Federal Grant Cost-Share Calculator
Many federal grants require the recipient organization to contribute a matching share — called cost-share or matching funds. Get the math wrong and you risk clawback of federal funds or audit findings. This calculator computes your required cost-share amount, breaks down allowable cash vs in-kind contributions, and ensures your cost-share calculation methodology aligns with 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance) requirements.
covered by the grant
cash + in-kind committed
committed above the requirement
non-federal share of total
The stacked bar is your committed funding (federal share + cash match + in-kind match). The dashed line is the total project cost. Any gap between the bar and the line is the match shortfall you still need to cover.
View the TypeScript implementation on GitHub: packages/calc/src/grant-cost-share-calculator.ts · view tests
What this means
A federal grant rarely pays for the whole project. The award covers a federal share — say 75% — and your organization is responsible for the rest. That remaining slice is the match, also called cost-share, and it is not optional decoration: if the requirement is mandatory and you cannot document the match, the federal funds can be reduced proportionally, or clawed back after the fact in an audit. The arithmetic itself is simple subtraction; the consequences of getting it wrong are not.
There are two ways to satisfy a match, and the distinction matters. Cash match is non-federal money you commit — organizational funds, a state or local appropriation, a private foundation grant. In-kind matchis the value of non-cash contributions: donated staff time, equipment, or space, valued at fair-market rates. In my experience, the in-kind line is where applicants both find the most slack and create the most audit risk — it is real, allowable match, but only if it is documented contemporaneously and valued defensibly under 2 CFR § 200.306.
The number to watch is the gap. I’ve found that teams fixate on the headline award figure and back into the match only after the budget is half-built, which is exactly backwards. I’ve seen otherwise-strong applications stall because the committed match came up short and there was no clean non-federal source left to close it. Computing the required match first — and confirming whether your NOFO states it as a percent of the award or of the total project, because those two phrasings produce different dollar amounts — turns a late-stage scramble into an early-stage decision.
Worked example
Take a $100,000 project with a 75% federal share. The award covers $100,000 × 0.75 = $75,000, which leaves a required match of $100,000 − $75,000 = $25,000— the non-federal 25%. Expressed as a ratio that is 3:1 federal to non-federal: three federal dollars for every one you must put up.
Now suppose you have lined up $15,000 in cash and $12,000 in in-kindcontributions — donated effort and space valued at fair-market rates. That is $27,000 of committed match against a $25,000 requirement, so the gap is $25,000 − $27,000 = −$2,000: a $2,000 surplus, and the match is met. Drop the in-kind line and rely on the $15,000 cash alone, and the picture flips — provided $15,000 against required $25,000 leaves a $15,000 shortfall, and the application is non-compliant until you find another non-federal source. I’ve seen that exact swing decide whether a budget closes, which is why I model the match before anything else.
Frequently asked questions
Estimate — match requirements and allowable in-kind valuation are program-specific (see the NOFO / 2 CFR Part 200); verify with the grant program; not legal advice.