Fair cost · about 20 minutes
NGO overhead calculator: find your true indirect cost rate
Shared costs such as management, finance, rent and audit are real costs of delivering every project. Enter this year’s figures to see your true overhead rate, how much of it your grants leave unfunded, and get a brief to negotiate a fair overhead with your donor or intermediary. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded, there is no account, and your answers are saved only on your device.
Method
How the calculation works
True overhead rate = shared costs ÷ direct project costs.
Share of total spending = shared costs ÷ (direct costs + shared costs).
For each grant, the calculator compares what the grant allows for overheads with what your true rate says that project should carry. Rates stated on a total-cost basis are converted to a direct-cost basis so they can be compared fairly.
Unfunded shared costs = shared costs − overheads your grants pay − unrestricted income.
Rate your grants would need to allow = (shared costs − unrestricted income) ÷ direct costs of your grants.
A worked example
Shared costs 50,000. Direct project costs 200,000.
True overhead rate: 25% of direct costs (20% of total spending).
If your grants allow 7% on 200,000, they pay 14,000. With 6,000 of unrestricted income, 30,000 of shared costs are unfunded, and your grants would need to allow about 22% to cover them.
Results
What you get
- Your true overhead rate, on a direct-cost basis and as a share of total spending.
- A grant-by-grant table showing what each grant pays towards shared costs and what it leaves uncovered.
- The funding gap: shared costs left unfunded this year after unrestricted income.
- A negotiation brief you can copy into an email, asking for a fair overhead in one of three ways, with sector context.
- Optional anonymous sharing of your percentages, by your own email, to build open evidence on local costs.
Cost categories
The shared costs it asks about
- Leadership and management. Salaries of the director and managers, for the time not charged to projects
- Finance, HR and administration staff. Time not charged to projects
- Office rent, utilities and maintenance. The share not charged to projects
- Communications and IT. Phones, internet, software, devices
- Audit, legal and registration fees. Annual audit, legal advice, renewals
- Insurance and security. Insurance, security measures, staff safety
- Governance. Board meetings, general assemblies
- Safeguarding, compliance and monitoring. Central safeguarding, compliance and monitoring work not charged to projects
- Fundraising and proposal writing. Time and costs of finding new funding
- Staff training and development. Training not funded by a project
- Equipment replacement. Yearly cost of replacing shared equipment, such as computers and vehicles
- Other shared costs. Anything else that keeps the organisation running
Common questions
What is an overhead (indirect cost) rate?
It is your shared costs, the costs of running the organisation that are not tied to one project, divided by your direct project costs. If shared costs are 50,000 and direct costs are 200,000, your overhead rate is 25% of direct costs, which is 20% of total spending.
What counts as a shared cost?
Costs that support all your work: leadership, finance and HR staff time not charged to projects, rent and utilities, IT, audit and registration fees, insurance and security, governance, safeguarding and compliance, fundraising, staff training, equipment replacement and similar.
What does the calculator give me?
Your true overhead rate, the share of total spending it represents, how much each grant covers, how much of your shared costs are unfunded this year, the rate your grants would need to allow, and a short negotiation brief you can send to a donor or intermediary.
What does the brief ask for?
Any one of three things: an overhead line at your actual rate; a fair share of the overhead your intermediary receives (the IASC guidance on overheads for local and national partners, 2022, gives a 50:50 split as one example); or your shared costs budgeted as direct lines in proportion to each project.
Do I need exact figures?
No. Estimates are fine for a first look. Use your latest annual accounts or budget when you prepare a real negotiation.
Is my financial information shared?
No. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded, there is no account, and your answers are saved only on your device. If you choose, you can email anonymous percentages to help build open evidence on local organisations' real costs; no names or amounts are included.