# Allocate nonprofit expenses across program, management, and fundraising

A documented method for splitting shared costs by function for your statement of functional expenses and Form 990.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Leadership, Finance, Code, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/allocate-nonprofit-expenses-across-program-management-and-fundraising

## Prompt

```text
Help me allocate our nonprofit's expenses by function.

**Our programs:** [LIST]
**Expense data:** [PASTE trial balance or expense list by natural category: salaries, benefits, rent, utilities, technology, printing, travel, etc.]
**Staff and time:** [each role and estimated % of time on each program, management and general, and fundraising, ideally from timesheets or a time study]
**Space:** [square footage used by each function, if relevant]
**Shared activities:** [e.g. a newsletter that educates and asks for gifts, a gala with a program component]

Steps:
1. Classify direct costs to a single function where possible.
2. Choose a reasonable, consistent allocation basis for each shared cost (time for salaries, square footage for rent, headcount for technology) and explain why.
3. Treat activities with both program and fundraising elements under the joint-cost rules (purpose, audience, and content criteria under ASC 958-720); if the criteria are not met, the costs go to fundraising.
4. Watch for common errors: putting the executive director entirely in program, leaving fundraising at zero, or allocating to make the program ratio look better.
5. Build a functional expense matrix (natural category rows by function columns) that ties to total expenses.

Return: the matrix, the allocation methodology memo our auditor can review, the resulting program, management and general, and fundraising percentages, and a note on how to document time going forward.

Use only the numbers I provide. This is general information; have our auditor or CPA review the method before we use it in financial statements or the Form 990.
```

## What to fill in

- LIST
- square footage used by each function, if relevant

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