Reading a burn-rate chart without alarming a board
Grant charts can look like emergencies when the scale is wrong. A calmer way to show spending against plan.
Boards sometimes see a steep spending line and assume a crisis. Often the chart simply starts mid-year or compares cash drawn to a calendar that does not match activity seasons in the field.
We prefer dual views: planned versus actual by quarter, plus a short note on seasonal constraints—monsoon fieldwork pauses, school-term hiring, or procurement lead times. The note belongs on the page, not only in a verbal aside.
Colour should not scream. A single accent for “actual” and a muted line for “plan” is enough. Reserve red for true threshold breaches your finance policy already defines.
When a variance is real, pair the chart with the corrective action already underway. Donors and trustees read accountability as a sequence: notice, explain, adjust—not as a single alarming spike.