetail Impact Foundation grantees now includes an expert to help communicate budgets.

Let’s go deeper. ⤵

Nonprofit leaders: don’t delegate this important fundraising tool to your finance team alone. And don’t ask them to create a budget in a silo.

(Yes, this even means us CEOs who loathe accounting.)

Instead, work as a leadership team to integrate these six budgeting ideas into your brand:

1️⃣ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲

Tell how your expenses are necessary for the mission and vision your donors have invested in.

2️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

Link budget elements to positive outcomes to make the financial narrative compelling and relatable.

3️⃣ 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀

Be honest. Candidly share budget constraints that motivate donors to contribute towards overcoming these shortfalls.

4️⃣ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

Compare past and present budgets to demonstrate growth, development, and increased impact over time.

5️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀

Employ visual aids like graphs and infographics to make complex financial data more accessible and engaging.

6️⃣ 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 “𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱”

Break the overhead myth and never perpetuate the dangerous 100% model (see my related post here).

They say a budget is a moral document.

“It tells us, mathematically, what areas, issues, things, or people are most important to the creators of that budget, and which are least important,” says Jim Wallis.

So dare to think about budgeting differently.

It isn’t just numbers.
It’s a narrative.

Make every line item a character in your story.

💪🏽💛

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The daily bonus

I spent the last five days holed up at another writing retreat here in Penang, Malaysia (including an editing session at my favorite coffee shop in George Town, Lunabarcoffee). I was working on the second draft of my first book.

I went into the retreat with this quote in mind:

“Revisions are not copy edits, they are major surgery and they suck. Don't read it like it's your perfect baby darling. Read it like it's your worst enemy's magnum opus and your job is to expose its every tragic flaw...”

But thanks to the 500+ reactions and comments from all my beta readers, the process went about as smooth as possible. So this week, I send the v2 manuscript out to another batch of readers.

A massive thanks to all the “shitty first draft” beta readers, including Güera, Mark, Heather, Justine, Elsi, Andrew, Damian, Stella, Bilal, Audrey, Angela, Guadalupe — plus "isam2003" and Impressive Giraffe, whoever you are!

I am forever grateful. 🙏🏽

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Sneak peek

Coming up in tomorrow’s newsletter:

Lose the fluff, win the donor.

Six tips to break through the fundraising noise.

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