Building a budget

Planning the budget for the City Watch project means looking at both where the money will go and where the money will come from. There are many options and choices to be made.

What you need to buy :

Not every City Watch program in existence today used all of these suggestions. Different locals picked different ways to run and promote their programs. Here are some of the options that are available:

• City Watch letterhead - Plan for enough to put your proposal, news releases, manuals, and other materials on the program's letterhead.
• City Watch brochure - If you have ideas for how to distribute the brochure or perhaps money from other sources, this is a great way to promote the program in your community.
• Stickers for Vehicles - Stickers put the City Watch name in the place where it really matters, on the vehicles of those who are doing the work.
• Jackets, buttons, coffee mugs etc. - These are the extras, reproduce the City Watch logo on anything. They are good give aways and help get the City Watch word out.
• City Limits Signs - A sign saying this is a City Watch Community, or something similar with CUPE's name on it, can help promote the program and protect your community at the same time.

What you hope to raise:

Your local government may be willing to contribute some money to the project, particularly if you have a special request that you are asking them to fund. For example, the City of Richmond paid for the distribution of the City Watch brochure to households in Richmond.

You may also receive a contribution from CUPE National or CUPE BC to help offset costs.

If you are asking others for money, remember to be specific about what you want them to fund. And expect that they will want their name on the part they fund.

Next Steps:

3) Getting approval

4) Putting the project into action

5) Making a difference

6) Getting the message out