World Alliance of YMCAs Draft Project Management Templates September 2008
Harmonised Project Management Templates
This compilation offers a harmonised and consolidated set of YMCA Project Management templates.
“YIP” stands for YMCA International Partner; “IMP” stands for Implementing Partner
INDEX
APPENDIX 1 - Concept Note Guidelines 3
APPENDIX 2 - Concept Note Template 5
APPENDIX 3 - Funding Proposal Guidelines 6
APPENDIX 4 - Funding Proposal Template 9
Appendix 5: Logical Framework Guidelines 10
Appendix 6: Logframe Template 22
Appendix 7: Implementation Schedule Template 22
APPENDIX 8 - Budget Guidelines 23
APPENDIX 9 – Budget Template 25
APPENDIX 10 - Activity Reporting Guidelines 26
APPENDIX 11- Activity Reporting: Half Year Report Template 27
APPENDIX 12 - Activity Reporting: End of Year / Annual Report Template 35
APPENDIX 13 - Activity Reporting: Project Completion Report Template 42
APPENDIX 14 Programme/Project Implementation cheCK List for Project Manager/ YIP 45
APPENDIX 15 - Case Study Guidelines 49
APPENDIX 16 - Case Study Questionnaire Template 50
Appendix 17 - Terms of Reference for Project Financial Audit 53
APPENDIX 18 - Evaluation Terms of Reference Template 55
APPENDIX 19 - Consultancy Agreement for Evaluations Template 57
APPENDIX 20 - Evaluation Report Template 59
APPENDIX 21 : Partner Application Template 60
Appendix 22 Guidelines to Partnership and Funding Agreements 65
Appendix 23- EXAMPLES/ YCARE Partnership Agreement Template 66
Appendix 24: EXAMPLES/ YCARE Project Funding Agreement Template 70
Appendix 25: EXAMPLES/ YGLOBAL Partner Co-operation Agreement 73
Annexe 26: EXAMPLE/ HORYZON Partner Co-operation Agreement 81
APPENDIX 1 - Concept Note Guidelines
(Concept notes must not exceed 3 pages)
Introduction
This is Stage One of YIP’s project funding process. The purpose of the concept note is to contribute to quality, strategic project design and proposal development. Concept notes will be reviewed against the following key areas and will take into account the three pillars of movement strengthening. Therefore YMCA’s are encouraged to respond to each area clearly and fully:
Strategic Relevance of Project/ Mission clarity:
Ø Relevance of the project to applicant’s current strategic plan. If your YMCA does not have a strategic plan, outline the strategic priority or priorities to be addressed in the project
Ø Consideration of the project within organisational budget
Ø How does this project support the mission + vision of your YMCA?
Ø Public image of the YMCA; In what ways will the project improve public image of the YMCA?
Project Justification/Social Relevance:
Ø Situational analysis and outline of the problem that the project aims to address
Ø Project aim and how the project intends to achieve it
Ø Identify gaps in meeting this need. What similar intervention, if any, is ongoing to address this problem? If there are no similar interventions, why not? And if there are, what is the added value of this project?
Ø How will this project complement similar work being implemented by other organisations in the area?
Ø How will the project impact the quality of life of the participants (knowledge, skills, behaviour, income, etc.)
Institutional viability:
· Will the program attain financial sustainability in terms of greater income generation and long-term self-reliance?
· If not, what is the strategy to sustain this project?
· How will the project help improve local income generating efforts?
· Staff development: How will the project strengthen staff capacity? In what areas?
· Membership: How will the program improve YMCA membership? By what percentage? How many new members do you expect from this program?
· How will the project contribute to the overall strengthening of your YMCA?
Stakeholders / Target Beneficiary Group/s:
Ø Key target groups and reason for their selection (and how the selection has been made – criteria on which selection was based)
Ø Outline how further needs analysis and consultation will be carried out
Ø Ownership issues and participation. How will the local community be involved in the design, management and implementation of the project?
Capacity of Implementing Organisation/
Ø Previous experience you have in implementing this type of project and lessons you have drawn upon
Ø Current human, technical and financial capacity to manage and implement this project and areas in which you will require assistance
Ø Include some indicators for monitoring and evaluating project activities.
Partnerships and Networking:
Ø Potential partners you will collaborate with to develop, implement and evaluate the project
Ø How will you ensure that the project does not duplicate existing work/services
Funding:
Ø Plans to finance the project and estimated budget
APPENDIX 2 - Concept Note Template
Name of organisation(s):National Council approval: Yes/No
Date submitted: / Annual income:
Estimated budget requested:
Duration of project:
Strategic relevance of project:
How does the project fit with partner’s current strategic plan?
How does this project support the mission + vision of your YMCA ?
How does it fit within the partner’s organisational budget?
What strategic priority(ies) is/are addressed in the project?
Problem statement:
Provide a brief situational analysis and outline the problem that the project aims to address.
Primary stakeholders/target group(s)
Who is/are the key target group/s and why have they been selected? And how? How will the project impact the quality of life of the participants (knowledge, skills, behaviour, income, etc.) How do you plan to carry out further needs analysis? Who will you consult?
Project purpose:
What is the project aiming to achieve? How will it do this? (include main objectives and activities only)
Capacity:
What previous experience do you have of implementing and managing this type of project? What wider lessons have you drawn on in developing this application e.g. models of good practice?
What is your current human, technical and financial capacity to manage and implement this project? What technical assistance will you require from other YMCAs, other organisations and YPI’s? Include initial thoughts on monitoring and evaluation of project activities as well as indicators.
Partnerships:
Who will you collaborate with to develop, implement and evaluate the project? e.g. NGOs, community groups, service providers (do not only refer to YMCA movement).
How will you ensure that the project does not duplicate existing work? Is collaboration possible in this instance?
Funding:
What is the estimated budget needed to implement the project? What are the main budget-lines?
How do you plan finance this project?
Sustainability:
How will the project work towards sustainability? e.g. financial, organisational, human.
How will the project contribute to the overall strengthening of your YMCA?
APPENDIX 3 - Funding Proposal Guidelines
Introduction
This is Stage Two of YPI’s project funding process. Writing this project proposal means you have already submitted a concept note to YPI and it has been accepted. If you have not submitted one or your concept note has not been approved, please do not send a full proposal to YPI.
All YMCAs are encouraged to use the following format as a guide to developing project proposals to be sent to YPI. The template can be found in Appendix 4. Partners should be aware that sending in a project proposal does not guarantee approval for funding. Funding decisions are made based on how innovative, relevant, realistic and needs based the initiative is.
This guideline is in three parts:
- Section A: Project Summary Sheet
- Section B: Background Information about your organisation
- Section C: The What, Why, Where, How and When of the project
Section A (maximum one page)
1. Project Summary Sheet
This should be completed after you have finished writing the project proposal. This will be the proposal cover sheet and will include your organisation’s contact details, project title, total budget, duration of project and expected start date, and a 250-word (maximum) summary of the proposed project.
Section B (maximum one page)
2. Information about implementing organisation
This section should not be more than one page. Please provide the following information:
a) Annual turnover and main sources of income
b) Number of premises
c) Number of staff (local and foreign)
d) Number of volunteers including young people
e) Number of Members
f) Legal Status of the organisation
g) Mission & Vision of the organisation
h) Policies already in place, e.g:
i. Child Protection Policy[1]
ii. Youth Participation Policy
iii. Gender Policy
iv. Disability Policy
v. HIV/AIDS policy
vi. Equal Opportunities Policy
i) List of Current Projects
a. Main areas of activity
b. The stage the projects are in the implementation cycle
Section C (maximum 10 pages)
This is the most important part of your proposal. The decision to fund your proposal or not will be based on how innovative, relevant, realistic and needs based the initiative is and this information should be presented here.
3. Situational analysis
A situational analysis should provide an overview of the needs of the project beneficiaries and their environment. It presents a combination of data and perspectives on the social, political, economic and cultural issues affecting the beneficiaries, such as:
a. What is the general situation in the country or community leading to the specific problems/needs to be addressed by the project activities?
b. Describe the target group/s and their specific needs.
c. What rights are not guaranteed or respected?
4. Problem Addressed
This area should outline the initiative or project you are going to undertake. The solution must be based on the problems/needs identified in Section 3. You must demonstrate how you intend to address the needs.
a. What are the needs/problems/issues you want to address? Who identified these, and how?
b. How are you proposing to address this problem/need?
c. Is any other organisation doing similar work? If yes, who, and if no, why not?
d. How will the project work in a collaborative way with these organisations? Have steps been taken to initiate partnerships with any of these organisations?
e. What value will your organisation add in addressing this problem/need?
5. Justification
It is important that you provide a good justification outlining why this project or approach you are proposing is the best way to address the needs of this community.
a. Why is this the best approach?
b. How does it relate to your organisation’s goals/strategies?
c. Do you have any prior experience in implementing such a project? Provide evidence and some lessons learned that have fed into the design of this proposed initiative.
6. Movement Strengthening
Movement Strengthening is the top strategic direction or the world YMCA movement to build healthy YMCA movements. In this section, you should explain if and how your project contributes to overall strengthening of your YMCA
a. Mission Clarity: How does this project support the vision/mission of your YMCA? How does it relate to the strategic plan of your YMCA?
b. Social Relevance: How does this project contribute to make your YMCA more relevant to your members/beneficiaries.
c. Institutional viability: How will this project contribute to the overall strengthening of your YMCA? Will the project improve YMCA membership? Will the project strengthen staff capacity? Please prove that your YMCA has the capacity to implement this new project without weakening ongoing projects.
7. Project details
This section should pull the whole project together. The project implementation plan should include all project-related activities, time frame and indication of the roles and responsibilities of project staff.
a. What is/are the overall aim/s of the project? (This should refer to the longer term impact of the project)
b. What are the objectives of the project? (These should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound)
c. Project activities – description and expected outcomes and outputs. Please also describe how the activities will lead to the realisation of the set objectives.
d. Have you developed a logical framework for this project? (see appendix 6)
e. Have you developed a project implementation plan? (see appendix 7)This should show the planned timeframes for all major project activities through the project.
f. How will the community, beneficiaries and other stakeholders participate?
g. How have the following key cross cutting issues been considered during the development of this proposal: rights, gender, disability, HIV and Aids, participation and diversity? How has this fed into the project design?
8. Monitoring and Evaluation
a. How will the project be monitored and by whom and at what intervals will the reports be provided
c. How is the project going to be evaluated? (When and by who?)
d. How will you ensure ongoing data collection and analysis?
e. How will you assess the added value of the project on the lives of the beneficiaries?
g. Provide indicators by which the project can be evaluated
9. Reporting (This should be linked to the monitoring process)
Please note that transfer of funds will be conditional upon the submission of the agreed reports.
a) What reporting formats will you use for this project? (e.g. narrative/activity reports, financial reports, evaluation reports – mid-term, end of year and end of project)
b) How frequently will you report to YPI - both financial and activity reports? (e.g. monthly, 6-monthly, annually)
c) Who will be responsible for ensuring that reports to YPI are written and sent on time?
d) Note that from time to time, YPI will require also case studies and photographs of project beneficiaries (see Appendix 15).
10. Reflective practice and learning
It is important to outline how you will ensure that lessons from the project are not lost. The YMCA is a learning organisation and believes in scaling up tried, tested and trusted approaches.
a. How will you share lessons from this project with other partners?
b. How will you integrate the lessons from this project in your work?
11. Support and Partnerships
a. What support do you need from your YIP (and why?)
b. Has another donor been approached? If so, what is the status of the application?
c. In which areas of the project would you need particular support?
d. Who will be your partners in implementing this project, if any?
e. Describe the distribution of roles and responsibilities between the partners.
f. How have you involved these partners in the planning of this project?