5. The Budget

In the Budget, if there is no mention of funding to support the PPI contribution, this can reflect very badly on an otherwise impressive PPI strategy. Ensure that your PPI activity is reflected within your budget, even if the costs are in-kind.

Areas that may be covered in the budget include:

• Vouched expenses such as travel
• Recognition of the PPI contributor time/effort
• Cost of involvement activities such as room hire, refreshments, conference fees, equipment or stationery, interpreter, assistive technology
• Costs of PPI recruitment, induction or training
• Staff costs outside of the research team, such as facilitators, PPI advisory or coordinator input, peer researchers, administrative support for an activity, NGO support

The more you know and understand the nature of your PPI activity and who will be involved, the easier it will be to provide an accurate estimate of these costs.

We have prepared a PPI budget template to help you with your planning