Four Tips to Improve Budget Book Communications

Let’s be honest — traditional public budget documents aren’t the easiest to read. They’re often dense, lengthy,  and difficult for non-financial experts in the community to comprehend. While they may meet legal requirements by your given jurisdiction, they frequently fall short in communicating your organization’s bigger picture: why decisions are made, how resources are prioritized, and what it all means for the community. 

Some local governments and school districts are leveraging cloud-based technology to optimize their budget book communications to increase their reach and comprehension. We’ve distilled their strategies into four tips — use these to improve your communications. 

Tip 1: Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience makes all the difference in communication. During a recent Riverside, Ohio, City Council work session, City Manager Joshua Rauch knew his council members needed more than tables and numbers — they needed context.  

So, Rauch moved away from static PowerPoint presentations and instead used ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book to walk council members through the city’s financial picture. This allowed him to easily integrate U.S. Census data, organizational charts, and interactive graphs to highlight key data points. Since Riverside had only recently begun developing popular budget books, this approach demonstrated the value of the city budget as a communications tool as well as ClearGov’s accessibility and thoroughness.

Other communities like Middleton, Massachusetts, and Buena Vista, Colorado, include reader guides in their budget books. These guides define key terms and offer tips on interpreting financial data, making the information approachable and empowering for readers. Tailoring your budget documents to best suit your audience’s needs is one of the best ways to encourage your stakeholders to read them. 

Tip 2: Accompany Your Financial Data with Graphs, Charts, and Narrative

Interactive graphics paired with narrative explanations bring clarity and engagement. Your audience isn’t expected to scrutinize every data point — they need to understand your rationale. How does this budget align with the community’s strategic goals? How are you prioritizing community needs?

Bristol, Connecticut, made this shift successfully. Their comptroller, Diane Waldron notes: 

“The transparency is unparalleled. In the past, we relied on a 400-page document, which was challenging for people to navigate. With ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book, all the information is neatly presented on our webpage, making it easy for anyone to find what they’re seeking.” 

Similarly, Vestavia Hills School District in Alabama enhanced its budget communications by enabling narratives alongside charts and historical data, making complex financial concepts understandable and actionable for all stakeholders. Blocks of budget line items can be tough to interpret, but graphics, charts, and explanations make budgets much easier for anyone to understand.

Tip 3: Consistency Matters

Consistency across contributors, departments, and formats ensures your audience receives clear, unified messaging. Maintaining a consistent experience is equally important. Whether your budget book is accessed as a PDF or through an online portal, it’s important to maintain a sense of continuity to ensure a smooth and intuitive learning process. 

The GFOA underscores the importance of keeping budget presentations uniform in its Making the Budget Document Easier to Understand guidelines: 

“Since different individuals usually contribute to the content of the budget document, make sure that information is presented in a way that the work of one individual does not overlap or contradict that of another. For instance, departmental presentations within a budget document should be consistent between departments.” – GFOA

The ClearGov platform allows all team members to work with a single source of truth. Administrators can assign specific user permissions to ensure the proper roles and responsibilities are carried out. Collaboration improvements like that are just one of the ways your team can focus on delivering a cohesive, professional voice that aligns across all content.

Tip 4: Expand Your Presentation’s Reach

Communication doesn’t stop at council meetings. The more avenues you use to disseminate your message, the more stakeholders you’ll reach. Setting up digital guideposts to your budget documents across your web presence will help more stakeholders find them.

Courtney Brown, CSFO for Vestavia Hills School District, highlights the importance of this approach: “We leveraged ClearGov’s custom banners to put the budget details front and center on our website so people didn’t have to hunt for it.” 

Depending on the demographics of your stakeholders, they may prefer to read your budget book on their desktop, on their phone, or even printed out on a PDF to share with others. Whatever the format, your budget book should be easily accessible in any of these formats to maximize reach by removing any friction points in how someone wants to read. The key here is engaging people where they are.

Ready to Elevate Your Budget Book Communications?

ClearGov’s digital tools help elected officials, residents, and public finance teams alike. By freeing up time from formatting and chasing down corrections, our platform helps finance teams focus on what matters most: crafting compelling financial narratives that explain the community impact of financial decisions.

We’ve helped communities like Riverside, Bristol, and Vestavia Hills School District transform their budget communications. Now, we’re ready to help you transform yours!

Learn more about how ClearGov can help with our Digital Budget Book solution.