Member Responsibilities: How to Be An Effective Member
Basic Elements to look for when reading an agency budget:
Review Financial performance
Look for major sources of income and expenses
if the organization relies on donations and grants for income, then expenses may include funds for fundraising.
Do they have enough income to support their objectives
Are they using their resources effectively?
How much are they paying their staff (does their overhead look reasonable)?
Are there any anomalies that stand out and why? (Perhaps due to changes in how they allocated their resources?)
Forms we require and what you need to know about them:
Most recent Year End Summary Balance Sheet (=Assets and Liabilities)
A snapshot of what the agency owns and owes. It summarizes their financial standing.
Profit and Loss Statement (=Income and Expense Statement)
Shows how much profit or loss was generated by the agency. It provides insight into the cash flow of the company and shows where money is coming from and where it is used.
A Recent Agency Budget
Shows what they have spent versus what they had budgeted (=planned to spend)
Project Budget
Your grant request for your specific project needs it’s own budget that shows the details of what the project is going to cost and where the money is expected to come from.
Please feel free to reach out to Dave R. or Tracy if you have any questions about how to read an agency budget or even a MBTF budget!
