Templates

Note: A progress report is sometimes called a field report or a quarterly / six monthly report. Progress reports are used by a project team to update the donor or head office on the status of the project (for example, at the end of every quarter or 6 month period). There …

The purpose of a monitoring visit (sometimes called a supervision visit or a field visit) is to make sure that project activities are implemented the way they are described in the plan. It normally involves meeting with the people running the project, meeting with the participants, and observing the activities. At …

A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan describes how the whole M&E system for the program works. This includes the indicators, who is responsible for collecting them, what forms and tools will be used, and how the data will flow through the organisation. You can think of an M&E plan as …

The most common way to get funding for an international development / aid project is by writing a proposal and submitting it to a donor (or many donors!). Donors read hundreds, if not thousands, of proposals each year. Well-written proposals are more likely to get their attention and ultimately to …

Before implementing any type of international development / aid program it’s a good idea to identify all the risks you might face, and work out what you are going to do about them. Risks to the program might include internal issues, such as the necessary resources not being available or …

Every employee and volunteer in your program should have a basic job description that lists their responsibilities, who the report to and who they supervise. Job descriptions are important for making sure that everyone knows exactly what they are responsible for. Common roles in international development programs include the Program …

All international development programs should have a budget. Donors almost always require a detailed budget to be submitted before they fund a project. Budgets are also necessary to ensure that expenses can be anticipated ahead of time. For large programs there may be an overall budget as well as multiple …

Strategic planning is the process of defining an organisation’s direction – where the organisation is going and how it’s going to get there. Most organisations conduct strategic planning every 3-5 years. There are lots of different ways to do a strategic plan, and lots of different structures for the final …

Note: An M&E framework can also be called an evaluation matrix. Please note this article is a short introduction. For a more in-depth coverage consider taking a free online course. As with most things in international development, there is no standard definition of a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework, or …

A research report describes the results of a survey, interviews, focus groups or any other type of qualitative or quantitative research. Even if they aren’t necessarily “researchers”, most international development practitioners will still need to write a basic research report at some point in their career. Either for a baseline or endline …