Introduction
Budgets are significant for organizations since they help in tracking how much money is used and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Organizations utilize budget plans to forecast their expenditure on projects. A budget plan consists of various components that are significant to an organization. Direct and indirect costs, equipment and materials, and travel and other expenses are crucial elements of a budget plan. Presenting a well-outlined financial plan in forecasting profits, creating financial transparency, and showing a project’s value. Therefore, a budget plan helps organizations avoid problems related to over-expenditure, promoting corporate success.
Organization Overview
Economic empowerment of dysfunctional communities is essential in promoting their growth. While a majority of low-income communities are in dire need of money and grants, few know how to write grant proposals. College Dreams is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to help low-income communities write for grants. Since College Dreams will involve the students from Saint Leo University, its core values are central to the organizational operations. Responsible stewardship is one of the Saint Leo core values that Dreams College promotes (Mission, Values, and Identity n.d.). Therefore, College Dreams fosters the spirit of service to employ its resources for community development and economic empowerment.
The organization utilizes various resources to economically empower the communities. Training sessions conducted by financial specialists and expert proposal writers equip the communities with knowledge and skills for grant writing. Additionally, the organization helps communities pitch business ideas that are worth grants. A budget is an estimation of the revenues and expenses likely to be incurred over a specific period, usually a year (Patti, 2009). A budget plan for College Dreams will help in tracking its expenditure during the execution of its activities. The organization has an annual estimated budget of $600, 000. The budget looks affordable for the organization since the majority of its student staff over their services voluntarily. Table 1 gives a summary of the total annual budget required to run College Dreams.
Table 1: Estimated Annual Budget for College Dreams
Budget’s Importance to College Dreams
College Dreams conducts myriad activities and may find itself overspending. For instance, visiting various communities requires extensive logistics and preparations. Moreover, the guests and trainers need their travel exposure and fees covered by the agency. Therefore, the budget will help the organization meet its various needs. The budget plan will help the organization pay bills on time and avoid any kind of non-payment claims. Additionally, the bidet plan will put the organization on a stronger financial footing for its routine activities. Therefore, College Dreams needs a budget plan for financial accountability and the project’s efficiency.
Budget Items
The college dreams budget plan will consist of various items that must be paid for. The plan categorizes the items into four major categories: direct costs, indirect costs, equipment and materials, and travel and other expenses. The direct costs include labor, software development, and staff insurance cover costs. The indirect costs include trainers, utilities, technology services, and departmental costs. The material and equipment will include the amount paid for pamphlets, organization merchandise, laptops, pens, and reading materials for the community, among other materials as summarized in Table 1. The travel and other expenses costs include fuel costs, emergency funds, and miscellaneous costs.
Conclusion
Organizations need budget plans for the effective execution of their activities. A budget enables an organization to forecast its expenses, and avoid funds misappropriation. Additionally, a budget is crucial for determining a project’s success. College Dreams is a non-profit organization involving Saint Leo Students. The organization conforms to the university’s core value of responsible stewardship. College Dreams will utilize its budget plan in training low-income communities on how to write grant proposals.
References
Patti, R. J., (Ed), (2009). The Handbook of human services management (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Mission, values, and identity. (n.d.). Core values: responsible stewardship. Web.