Two-Year Operating Budget for an Early-Stage Nonprofit

Free Brands helps survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence build businesses and lasting economic freedom. We are early in our journey and want to plan our finances with the same care we bring to our programs, so we are looking for a finance professional to help us build a clear, credible two-year operating budget. We have a strong sense of our programs and the costs ahead, and we need help shaping that into a budget that holds up to funders and gives us an exact fundraising target for each year. We envision the volunteer helping us map expenses and expected income across two fiscal years, which for us run from June through May, so we know precisely what we need to raise and when. We picture year one as a leaner startup year that keeps us focused and sustainable, and year two as a fuller, optimal year that reflects the organization we are building toward. The finished budget would become a tool we use in grant applications, funder conversations, and our own planning.

Sound financial planning is what turns our ambition into something we can actually fund. With a clear two-year budget, every hour you give us translates into sharper grant applications, more confident funder conversations, and a realistic path to sustaining the programs that put real dollars into survivor-led economies. For a solo founder carrying every part of this, a finance professional who can build this foundation is one of the most valuable partners we could find, and the budget you help create will guide our decisions well beyond the life of this project.

We are ready to move quickly. As the founder, I lead this work directly and will make myself readily available, which keeps decisions and feedback fast. We will share our program plans, current costs, software and subscription list, early budget planning, and our grant pipeline and expected income sources. We know we are early-stage and building as we go, and we are looking for a volunteer who can help us turn what we know into a budget we can confidently stand behind.