Sample Nonprofit Budget: An Annotated Example for Executive Directors

Most budget templates hand you empty boxes. Below is a sample nonprofit budget filled in for an illustrative community youth program of about $400,000, with notes on the lines where an executive director’s judgment matters most and the question to ask about each. It is a composite with round numbers, and none of the figures belong to the Center for Nonprofit Coaching or any real nonprofit. Copy the tables straight into a spreadsheet, with no email or download needed. For the wider picture, start with the nonprofit financial management guide.

What Does a Sample Nonprofit Budget Look Like?

A sample nonprofit budget lists every expected source of revenue and every category of expense for one fiscal year, then shows the difference. The illustrative operating budget below plans $405,000 of revenue against $395,000 of expenses and sets the $10,000 surplus aside for an operating reserve.

Illustrative sample: a composite community youth program that runs an after-school program and a summer program.

Revenue comes first, grouped by source. Expenses follow by category, and the last line shows where the surplus goes.

In-kind gifts appear on both sides: the $15,000 of donated space is revenue and part of rent, so it enlarges the budget without adding cash. The cash budget is $390,000 of revenue and $380,000 of expenses. Confirm with your accountant how to record and value in-kind contributions.

What Should a Leader Notice, Line by Line?

A leader should notice the lines that rest on an assumption rather than a signed agreement, and the lines where timing or a funder’s restriction limits how the money can be used. For each one, bring a question to your bookkeeper or treasurer before the board sees the draft.

• Restricted foundation grants ($110,000). This money pays only for the purpose each funder chose, so it cannot cover a rent increase. Ask: which restricted grants end this year, and what replaces them?
• City contract ($90,000). Here the city reimburses 60 to 90 days after the money is spent, so two or three months of costs wait on each check. Ask: how much will we spend before the first payment arrives?
• Individual giving ($85,000). If last year brought in $70,000, this line assumes about 21% growth. Ask: what supports the increase, such as new donors, a campaign or a board commitment?
• Salaries, taxes and benefits ($264,000). Two-thirds of expenses here, a fact about this organization rather than a standard. Ask: does the line include every planned raise, and is any role unpaid or underpaid?
• Professional fees ($18,000). Bookkeeping, payroll service and an outside accountant’s annual review. Ask: does a funder or our state require an audit this year, and is it budgeted?
• Staff and leadership development ($4,000). The Center for Nonprofit Coaching sees one pattern constantly in coaching applications: the development budget is whatever remains after program expenses. A named line protects it. See how nonprofits fund coaching from an existing budget.
• Contingency ($8,000). About 2% of expenses in this sample. No standard figure exists, so size it to how much of your revenue is still unconfirmed. Ask: what would we cut first if a grant slipped?
• Planned surplus to reserve ($10,000). The Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2025 survey found that 36% of nonprofits ended 2024 with an operating deficit and 52% held three months of cash or less. Ask: how many months of expenses do our unrestricted reserves cover?

What Does the Budget Look Like by Function?

By function, the same $395,000 splits into program services, management and general, and fundraising. Those are the three functional columns in Part IX of Form 990, which 501(c)(3) organizations that file that return must complete, and the split funders look at when they ask about overhead.

Here, $262,000 (66%) goes to program services, $91,000 (23%) to management and general and $42,000 (11%) to fundraising. The shares describe this organization. Contingency is spread by expected use, and once spent, each cost goes to the function it serves.

The IRS instructions for Form 990 place the chief executive’s salary in management and general unless part of that time goes to directly supervising programs or fundraising, and they accept any reasonable allocation method the organization documents. An executive director who runs the after-school program two afternoons a week should count that share of salary as program services. At year-end the same split appears as the statement of functional expenses, covered in how to read nonprofit financial statements.

What Does a Program Budget Example Show?

A program budget example shows what one program costs in full: its direct costs plus a share of shared costs such as rent, technology and management. In this sample, the after-school program’s direct costs are $152,000, and its full cost is $244,000 once shared costs are split by each program’s share of direct costs.

Shared costs total $133,000: all of management and general plus the program side of rent, technology, development and contingency. This program has $152,000 of the $220,000 in program direct costs (69%), so it carries $92,000. Program revenue of $205,000 covers its direct costs with room to spare, which is why it can look self-funding. Counted in full, it needs $39,000 of general operating money.

For federal awards, including federal money passed through a state or city, an organization without a negotiated rate can charge indirect costs of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs under 2 CFR 200.414. If all $152,000 of salaries, benefits, instructors and supplies falls in that base under the award’s terms, the limit is $22,800, a fraction of the $92,000 of shared costs this program carries. Which costs a funder treats as direct is a question for your accountant. For a funder-format example, see a coaching line item in a grant budget.

How Does the Budget Change With Organization Size?

The categories stay the same as a nonprofit grows, while the lines split apart. A $150,000 budget merges roles and leans on unpaid time, a $400,000 budget looks like the sample above, and a $1.5 million budget adds separate finance and development staff, program budgets and, where rules require one, an audit.

• About $150,000. Applicants to the Center for Nonprofit Coaching describe budgets near this size plainly: “We have a $100K budget with three highly underpaid part-time staff members including myself.” Lines merge: payroll and contractors may share one, and space may be donated. Ask what the budget would be if every role were paid fairly, because that is the real cost of the work.
• About $400,000. The sample above: several staff, a part-time bookkeeper and an annual review. Its restricted grants and reimbursed contract make cash timing worth a monthly check.
• About $1.5 million. Finance and development staff get their own salary lines and each program carries its own budget. Audit needs follow funder terms, state law and federal awards: a nonprofit that spends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards in a year must have a single audit. State and funder audit rules vary, so ask your accountant which apply.

The smaller the budget, the more of its real cost sits in hours nobody is paid for.

How Do You Adapt This Sample Budget?

Adapt a sample budget by keeping its structure and replacing its numbers with your own evidence: last year’s actual results, signed grant agreements, and written assumptions for everything not yet promised. Then check the draft against the timing of your cash before the board sees it.

1. Copy the line structure and delete the lines you do not use.
2. Put last year’s actual figure beside every line, so growth is visible.
3. Write down the three assumptions that carry the most money, with the evidence for each.
4. Set the contingency and reserve lines before you balance the last expenses.
5. After approval, compare budget with actual every month.

What Will Your Board Ask About the Budget?

Your board will ask what the revenue assumptions rest on, what happens if the largest one fails, and whether the budget adds to reserves. Bring last year’s actual results beside each line, a short note on the biggest assumptions, and the payment timing of any grant that reimburses after you spend.

A cover note for the sample might read: “This budget plans $405,000 of revenue and $395,000 of expenses, with $10,000 set aside for the operating reserve. The largest assumption is individual giving at $85,000, up from $70,000 last year, supported by two donor events the board has agreed to host. If the city pays late, we will hold summer program purchases until the reimbursement arrives.”

Budget season is when many leaders look for a thinking partner: applications to the Center for Nonprofit Coaching are consistently strongest in the fourth quarter (27 in late 2024, 24 in late 2025). Coaching stops where accounting starts. When a leader needs technical work, such as restructuring a chart of accounts, we say so during matching.

Coaching works on the leader’s side: which assumption to defend, which line to cut and how to present the numbers. That is the focus of coaching for executive directors who carry the finances. Six sessions cost $300, $400 or $600 by organization size, because volunteer coaches donate their time and keep fees 85%+ below market rate.

This week, find the individual giving line in your current budget and compare it with what arrived last year. Write down one question about the gap and bring it to your bookkeeper.

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