What kind of face do you find yourself making when you hear the word "budget?" Is it the same face you make when it's time to go to the dentist? In an ideal world, artists would love if they didn't have to budget and instead create freely, indulging in unchecked amounts of chocolate and coffee along the way. But in this world, creating a budget for your artistic project, however painful it might seem at first, can actually bring you some ease – and maybe even a fresh smile – as you work toward your goal with the knowledge that you don't have any unexpected cavities that need filling.
For artists, budgets are more than just the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a particular purpose. It's a story that reflects the ultimate cost of the finished project if it were designed with the materials and techniques it needs for the best results. At the scale of an organization or company, a budget also reflects your values: how much do you value community engagement? How progressive are your family leave policies? What’s a livable wage for your lowest paid employees? Here are some ways a budget can assist you in writing that story.
A budget works as a guideline for your spending. Where are you spending the most? Where are you spending the least? Does your current spending match your initial plans?
Researching costs and product quality is a built-in step of creating a budget (more on that below). If you're winging it financially, especially if you’re in a time crunch, you're more likely to make impulse buys and overspend.
When applying for grants, some applications require a project budget. Funders will be curious about how much money is needed for a project and how it will be spent, especially as they consider which projects to fund.
There are a variety of reasons your budget may change over time. You might receive a grant that gives you access to more funds, or you might decide to stage your project in a less expensive city. Luckily, your budget is a living document that can evolve to keep your spending aims nimble.
Listing all the costs you feel your project will require can feel daunting, and you might even fear that doing so will somehow talk you out of doing the project in the first place. But that’s not what good budgeting is meant to do. Here’s how to create a budget that can expand, as opposed to limit, what you are envisioning for your endeavor.
Begin with a list of resources you think you need to complete the project. Avoid worrying about the funds you think you can secure at this point. Instead, concentrate on acquiring the quality you need. Keep track of where those prices came from (a “Notes” column with hyperlinks can do wonders) so you can return to them when you're ready to make purchases. List every resource you can image, including venues, technology, equipment, and staff and contractors.
Pro tip: Your initial list should be exhaustive and include things you think you can get for free. During the research process, don't worry about negotiating deals. Instead, get the most informed pricing estimates possible. You’re trying to get a lay of the land to see what exists already. If you do end up negotiating prices, you will do it after you’ve conducted enough research to know how much you should be paying for a particular resource.
When refining your budget, it helps to create multiple versions. As you shop, compose these three budgets that will help you find a variety of ways to determine what you'll actually spend.
Use separate sheets within one spreadsheet document to keep all your budgets labeled and in one place for quick reference.
As you tackle your resource list, it's essential to compare costs and quality for a practical choice. You don't want to concentrate on price only for the lowest or highest version.
For example, if you need a camera to document a dance performance, you wouldn’t want to just look at the cameras used to make the biggest blockbusters or confine yourself to shooting on your phone. You’d want to consider the cameras in between. Research the range of costs for the resource then select a price in the "high middle." This approach will help you reach the most likely amount an item will cost as opposed to the cheapest or most expensive. Aiming high gives you the opportunity to make purchases under budget instead of planning low and ending up overspending.
Pro tip: Don’t go too cheap. Cheap items might be inexpensive at the register, but they can cost you in the long run. Low-cost items can be poorly made and typically cost you more time and money in the form of increased labor. Mindful purchases can save people time and labor, helping your team avoid burnout. Cheap supplies can lead to exhaustion, skipped steps, and poor work, undermining the final product.
When you reach the final dollar amount for every resource you’ve already identified, the number will likely be higher than expected. Don't panic. It's part of the process, and now you can make adjustments.
Perhaps the most important part of the editing process is to let go of the guilt. Your work is valuable and deserves to be properly resourced. Don't cut corners to save a few dollars.
Give the project (and yourself) the respect it deserves by doing it the way it needs to be done. Numbers don't have feelings. Even the most outrageously priced items don't feel guilty for costing too much. Make adjustments as the project requires it.
Just like your art is honed and crafted in the studio (literal or metaphorically speaking) before you present it to the public, your budget also needs a space to develop, change, and evolve.
Budgets are not just for internal use. When you seek help from institutions as part of a grant application or partnership proposal, you'll be required to submit a version of your budget for an external audience — one who is not actually participating in the project, but has a vested interest in how much money is needed and where it will be spent.
Pro tip: Adjust your budget to account for the funds you hope to receive as a result of the application. Sometimes including two versions of a budget in an application can be useful. By showing a "full budget" and a "grant budget" side-by-side, funders can see how much, and which areas, of a full project they would be supporting. For example, if a funder has a tech focus, highlight that their funds would cover all your technical equipment and subscriptions, rather than artist stipends.
While your external budgets will be dictated by the most updated version of your working (internal) budget, each one you use will be slightly different if you're seeking help from multiple organizations. It's okay to have tweaked versions of your official (external) budget, but it's vital to keep track of every external budget you create and the institution you submitted it to.
Your internal budget is the budget you've created and will update as you start turning your creative vision into reality. It’s a living document. It's your working budget that reflects purchases as you make them and signed contracts as funds become available.
While your internal budget is the most accurate representation of your actual budget, it remains internal because outside sources don't need to be updated every time you make a purchase or secure additional funding.
Your working budget provides you with the accurate tracking you need to create a final report of funds received for your donors or grantmakers.
Like good dental hygiene, budgeting is a way to maintain the health and stability of your creative projects. You'll never hear your dentist say, "We're all done here! Best of luck going forward!" at the end of your visit, but if you hear the words, "See you in six months," you'll know that you have set yourself up well and all your hard work has been paying off.