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Event Description

Course Overview: This course provides a deep dive into the management of projects funded by donor organisations (bilateral, multilateral, private foundations), combining advanced project management techniques with donor-compliance, financial oversight, stakeholder engagement and sustainability planning. Participants will engage in case studies, simulations and practical work to design and manage donor-funded projects with effectiveness, accountability and impact. Course Objectives By the end of the course, participants will be able to: • Understand the unique dynamics, requirements and risk‐landscape of donor-funded projects. • Develop project plans that align both with technical objectives and donor expectations. • Manage project execution, monitoring, evaluation and closure within donor frameworks. • Handle financial management, budgeting, procurement and compliance specific to donor funding. • Engage stakeholders (including donors, government, civil society) and maintain effective communication. • Ensure quality assurance, risk mitigation and lessons-learned mechanisms. • Plan for sustainability, accountability and impact beyond project closure. Target Audience • Project managers, • programme officers, • finance & grants staff, • M&E specialists, • NGO & governmental staff working on donor-funded programmes, consultants. Course content Module 1: The Donor-Funded Project Environment • Types of donors (bilateral, multilateral, private foundations) and funding models. • Donor expectations, compliance frameworks, allowable vs non-allowable costs. • Project versus programme versus ongoing interventions; understanding the lifecycle of a donor project. • The development context, donor partner relationships and alignment with local/national strategies. • Benchmarking and good practice in donor-funded project management. Module 2: Project Selection, Design & Planning • Defining scope, objectives, deliverables, constraints and stakeholders. • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Gantt charts, precedence networks, resource allocation. • Risk identification & contingency planning. • Integration with donor logical frameworks (log frames) and theory of change. • Budgeting and cost estimation aligned with planning. Module 3: Financial Management & Budgeting for Donor-Funded Projects • Multi-year budgeting, cost allocation methodologies, budget variance analysis. • Tracking expenditures, burn-rate management, coding for multi-projects. • Financial controls, internal audits, donor disbursement procedures, handling special accounts/imprest. Module 4: Procurement, Contracts & Resource Management • Procurement planning, ethics in procurement, supplier/contractor management. • Resource (human, material, equipment) management in donor contexts. • Issue management and change management in contracts. Module 5: Monitoring, Evaluation, Quality Assurance & Reporting • Designing M&E frameworks that link to donor requirements and project deliverables. • Tracking progress and impact, measuring outcomes and reporting results. • Quality assurance processes to meet donor standards. • Documentation, information management, lessons learned and continuous improvement. Module 6: Stakeholder Engagement, Communication & Relationship Management • Mapping stakeholders (donors, government, beneficiaries, partners) and managing expectations. • Effective communication and reporting to donors and stakeholders. • Building collaboration, managing conflict, sustaining partnerships. Module 7: Risk Management, Sustainability & Project Closure • Identifying and mitigating project risks (financial, operational, reputational, compliance). • Planning for sustainability beyond donor funding: cost-recovery, revenue diversification, exit strategies. • Project closure: final reporting, asset disposal, handling underspent funds, archive management. Module 8: Case Studies, Simulations & Practical Action Plan • Interactive sessions applying the above modules to real or hypothetical donor-funded projects. • Participants develop an actionable project/implementation plan (or improvement plan) for their own organisation. • Reflection on lessons learned, peer-to-peer learning, group work and facilitator feedback.