In New Zealand total annual funding allows 15 percent of the 2,400 threatened species to be targeted for management. Although management costs are crucial to a conservation organisation's ability to achieve its goals, estimates of costs are not usually included in applications for funding or the preparation of recovery plans. Cost is also not generally a factor in priority ranking systems and cost-effectiveness analysis is rarely conducted. Using the results of analysis of 11 single species programmes for 2003-2012, this paper investigates the costs of management. It also considers the impact of the budget constraint on outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and investment.