Indirect Cost Rates 2026: What Nonprofits Must Know to Build NICRA-Proof Proposals

Overview

Indirect costs are an important aspect of obtaining full cost recovery on grants & cooperative agreements. An indirect rate is a mechanism for recovering allocable indirect costs. Have you struggled to understand how indirect rates work? We will show you Uniform Guidance theory & the mechanical aspects of how indirect rates are constructed. This session will cover the two of the most widely used indirect cost rate proposal templates to obtain Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRA) for both the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) & U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).

We will address: • Fringe & indirect rate examples, • The power of an indirect rate multiplier, • What is an ideal indirect rate, • Mandatory requirements for constructing an indirect rate, • The importance of the Statement of Functional Expense & • Understanding the HHS & DOI model templates.