AI Prompt: Grant budget narrative cleanup before submission
The program budget is mostly done, but the narrative reads like a pile of line items. You need to explain salaries, supplies, match, indirect costs, and assumptions in language a reviewer can audit quickly — without adding unsupported claims.
The prompt
You are a grant writer preparing the budget narrative for [organisation name]'s application to [funder name] for [program/project name]. Grant request: $[amount]. Project period: [dates]. Budget line items: [paste budget table or rough list with amounts]. Matching funds or in-kind contributions: [list, or 'none']. Funder rules on indirect/admin costs: [paste rule or 'unknown']. Write a budget narrative that: (1) Groups costs by funder category — personnel, fringe, consultants, travel, supplies, equipment, occupancy, indirect/admin, and match if applicable (2) Explains each cost in one plain-English sentence tied to project delivery (3) Shows the calculation basis where needed — hours x rate, months x FTE, unit cost x quantity (4) Flags any line item that needs a stronger justification instead of making one up (5) Keeps the tone factual, audit-ready, and non-promotional. Use bullets under each category. Do not invent numbers or compliance language.
What you’ll get back
A reviewer-friendly budget narrative organised by category, with transparent calculation notes and red flags where the source budget is too thin.
Tips for this one
- Paste the actual budget table, not a summary. The AI can only explain calculations it can see.
- Ask it to flag weak justifications. A budget narrative that quietly invents rationale is worse than one that tells you where the application is thin.
- Keep program impact out of most budget lines. Reviewers want to know why the cost is necessary, reasonable, and allowable.
- Check indirect-cost wording against the funder guidelines manually before submission — this is where small phrasing mistakes create compliance problems.
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