Creating an Initiative Budget and Tracking Expenses

This section discusses how to:

Create a budget.
Track budget expenses.

You can create a simple expense budget for an initiative. A budget can be broken down into budget categories, and a portion of the budget can be allocated to each category. In addition, you can track specific expenses associated with the initiative.

Note:

Your Contributor Relations budget system does not support links to your institution's financial system.

Pages Used to Create a Budget and Track Expenses

Page Name	Definition Name	Navigation	Usage
Budget	AV_INTV_CMPGN_BDGT AV_INTV_EVNT_BDGT AV_INTV_MEMBR_BDGT AV_INTV_VOL_BDGT AV_INTV_OTHR_BDGT	Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Membership Initiatives, and then Membership Budget Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Volunteer Initiatives, and then Manage Volunteer Initiatives, and then Volunteer Budget Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Event Initiatives, and then Manage Events, and then Event Budget Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Other Initiatives, and then Manage Other Initiatives, and then Other Initiative Budget	Create a simple expense budget for an initiative.
Budget Detail	AV_INTV_CMPGN_BDTL AV_INTV_EVNT_BDTL AV_INTV_MEMBR_BDTL AV_INTV_VOL_BDTL AV_INTV_OTHR_BDTL	Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget Detail Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Membership Initiatives, and then Membership Budget Detail Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Volunteer Initiatives, and then Manage Volunteer Initiatives, and then Volunteer Budget Detail Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Event Initiatives, and then Manage Events, and then Event Budget Detail Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Other Initiatives, and then Manage Other Initiatives, and then Other Initiative Budget Detail	Track the specific expenses for an initiative.

Page Name

Definition Name

Navigation

Usage

Budget

AV_INTV_CMPGN_BDGT

AV_INTV_EVNT_BDGT

AV_INTV_MEMBR_BDGT

AV_INTV_VOL_BDGT

AV_INTV_OTHR_BDGT

Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Membership Initiatives, and then Membership Budget
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Volunteer Initiatives, and then Manage Volunteer Initiatives, and then Volunteer Budget
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Event Initiatives, and then Manage Events, and then Event Budget
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Other Initiatives, and then Manage Other Initiatives, and then Other Initiative Budget

Create a simple expense budget for an initiative.

Budget Detail

AV_INTV_CMPGN_BDTL

AV_INTV_EVNT_BDTL

AV_INTV_MEMBR_BDTL

AV_INTV_VOL_BDTL

AV_INTV_OTHR_BDTL

Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget Detail
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Membership Initiatives, and then Membership Budget Detail
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Volunteer Initiatives, and then Manage Volunteer Initiatives, and then Volunteer Budget Detail
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Event Initiatives, and then Manage Events, and then Event Budget Detail
Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Other Initiatives, and then Manage Other Initiatives, and then Other Initiative Budget Detail

Track the specific expenses for an initiative.

Creating a Budget

Access the Budget page (Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget).

You can break down a budget into budget categories and allocate a portion of the budget to each category.

Field or Control	Description
Overall Budget	Enter the total amount allocated as the expense budget for the initiative.
Budget Category	Enter the category to which you want to allocate a portion of the overall budget. Categories are defined by your institution using the Budget Table page. When you select a category, its description appears to the right of this field.
Category Budget	Enter the amount of the overall budget allocated to the category that you selected.

An error message appears if the total amount budgeted to specific categories does not equal the overall budget. You cannot save a budget that exceeds the overall budget.

WARNING:

The system does not prevent overspending of your budget. The Budget feature within Contributor Relations does not link to the Financials system.

Tracking Budget Expenses

Access the Budget Detail page (Contributor Relations, and then Initiatives, and then Campaign Initiatives, and then Manage Campaigns, and then Campaign Budget Detail).

Field or Control	Description
Budget Category	Select the category to which the expense or refund is assigned. Only those budget categories defined for the initiative type you are working with appear.
Description	Describe the expense, entering up to 25 characters.
Appeal	(Optional) If the expense relates to a specific appeal, select the appropriate one. Appeals are defined by your institution using the Appeals page. The appeals from which you can select are determined by the setID associated with the business unit that you select for the initiative. You must link each expense with an appeal to accurately track expenses for that appeal.
Expense Amount	Enter the amount of the expense. If you are entering a refund from a vendor, enter the item as a negative number.

WARNING:

When you save this page, a warning message appears if the total of the expenses exceeds the overall budget. However, click the OK button on the warning dialog box to save the budget detail. The system does not prevent you from overspending your budget.