Line-item estimates across four phases of the Wise Friend x ICF initiative. Ranges reflect AI-optimized build costs, market-rate talent, and research partnerships. All amounts are estimates subject to scoping.
Each phase can be funded independently. Costs reflect AI-assisted development (significantly lower than traditional build costs from 3 years ago), market-rate specialist talent, and institutional research partnerships. Click any cost figure to reveal the number. All ranges are negotiable based on scope alignment.
Complete the knowledge foundation that powers all downstream tools, and expand print distribution to establish the physical layer of the platform.
| Line Item | Category | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
Curriculum Lead (6 months) Senior learning designer to sequence and complete the 10 Pillars and Life Plan Pathway knowledge spine |
People | $36K - $48K |
AI Alignment + Guardrail Engineering Prompt engineering, safety rules, and curriculum-to-AI translation layer |
Tech | $12K - $18K |
Content Production + Editing Writing, formatting, and QA of curriculum modules for CMS-ready delivery |
Content | $10K - $16K |
Print Production Run Expanded print of Inspire Cards, Life Plan workbooks, and Insight a Day materials |
$14K - $28K | |
Distribution + Fulfillment Setup Logistics infrastructure to get print materials to partner organizations |
Ops | $4K - $8K |
Gap Audit + Research Review of existing curriculum against research evidence base, identify and remediate gaps |
Research | $4K - $10K |
| Phase 1 TotalRanges reflect scope flexibility | $80K - $140K | |
Strengthen the existing v1 platform into a production-ready system with full cohort management, mentor matching, and organizational onboarding capacity.
| Line Item | Category | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
Senior Software Engineer (9 months) Full-stack engineer to lead LMS v2 development, platform architecture, and API integrations |
People | $72K - $99K |
Learning Design Engineer Translate ICF curriculum into effective digital learning sequences, interactive elements, and assessments |
People | $24K - $36K |
Cohort + Mentor Matching System Build the infrastructure for structured mentor programs: matching, session tracking, progress visibility |
Tech | $18K - $28K |
QA and Safety Testing User testing, edge case review, and safety protocol validation before wider rollout |
Quality | $12K - $18K |
Partner Organization Onboarding Implementation support, training, and documentation for 3 to 5 partner organizations |
Ops | $14K - $22K |
Case Study Documentation Structured documentation of outcomes, learnings, and replication guidance from pilots |
Research | $8K - $14K |
Infrastructure + Hosting (Year 1) Cloud infrastructure, security, and platform hosting during active development and pilot phase |
Tech | $8K - $14K |
| Phase 2 TotalRanges reflect team size and scope | $180K - $280K | |
Bring the v0 AI facilitator to production readiness, with safety guardrails, referral protocols, and institutional research partnership to document outcomes.
| Line Item | Category | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
AI Engineer (12 months) Specialized AI/ML engineer to develop, train, and maintain the guardrailed voice facilitator |
People | $155K - $180K |
AI Safety Expert Advisory External AI safety specialists to design guardrails, referral protocols, and red-team the system |
Advisory | $18K - $28K |
Voice Production + Audio Engineering High-quality AI voice generation, audio post-production, and curriculum audio recording |
Production | $16K - $24K |
Clinical Boundary Review Licensed clinician review to define and enforce the scope boundaries between skills and clinical intervention |
Safety | $12K - $18K |
Institutional Research Partnership University or research institution to design and run an outcomes study on the AI facilitator's effectiveness |
Research | $18K - $30K |
Participant Safety + Monitoring Real-time monitoring systems, escalation protocols, and ongoing safety review infrastructure |
Safety | $14K - $22K |
AI Infrastructure + Model Costs LLM API costs, fine-tuning compute, vector database, and serving infrastructure |
Tech | $16K - $30K |
| Phase 3 TotalResearch partnership range drives variance | $260K - $390K | |
Full deployment infrastructure to scale Wise Friend tools to any community organization, school, employer, or nonprofit. ICF is the proof of concept; the playbook gets documented and replicated broadly.
| Line Item | Category | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
Account Management Team (12 months) 2 account managers to onboard, support, and grow partner organizations using the Wise Friend platform |
People | $80K - $110K |
Staff Training Program Train ICF staff and mentors on the Wise Friend platform, curriculum, and facilitation methodology |
Training | $12K - $18K |
Licensing Framework + Partner Infrastructure Legal, technical, and operational infrastructure to enable any org to license the Wise Friend system |
Program | $14K - $22K |
Outcomes Measurement Structured measurement of participant outcomes, engagement, and behavior change over 12 months |
Research | $16K - $28K |
Replication Playbook Full documentation of what worked, how it scaled, and how other organizations can adopt the model |
Research | $10K - $18K |
ICF Integration + Community Deployment Full Wise Friend platform deployment within ICF programming as the documented pilot and proof of concept |
Growth | $12K - $22K |
| Phase 4 TotalProgram scale drives variance | $160K - $260K | |
All four phases. Curriculum spine through platform, AI facilitator, and replicable community program integration. ICF becomes the documented pilot. Wise Friend becomes the scalable platform.
Beyond the impact : what a grant partner concretely gets from investing in this initiative.
Funding partner acknowledged in the institutional research study and outcomes documentation. Real data on what works at scale.
Priority access to the replication playbook and platform licensing for partner organizations the funder wants to support.
Structured outcomes measurement across participant cohorts. Evidence base for what skills-based mental fitness intervention actually produces.
Recognition within the Wise Friend platform and in partner-facing materials, for funders who want presence in the communities served.
Regular briefings on progress, setbacks, and learnings. Transparent reporting is built into the model from day one.
Connection to the network of organizations, AI advisors, and research partners being built around this initiative.
We can align any phase to your foundation's priorities and timeline.