Your budget tells your story
Every line in your budget is a choice, a story about what your organization values most.
If you say your work is centered on building community, does your budget include resources for outreach, storytelling, or relationship-building? If you value transparency, are you investing in communication tools or clear reporting systems?
Try this: Write down your top three organizational priorities, then compare them to your largest spending categories. Do they line up? If not, it might be time to realign your numbers with your narrative.
When your budget tells the same story as your cause, donors and stakeholders will believe it because they’ll see your principles in action.
Invest in your people
Your team -- whether it’s staff, volunteers, board members or all of the above -- is your mission in action.
Investing in your people doesn’t just mean payroll (though that can be part of it); it means creating space for them to thrive. That could look like allocating resources for professional development, offering paid time off, or providing tools that make their work easier and more effective.
If you value collaboration, does your budget include opportunities for your team to connect and strategize together? If you value equity, are you compensating fairly across roles and responsibilities?
Turnover costs organizations a lot of money, and healthy teams create a stronger impact. When you can demonstrate care for the people doing the work, your vision grows stronger from the inside out.
Fund your infrastructure (it doesn't detract from your mission, it fuels it better)
Here’s a truth every nonprofit leader knows in their bones: funding your operations IS funding your mission. (say it louder for the people in the back!)
Your programs can’t run without solid systems behind them. Technology, marketing, and administration are what make an impact sustainable and efficient. Yet many organizations under-budget for these essentials because they worry donors will question “overhead.” It’s time to change that mindset because it’s costing organizations more than it’s saving them.
The consequence of under-investing in infrastructure? Equipment that breaks and costs you extra to repair. Manual data entry. Hours spent on managing little things that could have been spent on program work or community building.
If you value transparency, is your website up to date and accessible? If you value connection, are you investing in tools that help you reach and engage your community?
Think of infrastructure as your organization’s backbone, the part that keeps everything else standing strong.
Align spending with community outcomes
Every dollar should move you closer to impact, not just activity.
Instead of focusing only on line items like “printing flyers” or “hosting events,” connect those expenses to the outcomes they create. That might look like “educating 300 parents on early childhood resources” or “connecting 50 families to food assistance.”
This shift helps your team and your donors see how spending drives change, not just operations. When your budget demonstrates the real difference you’re making, it becomes a tool for storytelling and for building trust with your community.
Okay - So What About The Dreaded “Overhead?”
Look, I get it. So let’s set the record straight: overhead became a contentious word a few decades ago, but it’s super misunderstood. Somewhere along the way, we started conflating actual community impact with administrative spending ratios. But it turns out low overhead doesn't actually mean more impact.
For too long, nonprofits have been judged by how
little they spent on admin or fundraising, but the flaws in this mindset are coming to light and the
sector is shifting.
Low overhead doesn’t signal effectiveness; strong outcomes do. It’s all about the results your nonprofit gets. In fact,
studies have shown that organizations who don’t spend ENOUGH on infrastructure actually make LESS of an impact. It makes sense - a starving body doesn’t have enough fuel to run fast or far.
Things one might categorize as “overhead” are often important infrastructure instead (try getting from one place to the next safely without roads or traffic lights!). Things like management, fundraising, financial systems, HR, technology, and administrative support aren’t “unnecessary extras.” They’re the foundation that makes your programs possible. Funding your infrastructure is funding your mission. Strong operations = sustainable impact.
When your budget and vision align
When your beliefs, people, systems, and outcomes all align, it becomes more than a financial plan. It becomes a reflection of your vision. Every decision, no matter how small, moves you closer to a mission that’s sustainable, balanced, and deeply connected to the community you serve.
Try it this week 🚀
Take 10 minutes to review one part of your spending plan (staff, programs, or operations) and ask: Does this reflect what we value most?
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