Grants:PEG/Budget Guidelines

Budget Guidelines

Tips and guidelines for creating a great budget.

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Familiarize yourself with prior grant budgets to get a sense of budget ranges for specific projects and events: PEG Grants.
Spell out your budget in clear line-items. We want to know what this money will be used for, as precisely as you can.
Explain cost estimates by providing details on your methods of calculation in the Notes section.
Remember that grants are primarily used to cover project expenses and not to replace volunteer activities.
Declare any potential conflict of interest in the planned purchase of goods or services; this includes the disclosure of any close relationship between a supplier and the applicant or a member of the applicant's organization.
Clearly separate outside funding sources in the budget table. Create one column for funds requested from WMF and one column for funds request from outside sources.

Try to partner with like-minded institutions that can offer their space free of charge or at a discount.
If you can't find a free venue, please offer a rationale for why you chose a specific venue (low cost, conveniently located, etc.)

Providing snacks and beverages allows for more flexibility in terms of the number of people you can serve at an event. It's also cheaper than providing individual meals.
Provide a breakdown of your food and beverage costs.

Refer to the WMF Travel Policy and Planning Travel for best practices in planning travel from around the movement.
Flights and accommodation should be booked at least one month ahead of time to take advantage of lower fares, where possible.
Individuals who are traveling on WMF business, scholarships or volunteer activities are covered by WMF travel insurance. Anyone traveling under one of these categories can be provided with an insurance card so they have the policy information and contact information in case they are in need of medical or travel assistance services outside of their home country.

Large first prizes are a good way to increase visibility for your contest and to motivate participants.
Think creatively about prizes – people value things that don't necessarily cost a lot of money! (An example is the Ukrainian Wikizghushchivka prize for editor contributions.)

Budget for shipping physical prizes if winners cannot attend award ceremonies.

Equipment should only be purchased if there is a clear plan for ownership, storage, and use by the community after the project is over.

Identify community members who can support with technical needs or budget for a contractor with the specific skills you require.

The WMF cannot commit to providing technical support or time from the engineering team.

The WMF does not generally support giving away merchandise to all participants of an event.
Rationale should be provided for all merchandise requests—e.g. a request for t-shirts to recognize volunteer event organizers.

The WMF does not generally support offline (hard-copy) publishing of materials.
Rationale should be provided for publishing materials; these include flyers, educational materials, editing guides, annual reports, and banners. Think carefully about the number of copies you'd need.

Project and Event Grants should not replace volunteer activity. In some cases, PEG may fund part-time positions or full-time temporary positions with a limited focus and scope of work related specifically to the activities of the funded project.
Requests for part-time staff should be accompanied by an assessment of the applicant's ability to effectively manage staff.
Requests for compensating volunteer or contractor time should include hourly rates, estimated number of hours, and timespan.

Include a line-item for bank fees associated with receiving funds from the WMF. Explore any options for minimizing bank fees. The WMF will reimburse these costs.

Ready to create your budget? See our Project Budget template here.