Fundraising Event Budget & Break-Even Calculator
Income and cost lines budget versus actual for a fundraising event, net proceeds, cost per pound raised, break-even attendance and an attendance-by-price grid.
Fundraising Event Budget & Break-Even Calculator is a free Excel workbook: 5 sheets, 246 live formulas and realistic sample data throughout, 21 KB as .xlsx.
The formulas are printed on this page, unedited, so you can check the method before downloading anything. Swap in your own numbers and the whole file recalculates — which is the part no chat window can hand you. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice; no add-in and no macro.
A look inside
This is a real slice of the Budget sheet from the actual file — not a screenshot, and not a mock-up. Cells shown in violet are live formulas, exactly as they arrive.
| # | Income line | Budget | Actual | Variance | Variance % | Flag | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Ticket sales | =B4*B5 | =C4*C5 | =C12-B12 | =IFERROR(D12/B12,0) | =IF(E12<-0.1,"Short",IF(E12>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 13 | Sponsorship | =Sponsors!C16 | =Sponsors!D16 | =C13-B13 | =IFERROR(D13/B13,0) | =IF(E13<-0.1,"Short",IF(E13>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 14 | Auction | =Auction!D17 | =Auction!F17 | =C14-B14 | =IFERROR(D14/B14,0) | =IF(E14<-0.1,"Short",IF(E14>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 15 | Raffle | £1,800 | £2,140 | =C15-B15 | =IFERROR(D15/B15,0) | =IF(E15<-0.1,"Short",IF(E15>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 16 | Donations on the night | £3,500 | £4,120 | =C16-B16 | =IFERROR(D16/B16,0) | =IF(E16<-0.1,"Short",IF(E16>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 17 | Gift Aid on donations | =B16*B8 | =C16*C8 | =C17-B17 | =IFERROR(D17/B17,0) | =IF(E17<-0.1,"Short",IF(E17>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 18 | Pledges received after the event | £1,500 | £650 | =C18-B18 | =IFERROR(D18/B18,0) | =IF(E18<-0.1,"Short",IF(E18>0.1,"Ahead","")) | |
| 19 | Total income | =SUM(B12:B18) | =SUM(C12:C18) | =SUM(D12:D18) | =IFERROR(D19/B19,0) |
What’s in the file
What it explains
- Break-even attendance is the only forecast worth arguing over
- Cost per pound raised, not just net proceeds
- Sponsorship pledged is not sponsorship received
Download it
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Related templates
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<a href="https://www.datahubpro.co.uk/excel-templates/nonprofit-fundraising-event-budget">Fundraising Event Budget & Break-Even Calculator</a> — free Excel template from DataHub Pro
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