Evaluation Plan Calculator
Estimate the budget and staffing for program evaluation based on design complexity, participant count, data collection methods, and project duration.
About this calculator
Evaluation budgets typically run 5-15% of total program spending, and this calculator builds toward that benchmark from the ground up rather than just applying a percentage. It starts with a base day count driven by evaluation design rigor — a process-only review needs far fewer days than a quasi-experimental design, and a randomized controlled trial needs the most (15 to 80 base days). Data collection and analysis days then scale using a log10 of participant count: doubling your participant count doesn't double the workload, because a well-designed survey or interview protocol scales sub-linearly with sample size once you're past a small pilot group — that logarithmic scaling is a deliberate modeling choice, not an approximation you can skip. Reporting days are a flat 8 per project year for interim and final reports.
Cost then layers three components: evaluator personnel time (full day-rate for external evaluators, discounted 50% for internal staff, reflecting that internal staff typically split time across duties and cost less per hour when loaded), participant incentives at a flat $25 per person per data collection point, and tools/software costs scaling with the number of data collection methods and project years. The final "Eval % of Program Budget" output lets you check your result against the 5-15% industry rule of thumb. Key limitation: the day-rate, incentive amount, and per-method tool cost are all fixed assumptions baked into the formula — real evaluator rates, incentive norms, and licensing costs vary widely by field and region, so treat the dollar totals as a planning ballpark rather than a quote.
Inputs
Results
Total Evaluation Budget
$167,100.00
≈ 11 used cars
Annual Evaluation Budget
$55,700.00
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the Total Program Budget and Participant Count to benchmark evaluation spending.
- Select the Evaluation Design level (1 = process only, 4 = randomized controlled trial).
- Enter Data Collection Points, Number of Methods, and Project Duration in years.
- Indicate whether an External Evaluator will be used and enter the Evaluator Day Rate.
- Review Total Evaluation Budget and ensure it falls within the 5–15% of program budget guideline.
How the result changes with Evaluator Day Rate ($)
| Evaluator Day Rate ($) | Total Evaluation Budget | Annual Evaluation Budget |
|---|---|---|
| 600 | $93,300.00 | $31,100.00 |
| 900 | $130,200.00 | $43,400.00 |
| 1,800 | $240,900.00 | $80,300.00 |
| 3,000 | $388,500.00 | $129,500.00 |
What each input means
- Total Program Budget ($)
- Total program budget to benchmark evaluation spending against (5-15% is typical).
- Participant Count
- Number of program participants to be evaluated.
- Evaluation Design (1-4)
- 1 = process only, 2 = pre-post, 3 = quasi-experimental, 4 = randomized controlled trial.
- Data Collection Points
- Number of times data is collected (baseline, midpoint, endline, follow-up, etc.).
- Data Collection Methods
- Number of methods: surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, admin data review, etc.
- Project Duration (years)
- Total duration of the funded project.
- External Evaluator (0/1)
- 1 = external evaluator (full rate), 0 = internal staff (estimated at 50% of external rate).
- Evaluator Day Rate ($)
- Daily rate for the evaluator. External evaluators typically charge $800-$2,000/day.
What each result means
- Total Evaluation Budget
- Total cost of evaluation over the project period.
- Annual Evaluation Budget
- Average annual evaluation cost.
- Eval % of Program Budget
- Evaluation cost as percentage of total program budget. 5-15% is typical for funders.
- Evaluator Personnel Cost
- Evaluator time cost (days times day rate).
- Participant Incentives
- Estimated incentives at $25/person/data collection point.
- Tools & Software Cost
- Data collection tools, survey platforms, printing, etc.
- Total Evaluator Days
- Total evaluator working days over the project.
- Evaluator Days per Year
- Average evaluator days per project year.
- Data Collection Days
- Days dedicated to data collection activities.
- Analysis Days
- Days dedicated to data analysis.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersTotal Program Budget ($) = 500000, Participant Count = 200, Evaluation Design (1-4) = 2, Data Collection Points = 3 = 8 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total Evaluation BudgetTotal Evaluation Budget = evaluatorCost + incentiveCost + toolsCost167100 = $167,100
- Calculate Annual Evaluation BudgetAnnual Evaluation Budget = totalEvalBudget / projectYears55700 = $55,700
- Calculate Eval % of Program BudgetEval % of Program Budget = totalProgramBudget > 033.4 = 33.4%
- Calculate Evaluator Personnel Cost147600 = $147,600
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't doubling my participant count double the data collection days?
Data Collection Days and Analysis Days both scale using participantScale, computed as log10 of your participant count. That means moving from 200 to 2,000 participants (10x) roughly adds a fixed increment to the workload rather than multiplying it by 10 — the modeling assumption is that a survey or interview protocol built for 200 people mostly just gets fielded to more people, not redesigned from scratch, so the marginal effort per additional participant shrinks as your sample grows.
How much does choosing an external evaluator versus internal staff change the cost?
Evaluator Personnel Cost is Total Evaluator Days times your Evaluator Day Rate at full value for an external evaluator (useExternalEvaluator = 1), but exactly half that rate for internal staff (useExternalEvaluator = 0). So switching the toggle alone cuts evaluatorCost in half without changing the day count — the assumption is that internal staff time is loaded/costed differently than a contracted day rate, not that internal evaluators work faster.
What drives the base day count before any scaling is applied?
Base Days comes from a fixed lookup by Evaluation Design: 15 days for process-only, 30 for pre-post, 50 for quasi-experimental, and 80 for a randomized controlled trial. This base then feeds into both Analysis Days (40% of base days, scaled by participant count) and the overall total, so choosing a more rigorous design has a compounding effect through two separate parts of the formula, not just one.
Why might my Eval % of Program Budget land outside the 5-15% benchmark?
That output is simply Total Evaluation Budget divided by Total Program Budget — it's a comparison, not a constraint the calculator enforces. A small program budget paired with a rigorous RCT design and many data collection points can easily push the percentage well above 15%, since evaluation costs here scale with design rigor and participant count, not with the size of the program budget itself. Landing outside the range is a signal to revisit either your design choice or your program budget assumptions, not a calculation error.
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