Table 3 Assumptions and costings for “Newsletters”—hypothetical trial Ireland and the MAMI trial [14]
From: How much is the lack of retention evidence costing trial teams in Ireland and the UK?
Strategy 1 | Assumptions made |
|---|---|
Hypothetical trial (Ireland) | |
Newsletter | → 2 newsletters sent out over the 1-year trial period. → 5 h to develop the newsletter. → 2 h work to electronically send out 500 newsletters. → 8 h to manually post out 500 newsletters. → Stamp costs in Ireland = €1.10. → Mailchimp subscription is €151.78 for 1 year. → Developing the newsletter carried out by a Research Nurse (€54 hourly rate) → Emailing/posting out the newsletter carried out by a Research Assistant (€25 hourly rate) |
Costings | Costings Staff costs for developing and manually posting out the newsletter: → Developing newsletter: 5 h × €54 = €270. → Manually posting newsletter: 8 h × €25 = €200 → Total staff costs = €470 Postage (stamp) costs: → 500 × €1.10 = €550 Total costs: Staff hours plus postage costs × frequency of activity: → €1020 × 2 = €2040 Staff costs for developing and electronically posting out the newsletter twice a year: → Developing newsletter: 5 h × €54 = €270. → Electronically posting newsletter: 2 h × €25 = €50. → Total staff costs = €320. Electronic postage costs: Mailchimp = €151.78 Total costs: Staff costs × frequency of activity plus flat rate of Mailchimp: → €320 × 2 = €640 plus €151.78= €791.78 |
MAMI trial (Trials Journal) | |
Newsletter | → 4 newsletters sent out over the 2-year trial period → 5 h to develop the newsletter. → 0.24 h to electronically send out 60 newsletters (2 h work to electronically send out 500 newsletters, therefore 60 newsletters is 0.24 h) → 0.96 h of work to manually stuff and post 60 newsletters (8 h to manually post out 500 newsletters, therefore 60 newsletters take 0.96 h) → Stamp costs in the Netherlands = €0.96 → Mailchimp subscription for two years is €303.56 (€151.78 for 1 year) → Developing the newsletter carried out by a Research Nurse (€30 hourly) → Emailing/posting out the newsletter carried out by a Research Assistant (€17 hourly) |
Costings | Costings Staff costs for developing and manually posting out the newsletter twice a year: → Developing newsletter: 5 h × €30 = €150 → Manually posting newsletter: 0.96 h × €17 = €16.32 → Total staff costs = €166.32 Postage (stamp) costs: → 60 × €0.96 = €57.60 Total costs: Staff hours plus postage costs × frequency of activity: → €223.92 × 4 = €895.68 Staff costs for developing and electronically posting out the newsletter twice a year: → Developing newsletter: 5 h × €30 = €150 → Electronically posting newsletter: 0.24 h × €17 = €4.08 → Total staff costs = €154.08 Electronic postage costs: Mailchimp = €151.78 × 2 = €303.56 Total costs: Staff costs × frequency of activity plus flat rate of Mailchimp: €154.08 × 4 = €616.32 plus €303.56= €919.88 |