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Nonprofit Grant Budget Template (Excel) with Indirect Costs, MTDC, and Match Built In
A grant budget template in the federal SF-424A categories that calculates fringe, removes the lines 2 CFR 200.1 excludes from the indirect base, applies your indirect rate to modified total direct costs, and checks the funder’s match requirement. The justification tab pulls the same figures so the narrative and the numbers cannot disagree. Sample figures are illustrative.
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+ Sample Budget PDF
Format: Excel + PDF
Excel Tabs: 4
PDF Pages: 1
Updated: September 2026
XLS+PDF
Grant Budget Template Pack
4 tabs + 1 page · ~115 KB · 100% free · No signup required
The budget is where a grant is won or lost quietly
An indirect charge on an item MTDC excludes, a missing fringe line, or a match that does not total can each require clarification before an award is finalized. The template exists so that the arithmetic is right before the narrative is written: the categories are the ones federal forms use, the exclusions from the indirect base are applied by formula, and the justification reads its numbers from the budget rather than from memory.
What’s Inside the Template
Excel · Budget tabEight SF-424A categories, three columns
- Personnel: salary × percent effort × months, by position
- Fringe at your rate, applied to salaries automatically
- Travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, other, each with a basis column
- Grant request, match, and total project columns on every line
- MTDC computed with equipment, rent, participant support, and subaward excess removed
- Indirect at the Settings rate; total project cost; match test against the funder’s requirement
Excel · Settings + JustificationThe rates in one place, the narrative tied to the numbers
- Indirect rate (15% de minimis by default), fringe rate, equipment threshold, subaward cap, grant period, required match
- Justification tab with one paragraph per category and sample wording
- Category totals pulled from the Budget tab, so the narrative cannot drift
- Instructions tab with the 2 CFR 200 definitions quoted and cited
- Every input cell yellow, every formula cell white
- Fits to one page per tab when printed
PDF · 1 PageSample budget with justification
- A filled-in youth literacy program, $252,849 requested, $16,836 match
- Every category with its basis shown
- MTDC line with the exclusions itemized
- Indirect at 15% on $187,260 of MTDC
- Justification excerpt stating the cost, the calculation, and the purpose for each category
- Illustrative figures, not drawn from any client
The four numbers the rules define for you
Four lines carry the most rule-based risk, because each one is defined in 2 CFR 200 rather than left to judgment.
1Fringe rate × salaries
Is fringe a real rate?
Payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement match, and paid leave divided by salaries. The template applies one rate to every position so the line is defensible.
2$10,000 per unit
Is equipment really equipment?
Under 2 CFR 200.1 the test is per-unit acquisition cost, at the lesser of your capitalization level or $10,000. Equipment leaves the indirect base; supplies stay in it.
3MTDC the indirect base
Was the rate applied to the right base?
Rent, participant stipends, equipment, and the part of each subaward above $50,000 come out before the rate is applied. The template does the subtraction for you.
4Match share of total
Does the match meet the requirement?
Enter the funder’s percentage once. The Budget tab compares your match column with the total project cost and tells you the shortfall in dollars.
Who This Template Is For
GW
Grant Writers
Who need a budget that survives a program officer’s arithmetic and a justification that matches it line for line.
ED
Executive Directors
Who sign the application and want to see the indirect line, the match, and the total in one place before they do.
BK
Bookkeepers
Who will have to track the award by these categories after it is funded, and would rather the budget already used them.
PM
Program Managers
Who know what the program costs and need the rules for fringe, equipment, and indirect applied without a finance degree.
How to Use This Template
1
Set the rates
On the Settings tab enter your indirect rate (15% de minimis unless you hold a negotiated rate), your actual fringe rate, the grant period, and any required match. Our indirect cost rate calculator gives you the first number.
2
Replace the sample lines
Positions, travel, equipment, supplies, contracts and subawards, other costs. Mark each subaward and each MTDC-excluded item with a 1 in the flag column; the totals section removes them from the base.
3
Read the totals
Total direct, MTDC, indirect, total project cost, and whether the match column meets the requirement. If a number looks wrong, the basis column beside each line says where it came from.
4
Write the justification from the tab
Edit the sample paragraphs so each one states the cost, the calculation, and the purpose. The amounts are already pulled from the Budget tab. Then copy the category totals into the funder’s form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this really free?
Yes. No email address, no signup, no gate. Download either file directly.
What categories does a grant budget template need?
The federal SF-424A form uses eight object classes: personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, construction, and other, followed by total direct charges and indirect charges. Foundation budget forms often ask for the same object classes, so the template uses the SF-424A categories and adds a match column.
What indirect cost rate can a nonprofit charge on a federal grant?
An organization without a current federal negotiated rate may charge a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs under 2 CFR 200.414(f). Federal agencies and pass-through entities may not require a lower rate unless a statute or regulation does, no documentation is needed to justify it, and it may be used indefinitely; once elected it must be used on all federal awards until you choose a negotiated rate, and it cannot be applied to cost-reimbursement contracts issued directly by the federal government. These figures come from the 2024 revision of 2 CFR 200, which applies to awards issued on or after October 1, 2024. If you hold a negotiated rate, enter that instead.
What is excluded from modified total direct costs (MTDC)?
Under 2 CFR 200.1, MTDC includes direct salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward. It excludes equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward above $50,000. The template removes those lines automatically before applying the rate.
What counts as equipment on a grant budget?
Tangible personal property with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost at or above the lesser of your organization’s capitalization level or $10,000, under 2 CFR 200.1. A $12,500 laptop cart is equipment; forty $300 tablets are supplies as long as $300 is below your capitalization level, because the test is per unit.
How do I show match or cost sharing in the budget?
Put the amount the funder pays in the grant request column and the amount your organization contributes in the match column; the total column is the full project cost. Under 2 CFR 200.1, cost sharing is the portion of project costs not paid by federal funds or contributions, and matching is the required level of it. Enter the funder’s required percentage on the Settings tab and the Budget tab tells you whether the match column meets it.
What goes in the budget justification?
One paragraph per category that states what the cost is, how it was calculated, and why the project needs it, with arithmetic that matches the budget line exactly. The Justification tab pulls each category total from the Budget tab so the two cannot drift apart, and gives sample wording to edit.
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