NGO MANAGEMENTInstitution Building, Project Management, Proposal Writing, Teamwork, and MoreSession 6: Donor ReportingMariam MemarsadeghiThursday, July 24, 2014

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Quiz1. Project goal2. Strategy3. Background/needs

statement4. Logframe5. Objectives6. Activities7. Sustainability8. Stakeholder

A. The actions taken to achieve a project’s objectivesB. The overarching result that your project aims to achieveC. Individual or group who may be affected by or exert

influence over a projectD. A visual tool for planning, monitoring, and evaluating

projects by displaying the linkages between its main elements

E. An analysis of the problems being addressed in a proposalF. How a project will meets its objectives and achieve its

desired outcomesG. Refers to the long-term ability of your project and

organization to continue impact and fulfill its missionH. Mini goals or outcomes which a project seeks to achieve

A. Includes staff benefits, staff insurances, payroll taxesB. The past experiences, resources, and leadership that define

an organization’s ability to implementC. Costs necessary for the organization to function as a wholeD. A tangible, specific product or service with a due date that

comes out of your projectE. Costs of specific program activitiesF. Group of project elements which organizes and defines the

total scope of the projectG. Measures of the project’s success

1. Indirect costs2. Direct costs3. Fringe4. Indicators5. Organizational

capacity6. Deliverable

Session overviewIn this session, we’ll address the following questions:

What are the characteristics of effective, engaging reports to donors?

How can your ongoing project monitoring and evaluation help your organization to improve its effectiveness?

What are common pitfalls in donor reporting and how can these be avoided?

How can donor reporting be simplified?

Why is reporting important?• Holding yourselves accountable• Demonstrating your success to the donor• Staying on track (time, money, scope)• Documenting your work• Learning and recording organizational memory for the future

Even though donors require reports, reports are for you as much as for them.

The importance of strategy

Just as your proposal needs to be strategic, so do your reports.

• Continually refer back to project objectives• Emphasize long-term impact and sustainability• Specifically cover main activities, but also tangential activities that are necessary to complete deliverables, such as outreach/networking

Reporting should be constantYou should be collecting information continually; writing reports should simply bring this information together in a presentable format.

Develop Standard OperatingProcedures (SOPs) for constant collection of information.

Don't wait till the month or week your report is due to begin gathering data!

Data collection must be constant.

What are the components of a good report?

• A good summary

• In-depth descriptions of activities undertaken, with a focus throughout on demonstrating impact

• Balance between quantitative (measurable indicators of impact) and qualitative (ex. testimonials from beneficiaries)

• A list of upcoming activities (don't over-promise!)

What makes a report effective and engaging?

• Back up statistics with qualitative information –stories, testimonials, photos – to show the human impact of your work

• Include beneficiary feedback and evaluation

• Prepare your narrative in an easy-to-read format, visually distinguishing important information

• Include input from staff who work closely on project activities

Remember to…

• Focus on achievements

• Be honest about challenges/failures

• Be clear on lessons learned

• Use your reports to guide future activities

Pitfalls of donor reporting

Only writing about the positive

Not providing enough first-hand documentation – photos, quotes, testimonials

Not writing from a strategic perspective – providing no insight into impact, not tying activities to project objectives

×

×

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How to simplify reporting

• Collect information for your reports continually!• Write about activities shortly after they are

completed, while they are still fresh in your memory.

• Decentralize the effort.• Use appendices to keep main points separate from

supporting documentation/data.

Now you try…

For the kinds of activities listed below, what information do you think is important to cover in reports to donors?

• Emergency earthquake relief

• One-on-one mentoring/assistance for refugees

• Shelter and training programs for runaway girls

• Local environment clean-up

Questions so far?

What is a monitoring and evaluation plan?

A defined system for you to keep track of your project's progress and assess how well you are meeting promised objectives

Why?

An M&E plan will…

• Track your ability to achieve objectives• Help you improve as you implement and learn from mistakes

And donors require it!

What are the components of an M&E plan?

• Objectives as listed in your original proposal

• A brief list of activities contributing toward each objective, as listed in your original proposal

• Indicators that can be used to measure success for each activity

• Baseline and target numbers for each indicator

• Measurement tools used to track indicators

Indicators

Indicators are specific measures of the activity's success.• May be quantitative (numbers, percentages) or

qualitative (beneficiary testimonials)

Examples:• Number and percentage of project participants

who indicated that the program met their expectations

• Number and percentage of trainees who acquire knowledge/skills from training (i.e. whose score rose by at least 25% from pre-test to post-test)

• Trainee comments and testimonials

Types of Indicators• Activity – shows to what extent (usually

quantifiable) an activity has been carried out, but says nothing about impact

Ex. Number of economically disadvantaged urban girls who complete in-person training on administrative computer and Internet skills

• Process - showing immediate impact that can lead to long-term change

Ex. Number and percentage of participants who gain knowledge/skills from training (i.e. whose score rose by at least 10% from pre-test to post-test)

• Impact - showing long-term changeEx. Number and percentage of participants who report that they obtained an office job by 1 year after training

What makes a good indicator?It must be:

S •SPECIFIC – no subjective or general terms like "in satisfactory manner," "greater confidence," "increased capacity"

M •MEASURABLE - don't include indicators if it will be unrealistically difficult, costly, or time-consuming to measure them

A •ACHIEVABLE – your target numbers should be realistic; don't over-promise

R •RELEVANT – demonstrating impact on the project objectives

T •TIME-BOUND - make the time period for each indicator clear ("over the life of the grant," "per quarter," "per year")

OBJECTIVES: Domestic violence victims gain access to means to leave their abusers and are empowered with skills to obtain work & live independently.

ACTIVITY: Operating a women’s shelter with training programs

• Number of women who use shelter• Number of women whose lives are improved as a

result of the shelter• Percentage of [City] domestic violence victims who are

helped by the shelter• Number of shelter website visits

Why are these bad indicators?

What would be some better indicators?

OBJECTIVES: Domestic violence victims gain access to means to leave their abusers and are empowered with skills to obtain work & live independently.

ACTIVITY: Operating a women’s shelter with training programs

What would be some better indicators?

OBJECTIVES: Domestic violence victims gain access to means to leave their abusers and are empowered with skills to obtain work & live independently.

ACTIVITY: Operating a women’s shelter with training programs

• Number of women housed in shelter for 1 day+ over the life of the grant

• Number and percentage of women housed in shelter who successfully complete at least one month-long training course through the shelter

• Number and percentage of women housed at the shelter who state that the shelter helped them improve their lives

• Number of women housed at the shelter who find employment and live independently within 2 years

Questions so far?

BaselinesEach indicator should have a baseline and a target.

A baseline serves as a starting point you can use to determine realistic targets. It shows what your organization has achieved so far.

• 20,000 website visits in 2013• 158 girls trained in citizen journalism in 2013

If your organization is brand new or the activity is new, you will not have baselines yet.

TargetsA target is your goal for the duration of your project. Your targets should never be lower than your baseline.

Baseline Target

• 20,000 website visits in 2013

• 25,000 website visits in 2014

• 158 girls trained in citizen journalism in 2013

• 200 girls trained in citizen journalism in 2014

An exampleActivity: Training of 80 economically disadvantaged urban girls in administrative computer and Internet skills

Indicator: Number and percentage of project participants who indicate that the training met their expectationsBaseline Target

• 37 out of 54 (68.5%) of project participants in 2013 indicated that the training met their expectations

• 60 out of 80 (75%) total project participants indicate that the training met their expectations

Measuring toolsMeasuring tools should collect data from project stakeholders, especially beneficiaries. They should be realistic tools for your organization to use.

Remember that in order to measure impact, data should be collected both prior to and after project activities.

Some possible measuring tools• Surveys of project beneficiaries (before project

activity/immediately after activity/6-12 months later)

• Focus groups• One-on-one interviews with beneficiaries• Performance records kept by project

staff/trainers• Surveys of relevant stakeholders who

interact with beneficiaries• Ex. for an employment training project,

employers are relevant stakeholders• Pre and post-tests to determine knowledge

acquisition• For online projects, analytic tools such as

Google Analytics, Crowdbooster and Hootsuite

Be people-focused – even for roads or school

construction

What are some measuring tools you can use for your project?

Assignment

1. Take the Leadership Assessment.

2. Take the Myers-Briggs test at this link: http://kisa.ca/personality/

3. Take the Listening Assessment.

4. Post to the forum with your reaction to your results and thoughts on how you can grow as a leader.

Assignment is due Mon. July 28, 20:00 IRST, 24 hours before the next session.

Questions?