Budget and Narrative Realignment
Grant applications will require both a budget section and a project narrative section. In many cases – especially in the case that the grant is being written by a grant writer outside of the organization – these two components are not written by the same person. It can be tempting to write the budget as an afterthought, or to put it off until the last minute, but do NOT make this mistake.
The reason being, it is a huge red flag for the application’s adjudicator when the project narrative and the project budget do not match. For example, if the project narrative includes activities with expenses (such as space rental, equipment, personnel, etc.) that are not included in the budget, it shows the adjudicator that project leadership has not factored what it would take to include these vital components into the project. If a project component is not funded, it is not a workable part of the plan. If the plan is essential to address the needs highlighted in the grant, then the plan cannot in practice fulfill the needs identified.
See the problem? Grant adjudicators need to see that they are funding a project that can be completed and achieve the common goals of the grantor and the grantee. In other words, they need to be sure that their money is not wasted on a project with missing parts. At the same time, this inconsistency reflects poorly on the If it’s in the project narrative, it MUST be in the project budget.
Make it part of your grant writing process to make a final pass through on both the budget and the project narrative (and the budget narrative if separate from the budget) to ensure that anything mentioned in the project narrative is accounted for in the budget. It will go a long way when it comes to winning more grants and getting your projects funded.
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