Leap Programme Project Reporting Guidelines

LEAP Learning through Evaluation with Accountability & Planning

Programme/project management reports Guidelines

World Vision Development Resources Team

LEAP Guidelines for Management Reports Published February 2006 © World Vision, Development Resources Team Send comments or questions to: [email protected]

Contents Contents.................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ........................................................................................... 3 What’s in a management report? .......................................................................................... 3 Why do a management report?............................................................................................. 3

Guidelines for Project Reports ........................................................... 4 Programme and project identification information ................................................................ 4 Narrative summary of progress.............................................................................................. 4 Indicator-tracking table and narrative.................................................................................... 4 Report on budget ................................................................................................................. 5 Adjustments in planned action.............................................................................................. 5 Table 1 – Indicator-tracking .................................................................................................. 6

Guidelines for Programme Reports .................................................. 7 Cover page........................................................................................................................... 7 Table of contents.................................................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 7 Glossary ............................................................................................................................... 7 Programme and project identification information ................................................................ 7 Narrative summary of progress.............................................................................................. 8 Project reports...................................................................................................................... 8 Most significant change story ................................................................................................ 8 Programme management challenges ..................................................................................... 8 Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 8

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Introduction These guidelines are an opportunity for World Vision to bring consistency to project and programme management reports. Consistency can help set a standard to aim for and a common expectation of what will be produced. Over time this should reduce the burden of the writers, reviewers and users alike. At their best reports are an opportunity to reflect, learn and where necessary to change, while remaining accountable to all interested parties; at their worst reports are simply a duty to be fulfilled that take up a lot of people’s time. It is hoped that these reporting guidelines will encourage both accountability to all stakeholders and learning from data the programme is collecting, its analysis and interpretation. If reporting is done well it should not be a burden but should add value and encouragement to programme stakeholders. In order to achieve consistency, National offices must ensure that they use these guidelines for project and programme reporting. As outlined in the DME Management Policy, management reports must be provided to funding offices every six months or as specified by the donor. Reports are to be submitted within a month from the close of the half-year/year. 1 Not having the information available to submit the report on time potentially has the most significance for those the most directly affected by the project. If data is regularly being collected and monitored then the project can be well managed and changes made as necessary and reports relatively easily compiled for all stakeholders. Conversely if no one has the data to hand to monitor progress then the project could be going off track without anyone being aware of the fact. Additional reports may be required if there are specific contractual donor obligations. Support Offices are not permitted to demand additional reporting from National Offices, programmes and projects with the exception of specific donor contractual obligations. It is the responsibility of the World Vision office that has signed the contract with the donor to reformat reports and communications as per donor requirements, if necessary.

What’s in a management report? At its minimum the report describes achievement of objectives against targets set in the design document, and information on expenses against budget, following the guidelines given below. To bring this information to life the report also outlines the things that have been learnt, a significant change story, challenges and changes that need to take place. In addition, the annual report should take the opportunity to reflect on the whole year and progress to date from the beginning of the programme or project.

Why do a management report? Enables projects and programmes to take stock and to learn; to communicate with and be accountable to stakeholders; to add value and give encouragement to those stakeholders. Enables Support Offices and the Partnership to understand the ‘big picture,’ but does not enable them to micro-manage. In addition, the annual report should reflect on any changes in the context since the start of the programme or project, which will have an impact.

1 Given that some offices don’t close their financial books until two weeks after the end of the financial year, this means that annual reports should be submitted within 6 weeks of the end of the financial year. Where reports need to be translated from a local language it is acceptable where necessary to submit the report on time in the language it was written in and within a maximum of seven days later in English if that is required by the Support Office.

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Guidelines for Project Reports Given that projects are the elements that combine to make a programme, project reports are one of the constituent parts of a programme report. It is recognised that some donors/stakeholders may want to view these as stand-alone reports. The following report format should be used as the basis for the standardised semi-annual and annual management report for each project. It has been adapted from a report structure developed by the West Africa Sub-Region after broad consultation. The project report format should include the following elements and be a maximum of four A4 pages long, not including the report on the budget: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Programme and project identification information Narrative summary of progress Indicator-tracking table and narrative Report on budget Adjustments in planned action

Programme and project identification information This should include: Name of programme that the project is associated with and number from PIH / PBAS Name of project and number from PIH / PBAS Country Reporting period and date report produced Start and end date of project Total project budget Funder(s) A description of the beneficiaries (including the number) Contact person and name of person who compiled the report if different from the programme

Narrative summary of progress (Maximum one page.) This should include a summary of progress over the last six months, including a record of lessons learnt. Refer to the indicators in the project design as a means of measuring progress. What went well and what were the factors that contributed to this? What did not go so well and what action was taken to address this? Are there any requests for the technical (or other) assistance of project stakeholders that maybe reading this report? The annual report should additionally take the opportunity to reflect on the whole year and progress to date from the beginning of the project. It should also reflect on any changes in the context since the start of the project, which will have an impact.

Indicator-tracking table and narrative The table (Table 1 – Indicator-tracking, at the end of this section), which is adapted from the one found in Figure 15 of LEAP Edition 1.0, should be included. The ‘target’ columns are set in advance when the design is finalised. The other columns are filled in with the monitoring data taken for the reporting period indicated. Major variances between the targets and what has been achieved should be explained in the narrative here.

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Indicators need not only be quantitative. Qualitative indicators and targets provide insights into changes in organisational processes, attitudes, beliefs, motives and behaviours of individuals. Qualitative indicators and targets that do not easily fit into the tracking table format can be reported here in narrative. There are various alternatives for using qualitative indicators in the literature. The indicators should be well aligned with what is expected to change as a result of the project or what the project should produce. The set of indicators through the hierarchy of objectives should show a consistent pattern – change in knowledge, attitude and practice for example. Any unexpected outcomes directly linked to the project should also be included in the report.

Report on budget A report on the project budget should be included here in the LEAP format (see separate guidelines).

Adjustments in planned action (Maximum one page.) Adjustments in planned action for the next six months should be recorded here, along with any implications for the various project stakeholders. For the annual report an Annual Plan of Action (see separate format) should be appended to the programme report. In order to use the logical framework as a useful tool for monitoring and planning, it should be revisited each year and progress measured using the indicators developed during design. If these are no longer suitable, or if the outputs or activities have changed, the logframe can be revised. Any revision to outcomes should only follow dialogue with the key stakeholders. Any agreed changes in the logframe would have implications for the project’s design, monitoring and evaluation plan and the indicator-tracking table used in six monthly progress reports.

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Indicator

Baseline, value and date

6month Target

6month Achieved

12month Target

12-month Achieved

18month Target

18-month Achieved

24month Target

24-month Achieved

End of Project Target

End of Project Achieved

Explanations of Significant Variances

Programme goal (the programme goal simply needs to be stated) Project Goal (given that the project goal is evaluated rather than monitored only fill in the columns below as appropriate for the goal – an example is given) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Project Outcomes (given that the project outcomes are evaluated rather than monitored only fill in the columns below as appropriate for each indicator – an example is given) N/A N/A N/A N/A 1.1 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1.2 etc. Project Outputs 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 etc. Indicator

Baseline, value and date

30month Target

30month Achieved

36month Target

36-month Achieved

42month Target

42-month Achieved

48month Target

48-month Achieved

End of Project Target

End of Project Achieved

Explanations of Significant Variances

Programme goal (the programme goal simply needs to be stated) Project Goal (given that the project goal is evaluated rather than monitored only fill in the columns below as appropriate for the goal – see example above) Project Outcomes (given that the project outcomes are evaluated rather than monitored only fill in the columns below as appropriate for each indicator – see example above) 1.1 1.2 etc. Project Outputs 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 etc.

Table 1 – Indicator-tracking

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Guidelines for Programme Reports The following report format should be used as the basis for the standardised semi-annual and annual management report in conjunction with the project format above which should be used for each project. Given that programmes will usually have several funding sources, this report should enable different donors to understand what their funds were specifically used for, while providing the wider context of the whole programme. The programme report format should include the following elements and be a maximum of five A4 pages long not including the project reports and appendices: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Cover page Table of contents Acknowledgements Glossary Programme and project identification information Narrative summary of progress Project reports Most significant change story Programme management challenges Appendices

Cover page The cover page should have the programme name, location, National Office and the period of reporting. The name of the person that compiled the report and where appropriate an acknowledgment of others that have contributed either individually or as a group, e.g., [programme name] staff and community, should also be included. All reports should have a copyright notice that includes the date the report was produced, along with the copyright symbol and the programme’s name or the National Office’s name, e.g., Published December 2005, © World Vision International. Include the WV logo somewhere on the cover page as well.

Table of contents List the different main sections of the management report. It may be useful to add in various sub-headings, marking significant places to find different themes and discussions.

Acknowledgements Include an acknowledgement to thank people who have assisted in the report writing. If the authors were identified as a group on the cover page, then it would be appropriate to acknowledge them individually in this section.

Glossary This is an alphabetical list of terms or words that are found in the document or related to the text of the document, that need some explanation or which may help the reader to a greater understanding. The list should also include the expansion of acronyms and abbreviations, e.g., WV - World Vision.

Programme and project identification information This should include: Name of programme and number from PIH / PBAS Name of project(s) associated with the programme and number(s) from PIH / PBAS Country Reporting period and date report produced

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Start date of programme Contact person and details

Narrative summary of progress (Maximum two page.) This should include a summary of progress over the last six months, including a record of lessons learnt. Issues of project and programme sustainability should be discussed here, including progress towards transformational development. Issues that have arisen around LEAP’s six cross-cutting themes (Christian Commitments, disability, environment, gender, peace building & conflict resolution, and protection) should also be highlighted. The annual report should additionally take the opportunity to reflect on the whole year and progress to date from the beginning of the programme. It should also reflect on any changes in the context since the start of the programme, which will have an impact.

Project reports All of the current projects in the programme should be reported on here using the guidelines outlined above.

Most significant change story (Maximum half a page.) Establish what was the most significant change that took place for the participants in the programme in the six-month reporting period. Include that story here. For the annual report also identify whether this story or the one in the last report was the most significant for the year. Photos can be included in the appendices if this is appropriate and would be useful to at least one or the programme’s stakeholders. The Standards for Gathering Story and Photo Resources should be followed at all times (http://merlin.wvision.org/photopolicy.htm).

Programme management challenges (Maximum half a page.) Record any programme management challenges that were encountered during the reporting period and their implications on the programme. If there have been any changes in the roles of stakeholders, these should be outlined. Highlight any notable examples of added value provided by any of the stakeholders during the reporting period (eg support office, community organisation, government partner).

Appendices These should include: Relevant photos List of programme staff and their positions List of main partners (stakeholders actively engaged in programme activities) Annual Plan of Action (see separate format) for each project as part of the annual report

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