Short-Term Mission Cost Calculator

Estimate per-person and total costs for a short-term mission trip including airfare, lodging, meals, insurance, supplies, and contingency.

Inputs

Team size

Trip duration (days)

Airfare per person ($)

Lodging per night/person ($)

Meals per day/person ($)

Travel insurance/person ($)

Project supplies ($)

Contingency %

Tab to move between fields

Results

Cost per person

$1,732.50

≈ 13 pairs of sneakers

Total trip cost

$17,325.00

≈ 9 gaming PCs

Total airfare$8,000.00

Total lodging$4,000.00

Total meals$2,500.00

Contingency reserve$1,575.00

Cost per day (team)$1,732.50

Fundraising target/person$1,905.75

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Team Size and Trip Duration (days).
Input per-person costs for Airfare, Lodging per Night, and Meals per Day.
Add Travel Insurance per Person, Project Supplies budget, and a Contingency %.
Review Cost per Person and Total Trip Cost.
Use the Contingency Reserve and itemized totals to build a fundraising goal for each team member.

How the result changes with Airfare per person ($)

Airfare per person ($)	Cost per person	Total trip cost
1,000	$1,952.50	$19,525.00
3,500	$4,702.50	$47,025.00
6,500	$8,002.50	$80,025.00
9,000	$10,752.50	$107,525.00

What each input means

Team size: Number of people on the mission team.
Trip duration (days): Total trip length in days including travel days.
Airfare per person ($): Round-trip flight cost per team member.
Lodging per night/person ($): Nightly accommodation cost per person (hostel, host family, hotel).
Meals per day/person ($): Daily food cost per person.
Travel insurance/person ($): Travel/medical insurance per person for the trip.
Project supplies ($): Budget for ministry supplies, construction materials, VBS materials, etc.
Contingency %: Buffer percentage for unexpected expenses (recommended 10-15%).

What each result means

Cost per person: Total cost divided by team size, including contingency.
Total trip cost: Complete trip cost for the entire team.
Total airfare: Combined flight costs for all team members.
Total lodging: Combined accommodation costs for the trip.
Total meals: Combined meal costs for all team members.
Contingency reserve: Dollar amount set aside for unexpected costs.
Cost per day (team): Total daily burn rate for the entire team.
Fundraising target/person: Suggested fundraising goal per person (cost + 10% admin buffer).

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Team size = 10, Trip duration (days) = 10, Airfare per person ($) = 800, Lodging per night/person ($) = 40 = 8 input(s) provided
Calculate Cost per person
Cost per person = totalTripCost / teamSize
1732.5 = $1,732.5
Calculate Total trip cost
Total trip cost = totalWithSupplies + contingency
17325 = $17,325
Calculate Total airfare
8000 = $8,000
Calculate Total lodging
Total lodging = lodgingPerNight * tripDays
4000 = $4,000

Engine last updated July 28, 2026.

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