Budget

The National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) provides funding for specific, time-limited crime prevention through social development (CPSD) projects. The following information has been assembled as a guide for applicants when building the budget for their project proposals.

• Eligible expenses
• Ineligible costs
• Definitions
• Estimating In-kind contributions
• Budget example

Eligible expenses

Only expenses directly related to approved project activities are eligible and can include:

• Personnel
  Salaries and benefits of project employees, contract fees, trainers, consultants
• Transportation
  Mileage, travel expenses for project activities
• Materials
  Publication expenses, printing, photocopying, distribution expenses, office supplies, and specialized project supplies and materials
• Equipment
  Purchase or rental of equipment, including computers, photocopiers, fax machines, audio-visual equipment and furniture as needed to complete project activities. Cost effectiveness should be considered when deciding to purchase or rent an item. Purchase costs are limited to a maximum of $5,000 per item and are not to exceed 10% of the total budget.
• Rent/utilities
  The rental of space, as well as electricity, heating, insurance, and maintenance
• Evaluation
  Data collection and analysis, contract fees for third-party. NCPC recommends that 10% of the project budget be allocated towards evaluation activities.
• Other
  The production of annual audited statements, translation and interpretation, training or professional development.

Developing partnerships is essential as it is expected that organizations and community partners will contribute to the cost of the project, financially or through donations of materials, supplies or services. If applicable, organizations must work to find other sources of funding for activities that will continue beyond NCPC funding.

Note: Administrative costs should not exceed 15% of the total project costs.

Ineligible costs

• Operational or core expenses or ongoing programs -- activities that are normally carried out as part of an organization’s regular operation or responsibilities
• Hospitality including the provision of beverages and light snacks, meals and sometimes entertainment to guests
• Reimbursement of the cost of developing the NCPC application/proposal
• Construction, renovation or purchasing of buildings, land or vehicles
• Major capital purchases that cost more than $5,000 per item
• Staff bonuses
• Duplication of existing programs or services

Definitions

In-kind donation: The time, services, supplies, materials, or other resources necessary to run the project that individuals or organizations donate. These are items that you would have to buy if they were not given to you. Please indicate approximately how much you would have to pay if you had to buy these items or services

Confirmed contribution: The amount of money or other materials/services that an individual or organization guarantees for the project. For example, if an organization gave you a computer for your project, this contribution would be considered confirmed and would be added in the "in-kind donation confirmed" column of your budget. If an organization gave you $2,500 to spend on office supplies, this would go under "confirmed financial contribution." (Please refer to the budget example.)

Unconfirmed contribution: The amount of money or materials/services your organization has requested from another organization but that have not been confirmed by that organization. For example, you have asked an organization to give you office supplies for your project. You are still waiting for their answer. This amount would appear in the "in-kind contribution, unconfirmed" column of your budget. If you have asked a group for $1,200 to spend on photocopying and you are waiting for a reply, this would go under "financial contribution, unconfirmed." (Please refer to the budget example.)

Estimating In-kind contributions

The following are examples of in-kind contributions included in the budget example. This shows how to estimate the value of in-kind contributions.

An organization gives you a Pentium III computer with software for the project. Estimate the approximate value of the donation ($3,000) and add it to the "In-kind donation, Confirmed" column of your budget. The estimated worth is based on what you think is the approximate value of the donation. In this example, we could estimate the worth of the contribution at $3,000. Please write the name of the organization donating the item beside the amount in your budget. Put your calculations in the left-hand column under the item.

A community group commits to volunteering 20 hours of their time toward the project. To estimate how much this confirmed "In-Kind Donation" is worth; calculate how much you would have to pay for this time if they were not giving it to you for free. For example:

• Total hours volunteered X hourly rate = total value of donation
• 20 hours X $10 per hour = $200

You contacted the local police to help deliver several workshops but you have not yet heard back from them. As in the second example, you calculate the total number of hours volunteered by the hourly rate of an officer.

For example:

• Total days volunteered X daily rate = total value of officers’ time
• 10 days X $200 per day = $2,000

In this example, the contribution is not confirmed, so it appears in the "In-kind donation, Unconfirmed" column of the budget.

These same rules can be applied to the financial contributions column of your project’s budget.

We have taken the three examples listed above and incorporated them into the budget example below. The example is meant to give you an idea of how these amounts should appear in your budget.

External consultant
fees($4,500)

Budget Notes:

• List how much money you are asking from the NCPC for each budget line under "NCPC $ requested"
• List the source of the financial or in-kind donation under the amount for each item. (*)
• NCPS staff may ask you when your "unconfirmed" contributions or donations will be finalized. (**)