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Funding Footprint Calculator

Is Your Grant Costing More Than It’s Worth?

A groundbreaking tool that reveals the real cost of seeking funding from grants, competitions, and fellowships.

Try the calculator now!
The calculator is part of a growing effort to transform how we allocate resources across the People and Planet Economy. It complements a broader body of work—The Hidden Cost of Grantseeking—a three-part series unpacking how and why the current system must evolve.
The Hidden Cost of Grant-Seeking

The current system of grantmaking often places an invisible burden on applicants. For nonprofits, particularly smaller ones, the cost of applying can be so high that it outweighs the value of the funding itself. When funders require elaborate applications, long wait times, and high-effort proposals, the sector loses resources that could otherwise go toward solving real-world problems. Every dollar spent on the funding process is a dollar not spent on designing solutions, delivering programs, investing in innovation, scaling initiatives, or engaging in any number of core activities that directly drive impact for people and the planet.

“The U.S. government spends more than a penny to make a penny. Are funders doing the same to nonprofits?”

A solution

What if we could quantify the hidden cost of application processes and transform how we fund social impact?

Let’s stop a drain of our collective resources on broken processes. Use the calculator to bring transparency, accountability, and equity into your funding strategies.

The Grant-Seeking Efficiency Calculator

This interactive tool helps funders and sector leaders understand and quantify the collective costs their funding opportunities impose on applicants. By entering a few simple variables, users can see the broader impact of their grant processes—and where improvements can be made. Whether you're funding $50,000 or $5 million, this calculator highlights inefficiencies and encourages reform.

Rethinking the Cost of Capital in the Social Sector

When funding is costly to access—and a disproportionate amount of resources are spent on the funding process itself—it undermines the very purpose of the social sector. It reduces equity, stifles innovation, and rewards only the most resource-rich organizations. This tool is not just a calculator—it’s a lens for systemic change.

Try the calculator now!

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