Standard 15: Engaging donors appropriately throughout implementation.

• Primary responsible: Project manager or chief of party (PM/CoP)
  • The PM/CoP coordinates the preparation of high-quality reports.

• Others involved: Project team including program (including MEAL), finance, and other operations staff; senior management team (SMT); HQ Overseas Finance (for financial reports); technical advisors and IDEA staff as applicable.
  • Project team members from program, finance, and other operations develop report drafts;
  • The SMT reviews and assists in finalization and submission as appropriate;
  • IDEA staff review and submit for strategic and centrally-managed awards, except financial reports for USG prime awards;For financial reports for USG awards where CRS is the prime, the Manager, USG Reporting, Overseas Finance Operations prepares interim financial reports and reviews/approves final reports for USG prime awards prepared by the Overseas Finance grants analysts (with exceptions per policy). For more information, see Standard 13, key action 4.
  • Technical advisors may review and contribute inputs as appropriate.

• As per donor regulations and requirements outlined in the award agreement.

This key action guidance focuses primarily on preparation of narrative reports; see Standard 13, key action 4 for detailed guidance on preparing project financial reports.

Follow these steps to prepare high-quality, timely donor reports:

1. The PM/CoP uses the Award Management Deliverables CalendarThe Award Management Deliverables Calendar is an "at-a-glance" tracking tool that summarizes information about deliverables (e.g., technical and financial reports; MEAL documents such as Terms of Reference and evaluation reports; detailed implementation plans or project work plans, etc.) that CRS must submit to the donor under the terms of the donor award. template to create a project reporting schedule,As explained in Standard 13, key action 4 on preparing project financial reports, for U.S. government-funded awards where CRS is the prime, the headquarters Overseas Finance team prepares and submits the reports directly to the donor. following internal review processes set by the country program and region.

• Ensure the schedule includes time for feedback and review of draft reports prepared by partners and CRS staff.

2. The PM/CoP reviews any donor reporting guidance and CRS guidance or examplesFor example, see the How-To Guide for USDA Reporting Templates and CRS site for USAID Food for Peace annual results report templates, tools, and guidance. for reports to the donor. This is particularly important when preparing the first project report, and/or if the donor has recently updated reporting guidance and/or templates.
3. Following the dates in the project’s Award Management Deliverables Calendar, the PM/CoP reminds those responsible for preparing and reviewing reports of the internal submission deadlines. Good practice is to send a formal reminder (an e-mail including the appropriate template(s) and guidance, most recent report, and the Checklist for High-Quality Communications and Submissions to Donors), and to discuss the upcoming reports with project team members. In both formal reminders and discussions about the reports, highlight:

• Key issues, risks, and changes to follow-up from past reports
• Key messages to emphasize, in line with the project donor engagement plan
• The donor’s interests, preferred style (e.g. brief and technical, or more detailed, including deeper human-interest stories), and other requirements, particularly with respect to presentation of data (e.g., data for the reporting period only, with no cumulative data; deeper interest in data analysis and more visual presentation of project data, etc.).
• Sensitive issues requiring a more careful framing and more detailed review (see also Standard 15, key action 2 for guidance on communicating changes and risks to the donor).

TIP: For projects with multiple donors, if CRS can generally align donor reporting schedules (e.g. reports to all donors due in the same month), it is often easier prepare reports for all donors at the same time even if submission is staggered.

4. Project team members responsible for drafting inputs review their drafts using the Checklist for High-Quality Communications and Submissions to Donors, then submit final draft versions to the PM/CoP.
5. The PM/CoP reviews both draft narrative reports and draft financial reportsIn the case of financial reports for USG awards where CRS is the prime, Overseas Finance prepares and directly submits the financial report. Given the volume and timing of report submission for USG prime awards, project staff often can’t review these reports before HQ submission. Nevertheless, the PM/CoP, SMT, and finance staff should regularly review project information in the financial system, including when preparing the project narrative report.  See Standard 13, key action 2 for more information on regular review of project spending against budget and forecasts, and Standard 13, key action 4 for more information on post-submission reviews of USG prime award financial reports. using the Checklist for High-Quality Communications and Submissions to Donors. In addition to the points in the checklist:

• Ensure the narrative report tells a strong story about the project, its cumulative progress and impact on peoples’ lives, and any learning the project has generated.
• Ensure the narrative report presents project data in a manner consistent with the donor’s requirements and preferences (e.g. effective data visualization, information about CRS’ use of the data in decision-making).
• If an issue or proposed change emerges through the process of report preparation, strategize internally with members of the project governance structure as needed and with IDEA staff as applicable (e.g., for centrally-managed donor relationships) about how to communicate the issue or proposed change to the donor. Consider whether the report is the appropriate mechanism for initial sharing of the issue or proposed change, or if another approach would be more effective. For additional guidance on communicating changes and issues to donors, see Standard 15, key action 2.  

Ensure financial and programmatic reports tell the same story: The PM/CoP should ensure that financial and narrative reports reinforce and help explain each other, especially where financial expenditure and programmatic achievement are concerned. This includes reviewing any centrally-prepared and submitted financial reports for USG prime awards against the project narrative report prepared by the project team. See also Standard 13, key action 4 on project financial reporting.

6. After sharing the reports for any next-level reviews (e.g., by the head of programming, head of operations, or IDEA staff) and incorporating feedback, the PM/CoP submits the report to the country representative (CR) for final review and approval.

• As highlighted in the Checklist for High-Quality Communications and Submissions to Donors, for reports where CRS can include a covering communication, good practice is for the PM/CoP to prepare two or three key points or highlights from the report for inclusion in a cover e-mail.

7. The PM/CoP, CR, or IDEA donor engagement staff submits the reports to the donor; the PM or IDEA staff uploads the final versions onto Gateway.

• For USAID-funded projects, submit the report to the Development Experience Clearinghouse.

8. If there is any donor feedback on the reports, the PM/CoP reviews this feedback, prepares diplomatic, timely and well-vetted responses to any donor questions, and uploads both feedback and responses to Gateway.

• If CRS responds to donor questions through a meeting or phone call, document the responses and clarifications CRS provided and any discussion with the donor around the same. Share this documentation with the donor and upload to the project record. 
• Share donor feedback with the project team, and highlight necessary follow-up related to this feedback and CRS’ responses in the next round of reporting (see step 2 above).