The Rescue Startup Budget Template
A real Excel budget for new and small rescues. Cost centers that match how rescues actually spend money. Monthly cash flow. Actuals vs budget tracking.
Built by Animal-Angels Foundation and free for anyone doing the work. No fluff. No paywall. Port it into QuickBooks when you outgrow it.
What is in the file
Four tabs. Built in Excel so you can edit anything in the blue cells. Black cells are formulas, leave them alone and they will do the math for you.
Read Me
Instructions, color key, and notes from someone who has built this before.
Annual Budget
Revenue plus four expense sections (Program, Operations, Fundraising, Administrative) with auto subtotals and percent of total.
Monthly Cash Flow
Spread your year out month by month. Beginning and ending cash roll automatically so you can see when things get tight.
Actuals vs Budget
Track real spending against your plan. Variance and percent variance calculate as you fill it in.
Who this is for
If you fall into any of these categories, this template will save you a weekend of work.
New rescues
Starting from zero and need a strawman budget to take to your board, your first donor, or your bank.
Small rescues outgrowing a notebook
You have been tracking spending in a notebook or basic spreadsheet and need something cleaner before tax season.
Volunteer treasurers
You stepped into the treasurer role and need a clear format to bring to board meetings.
"The first budget is the hardest. Build a strawman, then refine. Your second budget will be ten times easier."
Why we built this
Animal-Angels Foundation is a prevention-first nonprofit serving seven counties in Central Alabama. We believe in interconnected prevention infrastructure, which means sharing tools across the whole field instead of hoarding them. New rescues should not have to reinvent a budget from scratch. We made one. Here it is. Use it.
When you outgrow this template, the cost centers port directly into QuickBooks without much rework. That is intentional.
Want more free tools like this?
Check out the Shift to Prevention Guide and the Keep Your Pet Guide.