{
 "schema": "aiblocks-page/1",
 "id": "nonprofit-operating-budget-planner",
 "type": "skill",
 "name": "Nonprofit operating budget planner",
 "summary": "Share past costs, funding plans and program needs. Get a draft budget with clear totals and rules for shared costs.",
 "headline": "Nonprofit operating budget planner",
 "subhead": "Bring prior costs, expected funding and program plans. Build a draft budget by program, show shared-cost rules and prepare a board summary with open assumptions.",
 "job": {
  "id": "plan-budgets-and-cash",
  "name": "Plan budgets, costs and cash flow"
 },
 "level": "intermediate",
 "thinking": "medium",
 "tested": true,
 "updated": "2026-10-28",
 "first_published": "2026-10-25",
 "inputs": [
  {
   "type": "business_profile",
   "required": true,
   "label": "Business profile",
   "what": "a sourced business profile with buyer, offer, activation, growth goal, stage and limits; missing private metrics remain unknown"
  },
  {
   "type": "performance_sheet",
   "required": true,
   "label": "Performance sheet",
   "what": "ad or store performance export for a closed date window, with definitions"
  },
  {
   "type": "plan",
   "required": true,
   "label": "Plan",
   "what": "a dated plan: what to do, in what order, with a decision rule for each step"
  }
 ],
 "outputs": [
  {
   "type": "spreadsheet",
   "required": true,
   "label": "Spreadsheet",
   "what": "a spreadsheet with its data, formulas and charts"
  },
  {
   "type": "document",
   "required": true,
   "label": "Document",
   "what": "a finished document, such as a Word file, a PDF or a page of notes"
  }
 ],
 "you_give": [
  "Your prior-year actual income and costs",
  "Your expected grants, gifts and other income, with any renewal notes",
  "Your program list and staffing plan with salaries and FTEs (full-time equivalents)",
  "Your shared costs and how you split them, such as headcount or square footage",
  "Your fiscal year end and board meeting dates (optional)"
 ],
 "you_get": [
  "A budget assumptions memo you can hand to the finance committee",
  "Income and expense budgets tied to named sources and programs",
  "A split of costs into program, management and fundraising, with the method stated",
  "A one-page board summary showing net result and reserve impact",
  "A budget calendar and a variance report template"
 ],
 "use_when": [
  "Your board wants next year's budget and you are starting from last year's numbers.",
  "Your funding has dropped or changed and adding a small percent to everything will not work.",
  "A funder or board member asks how you split shared costs between programs and overhead.",
  "You need a one-page budget summary and a calendar for the finance committee."
 ],
 "skip_when": [
  "You need audited year-end statements or a functional expense statement: ask your auditor or accountant, since this item only plans the year ahead.",
  "You need a reserve target or a month-by-month cash forecast: use a reserves and cash flow plan from your finance lead or accountant.",
  "You need a formal indirect cost rate for a federal or foundation grant: work with your grants accountant or your funder's finance contact."
 ],
 "output_sample": {
  "input": [
   "Your prior-year actual income and costs",
   "Your expected grants and gifts, and any renewal notes",
   "Your program list and staffing plan with salaries",
   "How you split shared costs, such as headcount or square footage",
   "Your fiscal year end and board meeting dates (optional)"
  ],
  "output": [
   {
    "name": "Budget assumptions memo",
    "contains": "One page of written assumptions: pay rises, benefit costs, grant renewals and losses, new programs, and the budgeting method chosen."
   },
   {
    "name": "Revenue detail by source",
    "contains": "Each income line tied to a named source or stated assumption, weighted by how likely it is."
   },
   {
    "name": "Expense detail by category and program",
    "contains": "Costs by type, such as salaries and rent, each tagged to a program or department."
   },
   {
    "name": "Functional expense summary",
    "contains": "Costs split into program, management and general, and fundraising, with the basis for each shared-cost split."
   },
   {
    "name": "Board budget summary",
    "contains": "One page showing income by source, costs by function, net result and reserve impact, with detail as an appendix."
   },
   {
    "name": "Budget calendar",
    "contains": "Work-back dates from your board vote, with owners for each step."
   },
   {
    "name": "Variance report template",
    "contains": "A monthly or quarterly budget-versus-actual layout with a limit that triggers a written explanation."
   }
  ]
 },
 "how_to_use": [
  "Gather your prior-year actuals, grant award letters, staffing plan and shared-cost figures first.",
  "Open Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini and paste in the skill instructions. No code, files or paid tools are needed.",
  "Paste your numbers and say which fiscal year you are budgeting. Name any big changes, such as a lost grant or new program.",
  "Check the budgeting method and assumptions your AI picks. Correct any it got wrong before it builds the tables.",
  "Look for anything marked missing and fill it in. Check that every shared-cost split has a stated basis.",
  "Have your finance lead review the draft before it goes to the board. The board adopts this, so errors carry through the year."
 ],
 "checks": [],
 "next": [
  {
   "name": "Project completion funding checker",
   "url": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/completion-funding-gap-checker",
   "why": "Project completion funding checker"
  },
  {
   "name": "Construction funding schedule planner",
   "url": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/construction-funding-draw-planner",
   "why": "Construction funding schedule planner"
  },
  {
   "name": "Construction completion funding reviewer",
   "url": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/construction-funding-evidence-reviewer",
   "why": "Construction completion funding reviewer"
  }
 ],
 "source": {
  "by": "sector-skills",
  "repo": "sector-skills/nonprofit-skills",
  "url": "https://github.com/sector-skills/nonprofit-skills/tree/7d8a2ca9d471fc975d0e9ccd02fcdd66520fd1c8/nonprofit-skills-library/skills/finance-operations/nonprofit-budgeting",
  "licence": "MIT",
  "original_name": "nonprofit-budgeting",
  "commit": "7d8a2ca9d471fc975d0e9ccd02fcdd66520fd1c8"
 },
 "credits": [
  {
   "title": "nonprofit-budgeting skill",
   "by": "sector-skills",
   "url": "https://github.com/sector-skills/nonprofit-skills/tree/7d8a2ca9d471fc975d0e9ccd02fcdd66520fd1c8/nonprofit-skills-library/skills/finance-operations/nonprofit-budgeting",
   "used": "Original instructions and supporting files, with attribution and the MIT licence. Display copy describes the task."
  },
  {
   "title": "AI Blocks catalogue guidance",
   "by": "AI Blocks",
   "url": "https://useaiblocks.com",
   "used": "We added Before you start and After this sections that link to other AI Blocks steps. We refreshed those generated sections from the catalogue inputs and next-step links."
  }
 ],
 "files": [
  "LICENSE"
 ],
 "links": {
  "page": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner",
  "markdown": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner.md",
  "json": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner.json",
  "instructions": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner/SKILL.md",
  "download": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner.zip",
  "api_item": "https://useaiblocks.com/api/v1/items/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner",
  "api_document": "https://useaiblocks.com/api/v1/documents/skill/nonprofit-operating-budget-planner",
  "mcp": "https://useaiblocks.com/mcp"
 }
}