⏰ Last days to finalize your progress reports! What are the top 3 errors that you can avoid?
Error #1. Only focusing on activities. This is a classic. “We have organized x number of workshops with x number of partners”. “We have contracted x number of consultants and procured x number of items”. Stated like this, it might sound obvious but you cannot imagine the number of reports that are only or mainly input and activity-oriented.
👉 So what should be your approach? Come back and explicitly refer to the initial structure of your logframe. In an RBM approach, start with outcome level progress, and then going down the chain to outputs, activities and finally inputs and resources (including human resources!).
+ Your report will make a difference if you connect the dots. For instance, explain clearly how the critical outputs that you referred to contributed to the related outcome. Or, how they link up with the last year's outputs.
Error #2. Being unprecise about the timeframe. How often have I seen reports in which we keep reporting activities or outputs that were produced the year before? Sometimes it comes from a lack of rigor, sometimes from a lack of progress. But in the end, it is a form of double-counting and it does not look good at all.
👉The best practice is to strictly stick to the time frame of the report. If the report period goes from January 1st to December 31st, simply stick to what has been done within this period of time. In the same logic, if you had 10,000 beneficiaries in 2022 on a specific output for instance, and by 2023 you've reached 15,000, clarify that the progress in 2023 is 5,000 beneficiaries (not 15.000 or 25.000 unless you refer to different individuals). What counts is what was added in the considered period of time.
Error #3. Being too long. Bottom line: it is not the donor’s job or the report reader to look for the relevant information in a forest of words. Since you have been all year long immersed in the project, your head will naturally be full of details about its implementation. It requires an effort to process all these experiences into a concise narrative that highlights the key milestones and achievements only.
👉 If your intention is that nobody reads it, then make long sentences and paragraphs. But if you intend to communicate results effectively to a targeted audience, then be short and specific. Start by acknowledging the natural inclination to delve into an excessive amount of details. Then, get back to the text, identify what matters most, make choices, and streamline paragraphs for a reader-friendly and results-oriented report. Use matrix, graphs, and bullet points for brevity. And save your words to explain the reported numbers and facts, to analyze and guide the reader.
What is your experience with annual reporting? What challenges do you face in writing progress reports? Are there additional best practices you'd like to share? Share with us in the comment section below !
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