Budgets

Create grant budgets as downloadable Excel spreadsheets — with formulas, input tabs, and matching fund calculations.

Overview

Ask the AI to build a budget and it generates a real .xlsx file with working formulas, not just a text table. The spreadsheets typically include a funder-facing Budget tab and an Inputs tab with editable assumptions so you can adjust numbers without breaking anything.

Every organization structures budgets differently — top-down, bottom-up, percentage-based, itemized line items. The more context the agent has about how your organization does it, the closer the output will match your style.

Examples

Basic — Just tell it what you need:

"Make me a $50,000 budget for a community gardens program."

The agent will generate a clean budget with standard nonprofit line items (personnel, fringe, supplies, overhead, etc.) based on common grant budget patterns.

Intermediate — Add matching funds and references:

"Create a $50,000 budget with matching funds. Look through our Google Drive for past budgets to use as a formatting reference."

The agent searches your connected integrations and Reference Materials for prior budget examples, then follows your organization's structure — fringe rates, overhead percentages, how you categorize line items.

Advanced — Pull from multiple sources:

"Build a $50,000 budget for the Smith Foundation application. Include matching funds by looking at our Airtable for what other grants are funding our community garden this year. Use the specific line items from the application document I'm looking at right now."

This combines budget generation with live data from integrations — the agent can cross-reference secured grants, pull line items from an RFP, and structure the matching fund narrative accordingly.

What You Get

  • Budget tab — Clean, funder-ready spreadsheet with line items, amounts, and totals
  • Inputs tab — Editable assumptions (fringe rates, overhead percentage, hourly rates) with formulas that flow through to the Budget tab
  • Matching fund calculations — Cash match, in-kind match, and verification formulas that tie out
  • PDF version — Downloadable alongside the Excel file

Tips

  1. Connect your integrations — If your past budgets live in Google Drive or SharePoint, enabling the integration lets the agent study how you've done it before. Every organization has its own nuances (departments, project codes, indirect cost rates) and the only way the agent learns that is by looking at your actual files.
  2. Use memories — If you have standing budget rules (e.g., "always use 22% fringe" or "overhead is capped at 10% for federal grants"), save them as memories so the agent applies them automatically.
  3. Iterate on formatting — The first budget may not perfectly match your style. Give feedback ("use the same format as our Meyer Foundation budget" or "add a column for cost per participant") and the agent will adjust.
  4. Be specific about matching — Tell the agent exactly what counts as match. "Include $5,000 cash match from our operating budget and $3,000 in-kind from volunteer hours at $30/hr" gives much better results than just "include matching funds."