1. Activity-Based Costing
Staff Time Survey Instructions and Tips

2. Overview
Activity-Based Costing Analysis
The purpose of the Activity-Based Costing Analysis is to determine the true costs associated with each of the Foundation’s products and services. The study incorporates all of the Foundation’s costs and revenues to meet this goal.
Foundations use the results to make informed decisions about possible changes to fees, product emphasis, and services to the community.
Staff Survey
In the Staff Survey, each staff member breaks out his or her time over a matrix of products and activities.
The results show how staff resources are spread over the Foundation’s products and how staff time is divided among the activities.
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this important project!
© CF Insights 2019

3. Geographic Affiliates Donor Advised Funds / Endowed
Products for Analysis
Product
Description
Fee Based Products
Unrestricted
Funds that meet community needs as they arise through the Foundation’s Grants Program and are typically held in perpetuity, producing an annual income
Field of Interest
Funds allowing donors to support a broad area of concern
Designated
Funds created to ensure ongoing assistance to specific non-profit and charitable organizations, monitored to ensure that they fulfill purposes that donors intended to support
Geographic Affiliates
Specific fund names
Agency Funds
Endowment funds established by individual non-profit organizations to be held and managed by the CF. The CF makes regular reports and distributions to the organization.
Scholarship
Funds providing an annual income to be distributed in the form of scholarships
Donor Advised Funds / Endowed
Funds held by the CF where the donor has specified that the fund’s income or assets be used for the benefit of one or more specific public charities or areas of interest, subject to spending policy
Donor Advised Funds/
Non-Endowed
Funds held by the CF where the donor has specified that the fund’s income or assets be used for the benefit of one or more specific public charities or areas of interest
Fee for Service
Funds which require a significantly customized set of services, including committee work, event planning
Planned Giving
Charitable trusts including Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts
Fundraising Funds
Funds requiring an active fund-raising component
Leadership and Initiatives
Special Initiatives
Specific Initiative names
Community Leadership
Activities specific to each foundation, typically resulting from its mission driven priorities. Examples include: activities that support the growth of philanthropy in the community, providing technical assistance to non-profits, convening funders through grant writing workshops and local presentations.
© CF Insights 2019

4. Completing the Survey
Step 1: Review the survey to familiarize yourself with the categories of activities and products
Review Foundation Products
Staff Activities
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5. Step 2: Indicate your name and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) status.
Completing the Survey
Step 2: Indicate your name and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) status.
© CF Insights 2019

6. Step 3: Highlight the activities that you conduct in your role
Completing the Survey
Step 3: Highlight the activities that you conduct in your role
Your time will be broken out over the highlighted activities
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7. Completing the Survey
Step 4: As you read through the list of activities, begin to consider how 100% of your time breaks up among the five major categories.
≈ 25%
≈ 10%
≈ 15%
≈ 20%
≈ 30%
This provides a rough guideline; these numbers will probably change as you spread your time over individual activities
© CF Insights 2019

8. Completing the Survey
Step 5: In the column titled "Total % of Time per Activity", enter the percent of your total time spent on each highlighted activity over the past year.
If your activities are consistent over extended periods of time, it is helpful to think about how your time is spent over a day, week, or month and allocate percent of time over that period.
However, if some of your activities are cyclical, like responsive grantmaking or working on special initiatives, you will need to account for the percent of time spent on these activities annually.
© CF Insights 2019

9. Completing the Survey Step 5 Continued: Time Conversions Assumptions
• Based on 40 hour work week
• 2080 Hours per Year
• 175 Hours per Month
• 5 Days per Week
© CF Insights 2019

10. The list of products has been customized for the Foundation
Completing the Survey c
Step 6: Familiarize yourself with the "Foundation Products and Services" across the top, thinking about how to allocate your time across the products and services.
The list of products has been customized for the Foundation
© CF Insights 2019

11. Completing the Survey c
Step 7: Spread the time in the “Total” column over the "Foundation Products and Services" as relevant.
For each activity, try to spread the total time completely over the products and services, so that the percentages of time allocated to each product and service add up to the total time spent on that activity.  It’s okay to leave a blank for some products and services, as long as all the products and services add up to the number in the “Total” column for that activity.
© CF Insights 2019

12. Step 7 Continued: Some Activities Cannot be Allocated to Products
Completing the Survey c
Step 7 Continued: Some Activities Cannot be Allocated to Products
Spread an activity completely or not at all.  If you do not know how to allocate your time on a particular activity to specific products across the row, or feel it would not make sense to do so, do not enter any numbers under the list of “Foundation Products and Services”.
For example, it may not be possible to assign time spent "Maintaining information systems" or "Creating Annual Report" to specific products.  In that case, leave all the Products and Services columns blank in that row. OK
For activities that are not spread over the products, costs will be allocated based on pre-determined allocation rules. Please try to allocate your time if at all possible.
© CF Insights 2019

13. Step 8: Check that the “Total” column sums up to 100%
Completing the Survey c
Step 8: Check that the “Total” column sums up to 100%
100%
If necessary, adjust numbers to fix discrepancies
© CF Insights 2019

14. SHARING KNOWLEDGE. GROWING IMPACT.
Questions?
David Rosado
Director
(212)
SHARING KNOWLEDGE. GROWING IMPACT.