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Becoming a Line Item in an Existing Budget

Becoming a Line Item in an Existing Budget. What do we mean by becoming a line item in an existing budget?. A line item is one expense category, with the expense attached, in a formal budget. In the situation we're describing here, the expense category would be your organization.

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Becoming a Line Item in an Existing Budget

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  1. Becoming a Line Item in an Existing Budget

  2. What do we mean by becoming a line item in an existing budget? • A line item is one expense category, with the expense attached, in a formal budget. In the situation we're describing here, the expense category would be your organization .

  3. When might you try to become a line item in an existing budget? • You might have been a successful pilot program • Your successful program might have been defunded • You may be a new or unique service • Your funder may have gone out of business, or had its funds transferred elsewhere. • The state or municipality may simply no longer be interested in your issue • You may not have the personnel resources to keep finding and applying for the small grants and contracts that have kept you going so far • You may be seeking to stabilize your funding so that you can turn your energies to service to the community and the target population.

  4. Why would you want to become a line item in an existing budget? • Local government budgets • Your organization will stay alive and continue to operate. • You'll get a chunk of stable funding that you don't have to compete for every year. • You'll gain the attention and protection of the official who put you in the budget. • Having stable funding may allow you to be more creative in what you do • Organizational budgets • It provides you with a stable source of funding. • It can free you to be creative, rather than tying you to the whims of a funder . • It can free you from administrative drudgery • It can expand the range of services • It can leave you with a mutually beneficial collaborative relationship with the other organization. • It establishes you as a partner of a larger organization

  5. How do you become a line item in an existing budget? • A free-form guide to becoming a line item in a local government budget • Know the budget process inside out • Know which individuals and groups are really the keys to the process • Establish personal contact - ideally, personal relationships - with those key individuals and groups • Convince or remind these people and groups of the importance of what your organization does • Once you've made your contacts, keep track of the budget process, and keep gently making your point to anyone who's involved in it • An even more free-form guide to becoming a line item in an organizational budget • Consider carefully the mission, philosophy, methods, target population, etc . of the organization you're considering • Make personal contacts at more than one level of the organizations • Think about what each organization can offer the other • Establish mutual trust before you enter into any agreement • Work out any agreement carefully beforehand • Put it in writing

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