How to Plan Your Activities

Planning is optional. If you plan your activities, DonorDesk can show what is due, what is late, and who leads what, while there is still time to act. If you do not, nothing changes: your project works as before.

You plan activities on the Activities tab. It opens on the plan. A Completed filter shows the activities that are done or cancelled, and the Completed activities link above the plan opens the list of activities people have finished and entered.

Start from your logframe

If your logframe already lists activities, this is the quickest way.

1. Open Activities and select Start from my logframe.
2. Which activities. All of your logframe's activities are ticked. Untick any you do not want to plan.
3. When. Each activity gets suggested dates, spread across the project. Change any date. Tick Monthly for work that repeats every month; it then starts at the beginning of the project and repeats to its end.
4. Who leads. Choose a lead for each, or leave Skip for now.
5. Select Finish. You see how many activities will be created (for example "24 activities, 2 repeating monthly"). Select Create.

Nothing is saved until you select Create. You can only start from the logframe once; after that, add activities one at a time or import a sheet.

Add one planned activity

Select Add planned activity. You need a title and a start date. Leave the end date empty for a one-day activity (a milestone). You can also choose:

• Repeats: every week or every month, until a date. Each repeat is its own activity, so you can move or cancel one without touching the others.
• Lead: the person responsible. Only active members of the project can be chosen.
• Logframe activity: links it to the logframe, so the output is filled in for you.
• Under More details: place, notes, how many people you expect, and how many sessions you plan.

See where things stand

Each planned activity shows one signal:

• On time: nothing is behind.
• Late: it has not started when it should have, or it is past its end date. Hover over the signal to see why ("past its end date 3 Mar").
• Done, or Cancelled.

The signal comes from the activity's dates and from the completed activities linked to it. You set the status yourself: Not started, Under way or Done.

To finish an activity, choose Done. You are asked the day it finished, the people reached and an optional note. DonorDesk saves the completed activity and the status together. If a completed activity is linked to a planned one, DonorDesk may suggest that it is done; it never changes the status without you confirming.

Move, hand over or cancel

Open a planned activity to Move dates, Change lead or Cancel activity. If the original end date has already passed, or a report already covers the activity, you are asked Why?. Every change is kept with its reason on the activity's page. A moved activity keeps its first dates, shown as a dashed outline on the timeline and as "moved from …" on the page. A cancelled activity can be restored.

To make an activity come after another, open it and choose Comes after. When you move the earlier one later, the ones that wait for it move too, and DonorDesk says which it could not move (for example, one that is already done).

Show or hide planning for a project

An Admin can turn Show work planning off in the project's settings. The plan screens disappear for everyone on the project, and nothing is deleted. Turn it back on and everything is there.

Who can do what

Admins, Project Managers and M&E Officers plan and schedule. Anyone who leads or helps with an activity can change its status and notes. Everyone with access to the project can see the plan.