Once primary program activities are identified, costs for each activity should be collected forthe following resource components: (1) noncontract labor, (2) contracted services,(3) materials and supplies, (4) buildings and facilities, and (5) donated labor and resourcesor those not funded by the program. For each component, as the costs are quantified, thecosts for start-up activities and ongoing activities should be separately noted.
Noncontract labor. Noncontract labor costs consist of the total compensation ofemployees for their time spent performing program activities. Total compensationincludes salaries or wages plus benefits. Noncontract labor costs should be calculated(for example, via timesheets) for all individuals whose time spent on the program isnot captured through another mechanism (i.e., billed directly to the program). If anemployee works on multiple activities within the program, a timesheet may helpquantify the amount of time spent on each activity. A sample timesheet andaccompanying instructions is presented in Table C-1.Contracted services. Contracted service costs include costs for program activitiesprovided by outside entities, such as physician services, consulting, or datacollection. Documenting contracted service costs is straightforward but requiresprograms to keep track of the bills associated with contracted services and to mapthe bills to the appropriate activity. For example, the cost of physicians who performscreenings for the WISEWOMAN program is determined by the bill submitted forservices rendered. In Canada on the Move, the development and set-up of the Webbasedinterface was provided through a contract with a Web site development firm.Table C-2 provides a sample worksheet and accompanying instructions to track thesecosts.Materials and supplies. The costs of materials and supplies include costs forpurchases to support program activities (e.g., cookbooks and pedometers forWISEWOMAN). Tracking and recording bills for materials and supplies throughout theduration of the program facilitates the cost estimation approach. Table C-2 providesa sample worksheet and accompanying instructions to track these costs.Buildings and facilities. The costs of buildings and facilities include rent and/ormortgage payments, as well as their physical maintenance and operating costs(including utilities, taxes, and insurance). Table C-3 provides a sample worksheetand accompanying instructions to track these costs.Labor and resources donated or not funded by the program. The value of donatedlabor and resources or resources not funded by the program (including contractedservices, materials and supplies, and buildings and facilities) can be estimated as thecosts that would have been incurred had these resources not been available for freeuse. For example, if a program is using a building free-of-charge, the value of thisbuilding could be estimated from current real estate values of monthly rents in thesurrounding area. The value of the volunteer nutritionist from the WISEWOMANprogram could be estimated by determining the market salary, or average wage, of asimilarly qualified nutritionist. In Canada on the Move, the value of the donatedpedometers should be estimated using the market price of pedometers bought inbulk, since the program required a large volume of pedometers. The costs ofdonated labor should be recorded in Table C-1, and the costs of donated materialsand supplies or buildings and facilities should be appropriately recorded in Tables A-2or A-3.Chapter 4 — Identifying and Quantifying Program Costs4-74.3 ConclusionBy classifying start-up and ongoing costs by activity and by resource component, two costreports such as those in Table C-4 can easily be generated: one quantifying total programcosts and another quantifying program costs per participant. This approach will demonstratehow costs vary across and within activities. Knowing the cost of each program activity willcontribute to the economic evaluation of a program and help answer questions about howmuch the program costs, how much specific program activities cost, and how much it wouldcost to expand the program or implement a similar program in another location.The checklist in Table 4-1 summarizes several issues discussed in this chapter that shouldbe addressed when collecting and analyzing data on program costs. This checklist may helpyou organize and prioritize data needs for program cost analysis.Table 4-1. Checklist for Program Cost AnalysisDecisionCheck WhenCompleteList key program activities.Determine perspective of the analysis and time frame for cost datacollection.List all resources used to support each program activity (e.g., labor,donated resources).Create system and forms for collecting and analyzing cost data (seeAppendix C for sample forms).
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