VI. PROPOSED BUDGET

The budget section can get a little tricky. Be sure that your budget is realistic for the business you have selected. Students often want so badly to show their expertise that they propose a long list of ideas that make their budget totally unrealistic.

 

You also need to be careful that you cover the "hidden" costs.  This might include printing or postage, apps that assist with measurement, wages or salary of staff, etc.  

 

The biggest challenge is being able to justify the size of the budget.  You must be able to explain to your judge how you arrived at the size of your budget. 

The most common method of establishing a budget is to base it on a percentage of sales. Marketing is a business expense and must be treated that way.

 

In terms of promotion, many companies set their budgets by allocating between 1% and 10% of their revenues to promotion. This assumes a direct relationship between revenue generation and marketing. Another method is matching the competition.  These may work for promotion, but not necessarily for a cause marketing campaign.

 

Your challenge for setting a budget for a cause marketing campaign is different.  For any other campaign youn eed to justify, in terms of ROI, the amount you spend. That is still important in cause marketing, but you may be able to justify less of an ROI if you can show the value of helping the cause you support.