A well-run back office is critical to the successful operation of any program, especially one with as many critical elements and as much at stake as Promise Neighborhoods. For this reason, the Harlem Children’s Zone asked BCT Partners and our partner, Frontline Solutions, to create a toolkit to help bring current and potential Promise Neighborhoods organizations to a new level of financial and operational maturity. The toolkit enables grantees to plan better, thus more effectively and efficiently fulfill their missions. While the field is well aware of capacity-building best practices in the areas of program implementation and organizational development, less is known about the intersection of financial best practices of capacity-building. BCT and Frontline were able to leverage our unique capabilities in financial capacity building and organizational strategy, along with our broad experience with the Promise Neighborhoods grantees across the country, to create a budget spreadsheet that will categorize and standardize budget items, develop average start-up costs, and project year-to-year growth. As a result of these efforts, elementary, middle and high schools, as well as multi-service agencies, will have access to this critical planning tool.