Budget narrative
The prose that explains each line of a grant budget — what the figure is, how it was calculated, and why the project needs it. It is part of an application, it is not published by the funder, and nothing in a record corresponds to it.
Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.
Also called Budget justification
In detail
Reviewers use it to check that the numbers describe the project the narrative described. A budget whose personnel line implies two full-time staff on a project the work plan staffs with one is the discrepancy the narrative is read to find.
Some notices prescribe its format precisely and some say nothing at all. Where a format is prescribed, it is in the notice’s instructions, which is a document rather than a field.
Against the amount fields
The amount fields on a record describe what the funder will give. A budget narrative describes what an applicant intends to spend. They are on opposite sides of the transaction, and no arithmetic connects them. We hold the first and never the second.
How GrantTrove stores it
- We publish no application material and no writing guidance. The record holds the funder’s own published figures — `amount_min`, `amount_max`, `amount_typical`, `amount_total_pool` — with `amount_note` for the source’s qualifying wording.
- The application effort field, `application_effort`, records how heavy a submission is where a notice indicates it, so you can judge the cost of applying before you start. It is not advice on what to write.
Common questions
Do you provide budget templates?
No. We are a data product and we do not publish application material.
Where is the required format?
In the notice, which every record links.
Does application effort tell me how long a budget takes?
It records the effort a notice indicates, where it indicates one. It is a signal about the submission as a whole, not a time estimate for one section.