•Research organisations are focussed on quantifying the costs and benefits of implementing FAIR.•Criteria used for the selection of data for FAIRification can be opaque and inconsistent.•FAIRification effort depends on individual skills, competencies, resources, and time available.•FAIRification should satisfy reuse scenarios, and lead to scientific and economic impacts.•Organisational challenges include providing training to individuals and developing a FAIR organisation culture. Despite the intuitive value of adopting the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles in both academic and industrial sectors, challenges exist in resourcing, balancing long- versus short-term priorities, and achieving technical implementation. This situation is exacerbated by the unclear mechanisms by which costs and benefits can be assessed when decisions on FAIR are made. Scientific and research and development (R&D) leadership need reliable evidence of the potential benefits and information on effective implementation mechanisms and remediating strategies. In this article, we describe procedures for cost–benefit evaluation, and identify best-practice approaches to support the decision-making process involved in FAIR implementation.