How to Submit a TerraFund Project Budget

Project developers/Champions must submit a detailed budget with their full application to TerraFund.

Note that this is one of the most critical elements of your project application and will impact the evaluation of other facets of your proposal.

The TerraFund selection and funding process will conclude in 2025, giving selected projects sufficient time to prepare for the 2026 planting season in our target areas.

This budget should cover activities beginning no earlier than January 2026. All activities should conclude by December 2031, and all planting must be completed by December 2027. The final six-month progress report will be due on January 31, 2032.

• All active restoration is expected to occur in Year 1 and Year 2, and the budget must fully cover the costs of the project during its entire duration, which is 6 years in total.
• For non-profits, the budget will be disbursed in 12+ tranches over six years: Approximately 40% each will be allocated in Years 1 and 2, and then 5% each in Years 3 through 6.
• For-profit enterprises will be allocated finance in two tranches, one in Year 1 and one in Year 2, split according to the need of the enterprise. Like all projects, enterprises must report their progress for all 6 years.

When preparing your budget, you must download the template relevant to your organization, found on TerraMatch and downloadable below, fill it out, and then re-upload it to TerraMatch. We will not consider project budgets submitted in any other format.

TerraFund Budget Consortium.xlsx

TerraFund Budget Template Enterprises.xlsx

TerraFund Budget Template Non-Profit.xlsx

Sample Non-Profit Budget (Linked to Definitions Below)

This budget is an example, which demonstrates the costs for a $100,000 project.

Budget Categories*	Total Budget Per Category	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031
Personnel/Salaries	$10,000	$5,000	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Seedling Costs	$30,000	$21,000	$8,000	$0	$0	$0	$0
Site Preparation and Tree Planting	$25,000	$17,500	$7500	$0	$0	$0	$0
Community Engagement, Learning & Capacity Building	$6,000	$4,000	$1,000	$0	$0	$0	$1,000
Tree & Site Maintenance and Monitoring & Reporting	$13,000	$1,500	$1,500	$3,000	$3,000	$2,000	$3,000
Capital Expenditures (CapEx) & Operating Expenditures (OpEx)	$6,000	$4,000	$400	$400	$400	$400	$400
Total Direct Costs	$90,000	$53,000	$19,400	$4,400	$4,400	$3,400	$5,400
Administrative Costs	$10,000	$2,000	$3,000	$1,500	$1,500	$1,500	$1,500
Total Project Costs	$100,000	$55,000	$21,400	$5,900	$5,900	$4,900	$6,900

 

Budget Category Definitions:

Budget Categories are defined specifically and align with the template provided

Seedling Costs	This line includes construction of nursery structures (procurement of trees/iron poles for construction, nails, shade materials, etc.), seed collection or purchase costs, routine care of seedlings (watering, transplanting, pest control, security guards' fees, etc.), and nursery tools and supplies (bags, watering cans, shading, etc.). These expenses should be concentrated in the first two years of the budget. Associated casual labor should be included. For natural regeneration projects these costs should be 0.
Site Preparation & Tree Planting	This line includes site preparation (clearing, digging holes, etc.), transport of seedlings, mulching, and staking. Associated casual labor should be included.  These expenses should be concentrated in the first two years of the budget. For natural regeneration projects, this cost should be 0.
Tree & Site Maintenance and Monitoring & Reporting	This line includes all work on the project's sites after the initial restoration work is complete to ensure that the trees grow to full health. It should include costs associated with collecting the information needed to establish sites and submit reports on the TerraMatch platform, firebreak creation or fence construction and maintenance, watering, weeding, pest control and fertilizer application, survival counts and growth monitoring, replacement of dead seedlings, cost related to producing high-quality geospatial shapefiles of each restoration site, payment for community scouts or guards to protect sites, and transport for field staff. There should be a modest budget for this line for each year of the project. Note that TerraFund monitoring professionals will analyze progress on submitted data; this budget line should not include that data analysis.
Community Engagement, Learning & Capacity Building	This line includes all work to mobilize smallholder farmers and other community members that will contribute to the project, as well as training for team members directly related to the project. This includes workshops and training for community members on techniques like nursery and site preparation; engagement with communities and government officials on land tenure; and trainings or exchange visits for staff. This should be a modest portion of the budget. Note that TerraFund assumes all the costs of accommodation and transport for TerraFund-hosted workshops.
Community Livelihood Improvements for Permanence	These interventions are designed to improve the economic and social well-being of local communities. All the proposed interventions should align with and support the permanence of the restoration project's interventions. This can include food/production improvement systems like beekeeping and mushroom farming, soil stabilization and erosion control interventions, village savings groups, processing, value addition for crops and tree-based products, and energy-saving initiatives.
Capital Expenditures (CapEx) & Operating Expenditures (OpEx) (For Enterprises)	All expenses in this line must be discussed with a member of the TerraFund team before submission. These include costs for:  Machinery and Equipment: Purchase of machinery, purchase of production equipment, renovation of the existing machinery/equipment, replacement of the existing machinery/equipment, machinery installation costs. Vehicles: Purchase or renovation of the delivery trucks, vans, and motorcycles. Technology Infrastructure: The purchase or the renovation of computers and networking equipment. Furniture: Office Furniture Certifications: Fees for certification bodies, costs of meeting compliance standards, training related to certification, document preparation and system upgrades needed for certification.
Personnel / Salaries	This line includes the salaries and benefits associated with staff officially and legally employed by the implementing organization. This should cover only those staff who are actively working on the project. Examples of staff include Field officers, community mobilizers, site supervisors, project managers, monitoring staff, geospatial leads, accountants, community site guards, or caretakers.
Administration Costs	These are expenses related to the overall administration and management of your organization. This includes accounting and bookkeeping services, audited financial statements, banking fees and currency exchange losses, software licenses, and IT support, communications (email hosting, phone, website, outreach materials), travel and accommodation for staff attending admin meetings or workshops, and training for staff on policies, systems, strategy or compliance procedures. They should not exceed 15% of the total project costs, should be directly related to the project, and should not be included in other budget items.