DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT IDEAS

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DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT IDEAS

• Mark Delmartino, MDM Consultancy bvba
• Gate to Europe
• Project Development Workshop
• Budapest, 19 20 February 2009

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PROGRAMMA

• ORGANISATIONS PROJECTS, IDEAS OPPORTUNITIES
• DRAFTING PROPOSALS
• ACTIVITIES RESULTS
• BUDGET
• PARTNERS STAKEHOLDERS

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IDEAS OPPORTUNITIES

• Questions for the management of the NGO
• Is the organisation fit for a project?
• development stage of NGO allows for project
  involvement
• Does this project fit the organisation?
• added value of funding opportunity for
  development/capacity/priorities of NGO
• Who are we as an organisation?
• project compatibility with mission and culture of
  the NGO
• What are we doing?
• project compatibility with activities and
  priorities of the NGO
• Do we have enough money?
• preparation of proposal, advancing project funds,
  co-financing
• Do we have competent staff?
• proposal drafting, project and financial
  management, professional expertise

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IDEAS OPPORTUNITIES

• Questions for the designer(s) of the project
• Do we know what the programme is about?
• objectives, activities, outputs, beneficiaries,
  partnership, budget,
• Do we understand the documents?
• Call for Proposals, Guidelines, Application Form,
  Eligibility Criteria,
• Are our ideas in line with the programme?
• the idea should fit the programme, not the other
  way around
• Do we have resources for this proposal?
• human, financial, technical and time resources
• Do we have the capacity to implement the project?
• what will happen with the organisation if it has
  to run the project

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DRAFTING PROPOSALS

• PROJECT SKELETON
• What, when, why, with whom, for whom
• PARTNER IDENTIFICATION
• Task dispatching share of grant/co-financing
• DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES
• Put flesh to the bones
• Make sure you have adequate expertise
• PLAN OF ACTION
• Make sure the plan is realistic
  (activities/period/time available)

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DRAFTING PROPOSALS

• DETAILED BUDGET
• Budget plan per activity / per type of expense /
  in total
• Keep in mind donor requirements and commitment of
  partners
• FINE-TUNE BUDGET AND ACTIVITIES
• Make it fit the eligibility criteria
• Involve all partners and have their final
  commitment
• COMPLETE OTHER PARTS
• Ensure consistence in terminology
• Make sure you have adequate expertise
• GATHER ANNEXES / PARTNER INFO
• Start collecting documents in time
• Prepare standard presentation on own organisation

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EXERCISE PROJECT OUTLINE

• Short-term objective which goal should have been
  reached at the end of the project (i.e. after
  twelve months) name only one goal
• Partnership who is formally involved in the
  project name the lead organisation and the
  partners and explain for each partner your choice
• Core activities list at least four types of
  activities that will be implemented during the
  project (e.g. training of staff or clients,
  research, publications, seminars, public
  affairs/lobbying, public information, etc...
• Target group beneficiaries list (and
  quantify) the types of people that will be
  directly involved in the project (e.g. staff of
  partners, service users, etc...) and the groups
  that are targeted indirectly by the project
  (e.g. service users, general population, etc...)
• Expected results mention three concrete
  achievements (linked to the project goal) that
  will be realised during the project duration

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ACTIVITIES RESULTS

• Activities are actions or tasks that have to be
  implemented in order to produce the expected
  results
• All project actions should be reviewed and
  confirmed during the inception phase
• Each activity has its own cost, which should be
  in line with the contract budget
• Organisations should ensure that activities are
  in line with EC visibility regulations, where
  applicable

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ACTIVITIES RESULTS

• Implementing activities can contribute to
  building the capacity of your organisation
• Involving beneficiaries and stakeholders in the
  actions facilitates sustainability
• There is always a link between a project activity
  and a project result
• Realistic planning with some room for flexibility
  reduces the risk for delays

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ACTIVITIES RESULTS

• According to other NGOs in the social field, it
  is important to ensure that the actions are
• producing the expected result
• implemented according to plan
• involving the target group and beneficiaries
• respecting the technical situation of the area
• imbedded in the local context
• endorsed by the (local) authorities
• communicated to the various stakeholders

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EXERCISE RESULTS ACTIVITIES

• On the basis of the project outline
• list all activities foreseen in the project
• indicate in which month each activity will take
  place
• link each activity to one of the expected
  results.

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PROJECT BUDGETS

• STAFF AND EXPERTS
• TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE
• EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
• OFFICE COSTS
• OTHER COSTS AND SERVICES
• ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
• CONTINGENCY

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PROJECT BUDGETS

• THINK OF ALL POSSIBLE COSTS
• ACTIVITIES
• OUTPUTS / PRODUCTS
• STAFF
• EXTERNAL EXPERTISE
• OFFICE RENT MATERIALS
• DISSEMINATION
• EVALUATION / AUDIT
• BANK CHARGES
• ETC

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Good Bad Budgeting Practice

• Staff include all costs and taxes, not only net
  salary, and keep in mind possible salary
  increases calculate average salary
• All costs grant own funding it is one
  project with one budget donor will contribute
  certain of project costs (with ceiling)
• Do not consider EC grant as acquired property
  that can be spent on anything it is an advance
  to support implementing a well defined project

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Good Bad Budgeting Practice

• Co-financing make sure you can count on external
  support when it has been promised
• Partner organisation try to know your partner
  organisation well in advance in order to see
  through keeping up appearances try to create
  win-win situation for all parties
• Use rounded figures this allows for some
  flexibility
• Start budgeting widely, then later narrow focus,
  reduce costs, size and number of actions
• Avoid calculation errors

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EXERCISE - BUDGET

• Based on the activities and the maximum project
  cost and co-financing share
• describe which kind of costs are involved
• calculate a total per type of costs
• indicate which costs will be co-financed
• divide total budget / co-financing among partners.

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PARTNERS STAKEHOLDERS

• Stakeholders are individuals, groups of people,
  institutions or firms that may have a
  relationship with the project.
• They may directly or indirectly, positively or
  negatively affect or be affected by the process
  and the results of the project.
• The concrete stakeholders differ per project, but
  usually can be clustered in a few groups.

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PARTNERS STAKEHOLDERS

• It is important to identify the different
  stakeholders and understand how they relate to
  the project.
• During project implementation it is very
  important to build up local partnerships or a
  network of stakeholders who have similar
  concerns.
• Other NGOs in the social field have indicated
  that
• Cooperation with (local) authorities is necessary
  
• Involvement of all relevant stakeholders leads to
  some kind of community commitment
• Good communication leads to visibility, awareness
  raising and identification/acceptance by the
  general population

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EXERCISE PARTNERS STAKEHOLDERS

• On the basis of the outline and the budget
• list all official partners and indicate their
  role in the project
• list the different stakeholders that will be
  addressed throughout the project
• indicate how the stakeholders will be involved.

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CONCLUSION

• Looking for opportunities, developing proposals
  and implementing projects is very time-consuming
• The management of the organisation must allocate
  sufficient human and financial resources if it
  wants to be successful
• Good-quality project preparation pays off

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CONCLUSION

• THINK BEFORE YOU ACT
• BE PRECISE AND COMPLETE
• MAKE SURE ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FULLY TRANSLATED
  IN THE BUDGET
• BE AWARE THAT THE APPLICATION IS THE ONLY
  CRITERION FOR APPROVAL
• CONSIDER THE APPLICATION AS YOUR BUSINESS CARD