Indirect Cost Policy

The spirit of this policy is to pay for expenses that are directly attributable to project outcomes and outputs as direct costs and expenses associated with general running of the business as indirect costs. Greater specificity on each category is described below.

Direct Costs

Direct costs are the expenses required to execute a project that are directly attributable and can be reasonably allocated to the project. Staff compensation, travel expenses, and materials required to execute the project are examples. 

Indirect Costs

Indirect costs are general overhead and administration expenses that support the entire operations of a grantee/project administrator and that may be shared across projects. Examples include facilities expenses, e.g. rent, utilities, equipment, and associated support and administrative staff such as HR, general finance, accounting, IT, and legal. Expenses that would be incurred regardless of whether the project moves forward are often indicative of indirect costs. 

Maximum Indirect Cost RatE

CyberGreen Institute limits the indirect cost rate associated with a grant/project to 20%. Calculation of indirect cost rate is as follows: Indirect cost rate = Budgeted indirect costs / Budgeted Total Direct Costs.