Standard 18: Learning from and leveraging results during close-out.
Engage participants, partners, donors, host or local governments and other stakeholders in project close-out evaluation and reflection activities with the intent of learning from and leveraging the project.
Upload key project learning-related documents to Gateway (and donor databases as applicable) for institutional memory and accessibility and for use in donor engagement.
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Why
Gateway is the CRS database that captures vital information on each project. Ensuring key project documentsFor example, the project final evaluation report, final project technical report, after-action review report (required per CRS MEAL policies and procedures for projects > US$1 million). and other learning-related documentsFor example, a report from a project learning event. are uploaded to Gateway as part of project close-out:
- Builds the CRS evidence base for project design and management (see Standard 2).
- Ensures information on project achievements, challenges, and lessons learned is available to CRS staff designing future projects that may be focused on similar programming issues, funded by the same donor, or implemented with the same partner(s).
Some donors may also require that grantees share project final evaluations and other learning documents via public-facing donor databases, such as USAID’s Development Experience Clearinghouse. Uploading high-quality documents in a timely manner contributes to learning within the relief and development community, and demonstrates CRS’ accountability and capacity.
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Who
- Primary responsible: Project manager or chief of party (PM/CoP), or IDEA staff (for centrally-funded awards)
- The PM/CoP ensures that all required project documents as well as documents capturing project learning are uploaded to Gateway as part of project close-out;
- For centrally-managed awards, IDEA staff may upload final documents submitted to and approved by donors.
- Others involved: IDEA or PIQA staff as appropriate
- IDEA and PIQA staff may have information to contribute to institution records related to the experience of working with individual partners and donors.
Frontload the upload! While final close-out documentation cannot be uploaded until the end of the project, as noted earlier in the project management standards, CRS staff should upload project documentation to Gateway as documents are finalized (including any revisions following donor review), throughout design, start-up and implementation.
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When
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How
Follow these steps to ensure project documentation is available to support CRS and wider stakeholder learning:
- The PM/CoP ensures there is a clean, final version of all close-out documents, including the report of the final evaluation or after-action review report, the final project report, report of the project reflection event, and other documentation of lessons learned.
- The PM/CoP completes/updates the project Past Performance Reference (PPR) based on the final evaluation and after-action review.
- It is good practice to prepare a PPR each year, highlighting project achievements as of the end of that project year, so that this information is available to other projects and project design teams even while the project is still in the implementation phase. During close-out, update the PPR with final project achievements and lessons learned.
- The PM/CoP (or IDEA staff, for centrally-managed awards) uploads the final documentationAs noted under “When”, for documents submitted to project donors, upload only after donor approval and acceptance of any changes requested by the donor following their review of the initial submission. to Gateway, using the following list of documents and the Gateway responsibility matrix with key documents to ensure that all relevant project-related documents and information are saved in Gateway under the appropriate project/award record:
- Baseline, mid-term, and final evaluation reports Baseline, mid-term, and final evaluation reports all fall under the “Evaluation” type of key document on Gateway.
- PPR
- Key project communications/emails with donors,Attach any critical Award Negotiation documents or email messages to Notes and Attachments on the Award Record if they are not considered Key Documents. starting with approvals, and including all critical correspondence during implementation and close-out
- Final project risk register and issues logIf the project team has used a project change log, upload that document as well.
- Final project charter
- Final reports
- Key communications or emails with important stakeholdersCorrespondence with stakeholders who are not donors or sub-recipients (e.g., a key e-mail or letter from a government stakeholder) can be saved under “Notes and Attachments”.
- Internal award management documentsAttach the award “kick off” meeting agenda or any other documentation to the Notes and Attachments on the Award Record.
Track any formal IDEA meetings or check-ins with country programs as Notes and Attachments on the Award Record.
- For externally-funded projects, the PM/CoP or IDEA staff (for centrally-managed awards) updates any final information or reflections related to strategic insights or learning on working with the donor on the project. Capture these in the “Notes and Attachments” section of the donor’s institution record on Gateway.
- Focus on summarizing key points that will assist in strengthening CRS’ engagement with the donor in future opportunities and projects.
- The PM/CoP ensures updates to the Gateway institution record for each partner institution that participated in project implementationThis includes each partner organization that participated in the project as a sub-recipient, as well as any other organization that played a substantive role in the project (e.g., as a resource or technical partner with a more focused scope), including those contracted as a vendor/contractor. (see “Partnership” section below).
- If any PIQA, IDEA, and/or regional staffe.g., MEAL staff, University Engagement staff, technical advisors, corporate engagement staff, etc. worked closely with a sub-recipient or technical resource partner, invite these staff to provide inputs or direct updates to the Gateway institution record.
- If CRS implemented the project as a sub-recipient to another organization, update the Gateway institution record for the prime (see “When CRS is a sub-recipient” below).
- As required by the donor, the PM/CoP or IDEA staff (for centrally-managed awards) uploads project final evaluations, datasets or other required final close-out information to external databases, such as USAID’s Development Experience Clearinghouse or Development Data Library.
- Consult donor guidelines (e.g., the U.S. government’s ADS 540 or ADS 579), and be sure to review the document or dataset for any personally identifiable information (PII) and any other information that should be redactedFor example, any information related to intellectual property or other project partner information that must be redacted per the terms of project agreements, etc. prior to submission.
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Partnership
- While partners contribute to project learning and reporting as part of project close-out, CRS is responsible to ensure documentation of the same and make these documents available on Gateway and any donor databases.
- It’s essential that the PM/CoP updates the Gateway institution record for each partner with any big-picture information about CRS’ experience implementing the project with the partner. This applies to international NGO partners (sub and prime), local NGO partners, and other types of partners (e.g., universities, research institutions). The PM/CoP should also personally brief other staff involved in working with that partner (e.g., university engagement staff; local or regional partnership staff; senior management team members; technical advisors) on the project partnership experience. However, capturing information on Gateway ensures institutional memory about the partnering experience and can help inform future partner identification and selection.
- Save project specific-information related to CRS partners (e.g., close-out reports submitted by partners, the report from CRS’ final sub-recipient financial monitoring trip, etc., close-out correspondence with partners, etc.) to the project-specific partner relationship record.
When CRS is a sub-recipient- Follow the same process for documents developed by CRS for internal learning or submission to the prime.
- The prime is responsible for submitting any final project documents to any donor databases.
- Update the Gateway institution record for the prime to document wider CRS’ learning about the experience of working with the prime. This kind of information is particularly helpful for other CRS teams considering working with the prime in future and frequently is not captured or is lost during staff turnover.
- Use the award record to document information/correspondence with the prime with relevance to the project only, but not the wider CRS-prime relationship.
Emergency projects- Follow the same process.
Key resources
Tools and templates
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Past Performance Review (PPR) templates (from CRS' MEAL Procedure 8.1)
Policies and procedures
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POL-OOD-PRG-008: MEAL Policies and Procedures
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- Primary responsible: Project manager or chief of party (PM/CoP), or IDEA staff (for centrally-funded awards)