Writing a budget
Advice and guidance to help you with your application
We know a budget can be tricky, but it’s also incredibly useful for focusing and understanding your plans. Use your timeline as a prompt while you work through this, making sure you account for all costs at each step.
Funding sources
This is where you itemise where all the required funds for your activities will come from. This will include the amount you are requesting from Help Musicians, as well as any personal income or revenue from other sources.
You might find it useful to create a rough draft of your expenditure first (see below), so you have an idea of how much funding you need before you start.
What should I include?
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Start with the amount you are requesting from Help Musicians
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Calculate how much personal income you and your band (if applicable) are prepared to put in
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Include any other revenue sources— awards, grants, ticket sales, album sales, merch sales, etc. These can be estimates if you are not sure what the exact figures will be
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Indicate in the Notes field whether or not the funding is confirmed. While it is of course a bonus to have all your funding confirmed, don’t hesitate to include funding which is still pending. This demonstrates to the panel that you have identified realistic avenues through which to obtain the funding you need.
Example:
Expenditure
This is an itemised and costed list of everything your budget will be spent on. Make sure your costs are based on recent research and include names of key collaborators where you know which people/organisations you will be working with. Your expenditure total should equal your ‘funding sources’ total so you have a complete budget. Equipment costs should not make up more than 50% of your total ask from Help Musicians.
What should I include?
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Check through your timeline, and compile a full list of what you will need to spend money on at each stage.
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Research costs, get up-to-date quotes for everything, and include these along with the name of the company or collaborator you will be working with.
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Clearly indicate which items will be covered or part-covered by support from Help Musicians.
Example:
