What
is program based budgeting?
Simply
put, it loads all the costs (i.e., food and beverage, marketing, rent and most
importantly staffing) into the equation.
That way you get a true sense of whether a program/event is making money or losing money.
That way you get a true sense of whether a program/event is making money or losing money.
Don’t
get caught in the trap of running programs and events that lose money and call it a
member benefit. Don’t laugh, we all do
it!
There’s
only one exception to this rule that I can think of and it’s your government
relations (GR) budget. That is a direct
expense and it is a direct benefit to your members.
One
could argue that may be the only reason a number of your member’s join.
Chamber’s need to represent their members before elected officials to protect
them from onerous regulations.
It’s
the monthly luncheons, webinars, annual meeting programs that need to be fully
loaded with costs for a proper cost analysis to determine their value, not only
to your members but also for the financial stability of your organization.
If
it’s not making money, it’s time to sunset the program!
For a program based budget builder from the Wallace
Foundation go HERE.
