Advancement · Grants & Funding · Budgets

How much match,
and how much
is still missing?

Type the request and the funder’s match rule exactly as written. The calculator works out the required match and the total budget, counts your cash and in-kind commitments under any cap, and shows the gap before the application goes in.

Check the matchWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 32 items.

The grant match calculator

The worked example is a made-up STEM lab equipment request. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
Required match, total project budget, cash and in-kind counted, the gap or surplus, and the largest award the match supports. It prints for the budget narrative and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Grant writers and development staff, school and district administrators, and nonprofit finance staff.
Format
Browser tool for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Copy the match rule from the funding notice.
  2. Type the amount you will request.
  3. Set any limit on in-kind match.
  4. List each committed source as cash or in-kind.
  5. Close the gap or adjust the request.

Check the match

How the match is worked out

Three ways funders state a match.

The worked example: a $150,000 request with a 25% matchAward share75%of the total projectTotal project$200,000$150,000 ÷ 0.75Match$50,00025% of the totalGap$2,500after the in-kind capThe worked example: a $150,000 request with a 25% matchAward share75%of the total projectTotal project$200,000$150,000 ÷ 0.75Match$50,00025% of the totalGap$2,500after the in-kind cap
A match stated as a percent of total project cost is larger than the same percent of the award.

Read the rule

“A 1:1 match” means a dollar of match for every grant dollar. “25 percent of the award” means a quarter of the grant. “25 percent of total project costs” means the grant is only 75 percent of the project, so the match is a third of the grant. The last one is the most often misread.

Cash and in-kind

In-kind match is non-cash value: staff time, volunteer hours, donated space or equipment, valued at fair market rates and documented like grant spending. Under the federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200.306), match must be verifiable, necessary for the project and not paid from another federal award unless the program allows it. Some funders cap in-kind or require cash.

Sources

  1. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 2 CFR 200.306, Cost sharing or matching (ecfr.gov).
  2. Grants.gov. Grant terminology: cost sharing and matching (grants.gov).
  3. U.S. Department of Education. Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and the Uniform Guidance (ed.gov).
  4. Independent Sector. Value of volunteer time, for valuing donated hours (independentsector.org).

The worked example is made up. Follow the funding notice; it overrides any general rule here. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.