Ask at fundsforNGOs

Grants and Resources for Sustainability

  • Subscribe for Free
  • Premium Sign in
  • Premium Sign up
  • Home
  • Funds for NGOs
    • Agriculture, Food and Nutrition
    • Animals and Wildlife
    • Arts and Culture
    • Children
    • Civil Society
    • Community Development
    • COVID
    • Democracy and Good Governance
    • Disability
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Employment and Labour
    • Environmental Conservation and Climate Change
    • Family Support
    • Healthcare
    • HIV and AIDS
    • Housing and Shelter
    • Humanitarian Relief
    • Human Rights
    • Human Service
    • Information Technology
    • LGBTQ
    • Livelihood Development
    • Media and Development
    • Narcotics, Drugs and Crime
    • Old Age Care
    • Peace and Conflict Resolution
    • Poverty Alleviation
    • Refugees, Migration and Asylum Seekers
    • Science and Technology
    • Sports and Development
    • Sustainable Development
    • Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
    • Women and Gender
  • Funds for Companies
    • Accounts and Finance
    • Agriculture, Food and Nutrition
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Environment and Climate Change
    • Healthcare
    • Innovation
    • Manufacturing
    • Research Activities
    • Startups and Early-Stage
    • Sustainable Development
    • Technology
    • Travel and Tourism
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Funds for Media
    • All Media
    • Environment and Media
    • Filmmaking
    • Human Rights and Media
    • Innovation and Media
    • Journalism
    • Media Research
    • Technology and Media
    • Women and Media
    • Youth and Media
  • Funds for Individuals
    • All Individuals
    • Artists
    • Disabled Persons
    • LGBTQ Persons
    • PhD Holders
    • Researchers
    • Scientists
    • Students
    • Women
    • Writers
    • Youths
  • Sample Proposals
    • How to Apply
  • Contact
    • Submit Your Grant
    • About us
    • Q&A
You are here: Home / imp / How to calculate staff time in a project budget?

How to calculate staff time in a project budget?

In some project proposal formats, you may have come across ‘staff time’ or the number of ‘man-hours’ required in the project. Large donors are very meticulous about these details and require minute calculations for the money they are going to give to organizations. So they expect budgets to be clear to the last detail.

Salaries are a very sensitive part of the project budget – even for the donors. More and more funders are resisting allocating money for salaries and overheads. As they tend to become extremely controversial, it is important for NGOs to be absolutely transparent about this part of the budget. Donors would be happy to cover salaries if properly justified.

If you are calculating the project manager’s salary during the budgeting process, you can first ask yourself the number of hours the manager is expected to work in a day. You should reflect your local conditions and local market salary rate. Do not inflate salary costs unnecessarily as it would irritate donors very easily. To justify the donor that you are paying the salary as per the local market rate, you can refer to some examples like government salaries or other project salaries.

If your manager is expected to work 8 hours a day, then you can calculate the salary on per hour basis and the total on a monthly basis. You can mention the number of ‘man-hours’ the manager is expected to give in a month’s time and the unit as the per hour rate. Then you can mention the total salary of the manager.

Overhead costs refer to those expenses that are required by the organization to run its operations and they do not cover any direct expenses of project activities. However, they still form a part of many project budgets.

Overheads can include office rent, telephone expenses, accounting fees, salaries to the organizational staff, repairs, supplies, travel etc. During recent years, overheads have become an extremely issue for donors. The less you talk about it, the better but for smaller organizations without a strong financial background, the overheads are an important issue.

The question is now whether to include overheads or not in your project budget?

You should first refer to the proposal submission guidelines to find out if the donor agency allows you to include overhead or at least administrative expenses in your project. Some donors will only fund activities and will put a condition to grantees that they should not directly propose overheads to them or they should source this type of expenses from elsewhere.

If the donor does allow you to include overheads in the project budget, you can feel a bit relieved. However, now almost all types of donors want NGOs to specify a certain percentage of the overall project budget for overheads. In most cases, it should be 10%-15% but not more than that. Even if you mention it more than 10%, then you need to provide enormous justification.

Suppose your project is located in a very tough geographical landscape such as in remote mountains and you require spending a lot of time and resources on travelling, then an overhead expense above 10% is justified. But in most cases, where project conditions are easier, you should not request more than 8% of overheads.

Also, once your project is approved, there may be some scope for revising budgets, you can directly negotiate with the donor for slightly increasing the overhead costs.

cats

 

Can you update the list of grant opportunities to help NGOs create significant change in the Agricultural sector?

Any available grant to protect wildlife in Morocco?

How can Volunteers helps in raising funds?

Which Program supports Research, Experimentation in the Arts and Humanities in France?

How to develop Bye-laws for my NGO?

I am very passionate about youth mental health, is there any relevant opportunity available for me? 

How to set up 501(c) 3 non-profit in United States and what are its advantages?

The objective of which program is to provide clean and safe water?

Can you list some grant opportunities ending in the month of Aug/Sep?

Which NGOs are benefiting from the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund?

Can you list the open funding opportunities on Environment and Climate Change Issues?

What is Ukraine’s Social Action Project all about? How much will it fund?

What qualities are needed to attain great Leadership success?

I have articulated a proposal to address climate change in Malawi, but I don’t know where to submit it….. Is there any opportunity out there?

Is USAID offering funds to strengthen Teacher Education and Practice in Malawi?

What is ‘Direct Mail’ and how to use it as a fundraising strategy?

What is Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in Project Management?

If I wanted to join an NGO, What skills do I need to learn to become a viable candidate?

What areas of work will attract more funding and why?

Why are the concepts of transparency and accountability important for NGOs?

Some people say that crowdfunding is the best way to raise funds. What do you think about it?

Which award promotes Mental Health in Australia?

Hello! I recently started an NGO dealing with mental health in Tanzania. My question is do you know of organizations that sponsor mental health organizations for both projects and seed funding in Eastern Africa?

How to get involved with Multilateral Donors?

What is Core Funding and How to Get it?

How can I make a regular donor’s project visit the perfect one?

Does anyone know if there is any financial support for Pacific NGOs?

Has CDC Foundation issued any Request for Proposals, specifically for vaccine equity?

How much funding is available under the Tourism Australia’s Business Events Boost Program?

So that I don’t miss any deadlines, can you update the list of closing opportunities?

What is a Co-operative and what are its Salient Features? What are the types of Co-operative?

What to do if your grant proposal is rejected?

What is Ellucian Foundation’s PATH Scholarship Program all about?

We have produced taxol from leaves and twigs of Taxus plant found in Nepal. Is there any org that provides seed/start up fund for such activities or any investors willing to invest in this.

What career options are there in International NGOs?

What areas of work will attract Large Funding for NGOs?

What exactly does the Young Edmonton Grants Program support?

I am carrying out research in the field of cultural heritage at an African university, could you suggest a grant?

How much funding is available under Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (Georgia)?

My Project Ideas on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality needs funding, can you mention some opportunities for me?

Is there any possible grant for farmers in Africa, especially Nigeria?

Hurricane Eta has affected Central Americans to a great extent, are banks or other organisations doing something for it?

What are the things to be kept in mind before writing an effective Concept Note?

Which organization is providing essential humanitarian aid to victims of trafficking?

Which program recognizes organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the sustainable use of the world’s water resources?

Can you give me a list of management policies used by NGOs?

Is UKRI providing funding for Research to Improve UK Economic Productivity?

Is there any update about small farmers’ income getting a boost in Nepal?

Which projects the Pacific Development and Conservation Trust will fund for its grants program?

What are the aspects of accountability for an NGO?

All Rights Reserved © FUNDSFORNGOS, LLC. Unless otherwise specified, this website is not affiliated to any of the organizations mentioned above in any manner. The material provided here is solely for informational purposes only without any warranty. Visitors are advised to use it at their own discretion. FUNDSFORNGOS LLC 140 Broadway 46th Floor New York, NY 10005 United States. Privacy Policy

Subscribe to Get the Latest Q&A

Click here to Subscribe
We promise never to spam or share your information.

Go to mobile version