What—Direct Expenses
The expenses you will itemize are those that relate directly to the program. If you weren’t doing the program, you wouldn’t have any of these expenses. Typical direct expenses include the following:
• Art, laboratory, or other consumable supplies that program participants will use
• Supplies your staff will use beyond what they’d need without this project, including increased use of letterhead, pens, notebooks, tape, and so on
• A new computer workstation and even a new desk, if needed, for a new staff position related to a program
• Travel expenses (including a per diem) to get staff, consultants, or participants to where the program will take place
• Duplicating and printing costs, including fees paid to designers for creating the printed materials
• Postage, freight delivery, and mailing house costs
• Long-distance telephone related to the program
• Website maintenance (If you will be posting anything about the program on your website, someone will have to do it. Even if it’s a staff member, it’s still a direct program expense.)
• A small amount (around $200 to $500 or 1 percent of the total direct expenses) for “contingency,” which sounds better than “miscellaneous”
WORDS TO THE WISE
Be prepared not only to justify expenses if asked, but also to spend them. Many funders will ask that when reporting to them you compare actual costs line by line with your budget and explain any discrepancies of as little as 10 percent. Everyone at your charity involved with the program should understand that not spending one budget line does not give him more money to spend in another one.
If a company will be donating supplies or free travel, you should include these items in your expense budget. (It would look odd if they were missing.) You might want to separate out these in-kind expenses so the funder can easily compare them with the corresponding amount you include in the income section of your budget.
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