Understanding Budgets
Learn how budgets help you plan and track the financial aspects of your fundraising projects.
Key Concept
Budgets in Memml are project-specific. Each Project has its own budget that tracks income, expenses, and in-kind contributions for that specific fundraising initiative.
Budgets are Projections
Important: Project budgets are designed to be projections - they represent your plan or what you're tracking toward. Budgets are separate from actual invoices, payments, and bills.
If you keep your budgets up to date, they will closely reflect actuals, but they remain distinct from your actual financial transactions. Budgets help you plan and track your financial goals, while invoices, payments, and bills represent the actual money flowing in and out of your organization.
Budget Line Items
Budgets are made up of individual line items - each representing a specific income source, expense, or in-kind contribution.
Line items help you break down your budget into manageable pieces. Each item has a name, quantity, unit, and dollar value that you can track throughout your Project. These represent your planned or projected amounts, not necessarily the actual transactions.
Project-Specific Budgets
Each Project has its own budget, allowing you to track finances separately for each fundraising initiative.
This separation helps you see how each Project is performing financially and ensures that budget items from one Project don't get mixed up with another.
Budget Line Item Types
Budget items fall into three main categories:
Income
Money coming into your organization from sponsorships, donations, ticket sales, or other revenue sources.
Income items represent the money you plan to receive or are tracking toward. These are typically linked to Sponsor Partners who are providing the funding. Remember, these are projections - actual payments are tracked separately through invoices and payments.
Examples: "Gold Sponsor - $5,000", "Ticket Sales - $10,000", "Donation Drive - $2,500"
Expense
Money going out of your organization for costs like venue rental, catering, printing, or other services.
Expense items represent the money you plan to spend or are tracking toward. These are typically linked to Vendor Partners who are providing goods or services. Remember, these are projections - actual expenses are tracked separately through bills and payments.
Examples: "Venue Rental - $3,000", "Catering - $2,500", "Printing - $500"
In-Kind Contribution
Non-cash contributions of goods or services that have value but don't involve money changing hands.
In-kind contributions represent donated goods or services. These help you track the full value of support you're receiving, even when it's not cash.
Examples: "Catering Donation - $2,000 value", "Printing Services - $500 value", "Venue Donation - $3,000 value"
Linking Budget Items to Partners
Budget items can be linked to Partners to help you track which organizations are providing income or receiving payments:
- Income items: Often linked to Sponsor Partners to track which sponsors are providing funding and how much.
- Expense items: Often linked to Vendor Partners to track which vendors you're paying and for what services.
- In-kind contributions: Often linked to Partners who are donating goods or services instead of cash.
Tip
Linking budget items to Partners is optional but recommended. It helps you see at a glance which organizations are contributing to your Project financially and makes reporting easier.
Budget Categories
You can organize budget items into categories to group related items together and see subtotals:
Organizing with Categories
Categories help you group related budget items and see subtotals for different areas of your Project.
For example, you might create categories like "Venue & Facilities", "Food & Beverage", "Marketing & Promotion", or "Entertainment". All items in a category are grouped together, and you can see the total for each category.
If you don't assign a category to a budget item, it will be placed in an "Other" category by default.
Advanced Features: Variables and Calculations
For more complex budgeting needs, Memml supports variables and calculated fields:
Variables
Define variables that represent quantities or values that might change, like number of attendees or ticket price.
For example, you might create a variable called "Number of Attendees" set to 200. Then you could create a budget item for "Catering per person" that uses this variable in its calculation.
Calculated Fields
Link budget item values to variables so they automatically update when the variable changes.
If you change the "Number of Attendees" variable from 200 to 250, any budget items that use this variable in their calculations will automatically update to reflect the new quantity.
This is especially useful for "what-if" scenarios where you want to see how changes in attendance or other factors affect your budget.
Note
Variables and calculated fields are advanced features. You can create and manage budgets perfectly well without using them - they're just helpful tools for more complex scenarios.
Common Scenarios
Scenario: Fundraising Gala
Planning the budget for an annual gala event.
Income Items: Create projected items for each sponsorship level (Gold Sponsor - $5,000, Silver Sponsor - $2,500, etc.) and link them to the appropriate Sponsor Partners. These represent your plan - actual payments will be tracked separately through invoices and payments.
Expense Items: Create projected items for venue rental, catering, printing, decorations, etc. Link them to Vendor Partners where applicable. These represent your plan - actual expenses will be tracked separately through bills and payments.
In-Kind: If a Partner donates catering services, create an in-kind item with the projected value of the donation.
Categories: Group items into categories like "Revenue", "Venue Costs", "Food & Beverage", "Marketing" to see subtotals.
Keep Updated: As your Project progresses, update budget items to reflect changes in your plan. This keeps your projections aligned with reality, while actual transactions remain tracked separately.
Scenario: Building Restoration - New Roof
Planning the budget for a capital improvement project to replace your building's roof.
Income Items: Create projected items for funding sources like grants, donations, or capital campaign contributions. Link them to Sponsor Partners or grant organizations. These represent your plan - actual payments will be tracked separately through invoices and payments.
Expense Items: Create projected items for roofing materials, labor costs, permits, inspections, and any necessary structural work. Link them to Vendor Partners (roofing contractors, suppliers, etc.) where applicable. These represent your plan - actual expenses will be tracked separately through bills and payments.
Categories: Group items into categories like "Funding Sources", "Materials", "Labor", "Permits & Fees", "Contingency" to see subtotals and track different aspects of the project.
Variables: If material costs depend on square footage, you could create a variable for "Roof Square Footage" and link material costs to it for dynamic calculations.
Keep Updated: As quotes come in and the project progresses, update budget items to reflect changes in your plan. This keeps your projections aligned with reality, while actual transactions remain tracked separately.
Important Note
All budgets and budget items are specific to your organization and the Project they belong to. You cannot see or access budgets from other organizations, ensuring your financial data remains private and secure.