Definition
In Jigsaw, the cost base refers to the ongoing financial commitments required to sustain the organization’s operations. It is a critical component of the operating model, sitting alongside revenue, resources, activities, and partnerships.
The cost base includes:
- Salaries and staffing costs
- Facilities and equipment maintenance
- Insurance, compliance, and reporting obligations
- Technology and system licenses
- Travel, supplies, or transport costs
- Safeguarding-specific investments (e.g., supervision, training, review time)
- And others.
The cost base helps define what must be paid for and protected, regardless of whether revenue is rising or falling. When overlooked, it becomes a hidden risk.
Why Cost Base Matters in Jigsaw
The cost base grounds the system in reality. It’s what must be sustained to continue moving toward the organization’s Swans — and to protect people along the way.
Naturally, many SAM risk exposures increase with resource strain. Cost pressures often distort priorities, delay investments, or encourage silent compromise.
But it’s not only about constraint. Understanding your cost base also reveals where investment in safety is already happening, and where small changes can improve protection or resilience.
SAM risk is shaped not just by what we have, but by what we choose to pay for, protect, and prioritize.
Cost Base, Operating Model, and Risk Sets
The cost base is reviewed in connection with each Swan, not in isolation.
Cost is more than a number — it’s a field of uncertainty. As organizations grow, shift strategy, or respond to external pressures, costs can rise, fall, or shift in unpredictable ways. Later in the Jigsaw process, these uncertainties will be explicitly examined within the design of risk sets.
For each Swan, teams ask:
- What parts of our cost base are involved in achieving this swan?
- Which of these costs are stable, and which are less so?
- What would be the impact on the swan if budgets for these costs were reduced or cut?
- What would be the impact on the swan if the costs increased significantly?
- Where might those changes introduce SAM-related risk, directly or indirectly?
This helps teams:
- Anticipate unintended risk trade-offs during budget changes
- Justify prevention investments (e.g., training, supervision) as mission-critical
- Frame controls around financial decision-making, not just practice and policy
- Align resource use with values and risk ownership
Best Practice for Assessing Cost Base in Jigsaw
- Map major cost categories to the Swans and the operating components they support
- Identify which costs directly or indirectly support SAM protection
- Distinguish between fixed and variable costs
- Name when cost pressures create friction between mission, protection, and financial reality
- Link safeguarding investments to outcomes, not just compliance
Swans and Operating Model – Sample Facilitation Script