Project Planning
What Groups tell us:
- "We have got a really good idea, and want to be sure that it will work well."
- "We spent a lot of time together as a group planning our project and it has made a big difference to its success."
What Funders tell us:
- "If we think it won't work, we won't waste our money on it."
- "Poor project planning is one of the commonest reasons why we turn applicants down."
Key Terms:
- Project: A piece of work your group is doing now or plans to do (often the same as an objective). e.g. Anytown Women's Health Collective has an advice line project; an information project; and a campaigning project.
- Outputs: The services and facilities your projects deliver. e.g. Phone calls answered; information sheets produced and circulated; campaigns joined.
- Targets: What you aim to achieve in terms of the level and quality of your outputs and outcomes.
- Outcomes: All the changes and effects that happen as a result of your work.
Are you ready for funding?
- When planning your projects, it is important for your group to ask itself:
- Is the project really needed - will it meet a need and make a difference?
- Does it fit with your other activities and your original aims?
- Who is doing similar things - why will your project be different?
- Will it attract sufficient resources?
- Are the expected results realistic and worth the effort?
- What will you need to make it happen?
- Have you got the capacity to plan and manage this project? If not, can you get training / recruit new committee members / adjust your plans? The skills you need to have will change over time - the initial excitement, enthusiasm and 'push' will need to give way to efficient financial and human resource management.
Please review our terms and conditions of use of this material. Download this page in Acrobat pdf format.
If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer you can download the programme for free 
