Calculators
Programme Cost per Beneficiary Calculator
Calculate the full cost per person served and per successful outcome, including a fair share of overhead.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
The tool
Enter your numbers below. Results update as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
Everything you enter stays on your own machine. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, which you can confirm in your browser network tab.
What people use it for
- Grant reports
- Board dashboards
- Comparing programmes
- Social return analysis
About this tool
What the Programme Cost per Beneficiary Calculator does
Funders increasingly ask what it costs to serve one person or achieve one outcome. The full cost includes direct programme costs plus a share of overhead. Dividing by people served and by those who achieved the intended outcome gives two complementary efficiency measures.
It also works as a program cost per beneficiary calculator or a cost per participant calculator.
Formula
- Full cost = direct + overhead × allocation + in-kind
- Cost per person = full cost ÷ people served
- Cost per outcome = full cost ÷ people achieving the outcome
Worked example
Using the starting values in the calculator above:
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Direct programme costs | $240,000 |
| Organisation-wide overhead | $180,000 |
| Share of overhead allocated to this programme | 35% |
| In-kind donations and volunteer value | $20,000 |
| People served | 850 |
| People achieving the intended outcome | 510 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Full cost per person served | $380 |
| Cost per successful outcome | $633 |
| Full programme cost | $323,000 |
| Direct cost per person | $282 |
| Outcome rate | 60.0% |
How to read the result
Report both cost per person and cost per outcome; low cost per person with poor outcomes is not efficiency.
Allocate overhead by a consistent driver such as staff time or direct cost share.
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Questions
Questions about this tool
The things clients actually want to know — costs, timelines, ownership and what happens after launch.
Divide the full programme cost, including allocated overhead, by the number of people served.
Yes, the full cost shows what it really takes to deliver the programme.
It depends on the depth of the intervention; compare with similar programmes and outcomes.
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