Balancing Income and Expenses

Either the income and expense totals should equal one another, or income should be higher than expenses. It may be the case that the total of all income that is raised or revenue-driven is lower than the total of all expenses, but that’s when the institution’s general operating budget enters the picture. It makes up the difference so that all expenses are covered. If you have a surplus, those funds will give you a head start in the following year.

What goes in must come out. This means that any item expensed must be accounted for as income and vice versa.  For example, if you sell merchandise (income) at your contest, you first have to buy said merchandise (expense).  

Understanding Your Role and Limitations

Each Affiliate coordinator has different responsibilities in terms of budgeting and revenue generation. Each sponsoring organization has other policies related to fundraising and revenue.

• Am I responsible for managing my budget?

• When are budget projections due?

• Am I able to fundraise? Who do I work with to fundraise?

• What purchasing and/or revenue generation policies are in place at my organization?

Program budgets vary greatly between Affiliates. Excluding salaries, which skew the totals, many programs operate on less than $15,000 per year. A few at the higher end have budgets well over $200,000. But most are in the middle. The average is somewhere between $60,000-$75,000. 

It is often easier to think of the expenses broken down by time of year or aspect of the program. In general, keep the following categories of expenses in mind when planning:

Affiliation Fee to National Program

Contest Expenses

• Facility Rental

• Custodial Fees

• Equipment Rental (e.g., tables, chairs)

• AV Rental (e.g., laptops, projectors, projector screens)

• Awards

• Judges’ Thank-you Gift (usually something small, like a mug or t-shirt)

• Food and Beverage

• Printing/copying

• Supplies (e.g., paper, folders, envelopes, pencils)

• Postage/mailing

• Merchandise Purchasing (t-shirts, buttons)

Regional/District Contest and Coordinator Support (if applicable)

The following expenses highly depend on your relationship with regional/district coordinators and who is responsible for running the event and communicating with teachers in those regions.

• Event costs (see above)

• Travel

• Materials Purchasing

• Supplies

• Support/stipends for regional/district coordinators (highly variable)

Teacher Workshops

• Travel

• Printing/copying

• Supplies

• Materials Purchasing

Teacher, Student Recruitment

• Travel

• Printing/copying

• Conference registrations

• Supplies

National Contest

• Travel for Coordinator

• T-Shirts and Buttons/Pins for Affiliate Winners

• Social Event (e.g., pizza party)

• Awards Ceremony Banner

• Potential Extras:

  • Registration Fees for Students to Attend Nationals

  • Transportation and Housing for Students to Attend Nationals or Affiliate Contest

Staffing Expenses

Whether salaries are included depends upon how an institution does its budgeting. Are all salaries lumped together into one line item, or are they separated out by department?  Is the Affiliate program considered its own department, or is it a subset of another, such as education or outreach?

Income sources are easier to generalize.  Most Affiliate programs have a mix of the following:

• Donations from Individuals, Corporations, and Foundations

• In-Kind Donations

• Grants

• State/Territorial Appropriation

• Merchandise Sales (t-shirts, mugs, stickers, etc.)

• Contest Registration Fees

• Workshop Revenue

• Institutional Operations (this usually makes up the difference after all other income sources are counted)

In-Kind Donations

In-kind donations count. If you are lucky not to be charged for facility rental, the rental still has a value you can count as an in-kind donation. By doing that, you can list the school or other facility that provides in-kind rental as a sponsor. This can be part of your pitch to potential contest hosts as you seek “free” space.

Fundraising and Grant Writing

Most programs undertake some degree of fundraising or grant writing as a way to support their programs. Additional information is in this part of the guide.

As you look to understand your own position, or to bring additional staff into your program, it is sometimes helpful to see the position descriptions and/or work plans from other coordinators. Please keep in mind these are samples from fellow coordinators and not mandates for sponsoring institutions from National History Day.

• Minnesota History Day Program Associate

• Affiliate Coordinator Template