ICN Budget Skeleton

Adapt amounts and line items per funder. This is the structural template.


Budget Categories

1. Development Labor

Item Monthly Cost Duration Total
Lead developer (Matt Faherty) [PLACEHOLDER: $X,XXX] 6 months [PLACEHOLDER]
Contract developer (mobile UX) [PLACEHOLDER: $X,XXX] 3 months [PLACEHOLDER]
Subtotal [PLACEHOLDER]

Notes:

  • Lead developer rate should reflect disability-adjusted capacity (~20-25 hrs/week productive) and SSDI income limits ($1,210/month TWP, $1,690 SGA)
  • ACCES-VR self-employment plan may cover up to $11K of startup costs separately (application pending)
  • Contract developer needed for React Native mobile UX (voting, receipt verification)

2. Infrastructure

Item Monthly Cost Duration Total
Cloud hosting (pilot nodes) $50-100 6 months $300-600
Domain + DNS $15/yr 1 year $15
SSL certificates $0 (Let's Encrypt) $0
Subtotal $315-615

Notes:

  • Current development runs on homelab infrastructure (no recurring cloud cost)
  • Pilot cooperatives will need hosted nodes until they run their own hardware
  • 2-3 pilot nodes at $20-50/month each covers the deployment phase

3. Pilot Program

Item Cost Notes
Cooperative onboarding (travel, meetings) [PLACEHOLDER: $500-1,500] Upstate NY, within driving distance
Workshop materials $200-500 Printed guides, demo devices
Pilot support (3 months) [PLACEHOLDER] Included in dev labor
Subtotal [PLACEHOLDER]

4. Community & Outreach

Item Cost Notes
NY Cooperative Summit participation $0 (organizer) Matt is core organizer
Conference travel (1-2 events) [PLACEHOLDER: $500-1,500] NCBA CLUSA, Eastern Conference
Documentation and guides $0 Included in dev labor
Subtotal [PLACEHOLDER]

5. Legal & Administrative

Item Cost Notes
Fiscal sponsor fees [PLACEHOLDER: 5-10% of total] Current sponsor: Alchemical
Legal review (cooperative formation) [PLACEHOLDER: $500-2,000] BCL Corp → Article 5-A conversion
Subtotal [PLACEHOLDER]

Budget Tiers by Funder

Micro-grant ($500-3,000)

e.g., Outta Excuses Foundation

Focus: pilot onboarding costs only

  • Cooperative partner meetings and travel: $500-1,000
  • Workshop materials: $200-500
  • Cloud hosting for pilot nodes (3 months): $150-300

Small grant ($5,000-10,000)

e.g., Verizon Digital Ready

Focus: pilot deployment + mobile UX

  • Development labor (2 months): $3,000-5,000
  • Infrastructure: $300-600
  • Pilot onboarding: $1,000-1,500
  • Workshop materials: $500

Medium grant (€50,000+)

e.g., Sovereign Tech Fund

Focus: full pilot cycle through federation deployment

  • Development labor (6 months): $25,000-35,000
  • Contract mobile developer (3 months): $8,000-12,000
  • Infrastructure: $600
  • Pilot program (3 cooperatives): $3,000-5,000
  • Community outreach: $1,500
  • Legal/admin: $2,000-3,000
  • Fiscal sponsor fees: $2,500-5,000

Missing Inputs

  • Exact SSDI-compliant compensation rate (must stay under TWP/SGA thresholds)
  • ACCES-VR plan status — if approved, $11K offsets startup costs
  • Named pilot partner(s) and their specific needs
  • Fiscal sponsor fee structure (Alchemical — confirm percentage)
  • Contract mobile developer rate (market: $50-100/hr, need estimate for grant)