How do you communicate and justify your budget requests and decisions to internal and external stakeholders?

1 Know your audience

Before you communicate your budget requests and decisions, you need to know who your audience is and what they care about. Different stakeholders may have different expectations, interests, and concerns about your budget. For example, faculty may want to know how your budget supports their research and teaching goals, staff may want to know how your budget affects their salaries and benefits, students may want to know how your budget enhances their learning and experience, senior leadership may want to know how your budget aligns with the institutional vision and mission, donors may want to know how your budget reflects their values and impact, and the public may want to know how your budget contributes to the social and economic development of the community. Therefore, you need to tailor your budget communication and justification to suit the needs and preferences of each audience.

2 Use clear and consistent language

When you communicate your budget requests and decisions, you need to use clear and consistent language that is easy to understand and follow. Avoid using jargon, acronyms, or technical terms that may confuse or alienate your audience. Instead, use simple and familiar words that convey your main points and arguments. Also, use consistent terminology and format throughout your budget documents and presentations. For example, use the same headings, categories, and labels for your income and expenditure items, and explain any changes or discrepancies from previous or projected budgets. This will help your audience to compare and evaluate your budget information and rationale.

3 Provide evidence and context

When you justify your budget requests and decisions, you need to provide evidence and context that support your claims and proposals. Evidence can include data, facts, figures, charts, graphs, or other visual aids that show your budget performance, needs, goals, and impact. Context can include background, history, trends, benchmarks, or other relevant information that show your budget situation, challenges, opportunities, and priorities. For example, you can use evidence and context to show how your budget reflects the quality and quantity of your academic activities, how your budget compares to similar or competing units or institutions, how your budget responds to internal or external factors or demands, and how your budget advances the strategic objectives and outcomes of your unit or institution.

5 Address the challenges and risks

When you communicate and justify your budget requests and decisions, you also need to address the challenges and risks that your budget faces or poses. Challenges can include the difficulties or obstacles that hinder or limit your budget performance, needs, goals, or impact, such as resource constraints, competition, uncertainty, or complexity. Risks can include the negative consequences or implications that your budget may entail or create, such as trade-offs, gaps, losses, or conflicts. For example, you can address the challenges and risks of your budget by showing how your budget identifies and mitigates them, how your budget balances and prioritizes them, how your budget adapts and responds to them, and how your budget seeks and incorporates feedback and input from them.

6 Be transparent and accountable

Finally, when you communicate and justify your budget requests and decisions, you need to be transparent and accountable for your budget actions and outcomes. Transparency means that you share your budget information and rationale openly and honestly with your stakeholders, and that you provide them with opportunities to access, review, question, or comment on your budget. Accountability means that you take responsibility for your budget decisions and results, and that you provide them with evidence of your budget achievements, challenges, learning, or improvement. For example, you can be transparent and accountable for your budget by publishing your budget documents and reports online or in print, by holding regular or special budget meetings or forums with your stakeholders, by soliciting and addressing budget feedback or suggestions from your stakeholders, and by reporting on your budget progress or performance to your stakeholders.