Understanding the Reporting Workflow
The end-to-end reporting cycle from planning to submission.
DonorDesk turns your project data into a donor-ready report in a repeatable cycle. This page shows the whole journey.
One-time project setup
- Create the project with the guided wizard (identity → geography → reporting). Progress is saved as a draft if you leave.
- Finish setup on the project's Setup checklist: project workspace folder (Google Drive), donor template reviewed and approved, logframe and indicators, reporting profile (language, tone, rules) and team assignment (recommended).
- When every blocker is cleared the project is ready for reporting and you can create reporting periods.
The Academy tour walks through this on a demo project.
Each reporting period
Every reporting period has a workspace organised into four steps:
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1. Update Project | Enter indicator values in the period grid (or import from Excel/CSV or Google Sheets), log activities, upload and link evidence, verify data. |
| 2. Tell the Story | Answer the story questions: challenges, why targets were over/under achieved, what changed, and a lesson or story. You can also paste a field report or CSV and confirm the inputs DonorDesk proposes. |
| 3. Generate Draft | The AI Reporter writes the report section by section following the donor template. |
| 4. Review & Submit | Edit in the document-style report editor, decide on flagged statements, approve sections, clear the checks, submit for review, approve, and export. |
The report editor
The editor shows one continuous document with an outline on the left (with a progress count), the section inspector on the right (Statements, Sources, Chart, Comments, History) and a single primary button that always shows the next step: Generate report → Review n flagged statements → Approve n remaining sections → Finish remaining checks → Submit for review → Approve report → Export report.
Approval and export
The report moves through Draft → Under review → Approved → Exported → Submitted. Approval and export run through the same gate: unresolved blocking issues (unsupported material claims, numeric contradictions, confidentiality violations, stale verifications and similar) must be fixed or explicitly accepted by someone with the right authority. Exports come in two kinds: a watermarked internal copy and a donor submission copy bound to a sealed snapshot of the approved report.
Where the time goes
Setup happens once per project. After that, each period is: enter data, tell the story, generate, review, export.