Developing a Budget

Begin preparations a month or more before the close of the current year.
Prepare an outline of the organization's planned activities for the coming year.
Do careful studies, investigations and research of funding, cost, and resources.
Determine available funds (carry over balance from previous year, cash on hand, account funds, etc.).
Estimate expected income and when it is expected to be available (dues, sales, etc.)
Define needed expenses (advertising, rentals, printing, supplies, etc.)
Get price quotations on big expenditures; delegate responsibilities to members.
Rank order by their relative importance (which activities/programs are the wisest expenditure of funds).
Choose programs to initiate; ask yourselves how much is available to allocate.
Negotiate as necessary; eliminate or limit less essential expenditures.
Revise, review, coordinate, cross-reference and then assemble into a final budget; the budget must be flexible to anticipate conditions that might have been overlooked during planning.
Vote to approve budget.