Project Walkthrough: Creation to Closing

This is the whole life of a donor-funded project in DonorDesk, in the order you do it. Each stage says what to do, who does it, what to check before moving on, and where the detailed article is. It was written from a complete six-month run (a health project with monthly reports and a closing report), so it also lists the places where people usually get stuck.

How long it takes. Setting up a project takes about half a day if you have the donor's template, a logframe and an indicator list ready. After that, a reporting month is a routine of a few hours spread over the month. The closing report adds a few more steps at the end.

Stage	When	Who	Detail
1. Prepare your workspace	Once	Admin	Set up a new organisation, Invite team members
2. Create the project	Once per project	Admin	Create a project
3. Build the logframe and indicators	Once, then adjust	Admin, Project Manager, M&E Officer	Build a logframe
4. Add the donor templates	Once per report type	Admin, Project Manager, Grants Officer	Upload a donor template
5. Finish setup and activate	Once	Admin, Project Manager	Create a project
6. Create the reporting calendar	Once	Project Manager	Create a reporting period
7. Log activities and evidence	All month	Field Officer, M&E Officer	Log activities, Upload evidence
8. Review activities and evidence	Weekly	Project Manager, M&E Officer	Review and accept activities
9. Enter and verify the month's numbers	Month end	M&E Officer	Update indicator values
10. Tell the story	Month end	Project Manager	Tell the story
11. Generate, review, approve, export	Month end	Project Manager	Generate an AI draft, Report editor, Review and approve, Export
12. Close the project	At the end	Project Manager, M&E Officer	Create the closing report, Archive a project

For the repeating monthly part on one page, see How to run a reporting month.

---

Stage 1: Prepare your workspace (once)

1. Create your account and organisation. See Create an account and Set up a new organisation.
2. Check the organisation profile and the default reporting profile (tone, language, rules) under Settings → Setup. See Change the organisation profile.
3. Decide where evidence is stored: your own Google Drive (recommended) or DonorDesk storage. See Connect Google Drive and Storage and file management.
4. Invite your team and give each person one role. Email is not sent, so copy the invitation link and share it yourself. See Invite team members and Roles and permissions.

Check before moving on: every person who will do the monthly routine has accepted their invitation. Plan for at least two people if you will sign off reports: the author and the approver are best kept separate (see stage 11).

Stage 2: Create the project

1. Click New project and fill the three steps: identity and donor, geography and dates, reporting frequency and budget. Your answers are saved as a draft if you leave.
2. Choose the reporting frequency the donor actually requires (monthly, quarterly, and so on). It decides which periods DonorDesk offers later.
3. The project starts as a Draft. Leave it as Draft until stage 5.

Detail: Create a project, Understanding projects.

Common slip: a wrong start or end date. You can edit both under Project → Settings, but do it before you create periods.

Stage 3: Build the logframe and indicators

Do the structure first, then the indicators, because an indicator belongs to a logframe item.

1. Logframe. Import a CSV or Excel file (fastest) or add items by hand: Goal → Outcomes → Outputs → Activities. Keep short, stable codes (for example O1, 1.1, A1.1).
2. Indicators. Import them too. Add the optional Logframe Code column so several indicators can sit under one output.
3. For every indicator set the type, baseline, target, unit and frequency. A quarterly indicator is only expected in the months it is due.
4. Tick Record a breakdown for indicators that count people (sex, age, disability). It is ticked for you when the unit counts people.
5. Open the percentage indicators and confirm the calculation (for a survey rate, "Reported directly (latest value)"). Counts that add up use "Sum of period values". Use Confirm all to do the suggested ones at once.
6. Read the line Indicator saved under … after each save: it tells you where it went.

Detail: Build a logframe, Understanding logframes, Indicators and targets. Mistakes are fixable: Fix, move or remove an indicator.

Check before moving on: every indicator reads Calculation confirmed, and the targets match the donor's performance plan.

Stage 4: Add the donor templates

1. On Templates, upload the donor's Word file for each report type you will submit (for example a Monthly report and a Final report). Use the right Report type when you upload.
2. Wait one to three minutes for the analysis, then review every section: wording, nesting, required tables and word limits. Mark sections reviewed and Approve template.
3. Approved templates are chosen automatically: a template written for exactly that report type first, then the project default, then the built-in structure.

Detail: Upload a donor template, Understanding donor templates, Change a report's template.

Common slip: leaving a template in Needs review. Reports can only be generated from an approved one.

Stage 5: Finish setup and activate

1. Open the project's Setup page. Every line should be green: donor template, logframe and indicators, reporting profile.
2. Open the Reporting profile and set tone, audience, formatting rules and special requirements (for example "disaggregate by sex"). Choose how financial figures are entered if the donor wants a financial summary.
3. On Team, assign each person a project role. One person holds one role on a project.
4. Click Mark setup complete, then Activate project.

Detail: Create a project, Manage team roles and permissions.

Stage 6: Create the reporting calendar

1. On Reporting, use Create all periods. It creates every regular period of the project in one click, each with its donor deadline.
2. The last block of the project is left out on purpose: it belongs to the closing report (stage 12).
3. If a period is wrong, you can cancel it or convert it before any report is approved. See Create a reporting period.

Detail: Understanding reporting periods.

Stage 7: Log activities and evidence (all month)

1. A field officer logs each activity as it happens: title, date, place, who attended (total, women, men), what was achieved, challenges and next steps. Choose the planned activity it delivers.
2. Drop the proof files on the same form. They attach to the activity and its period automatically.
3. For proof of a specific indicator value (a register, a tally sheet), upload through Upload evidence and choose the activity and the indicator in Use as proof for. Give the file the right type and confidentiality level.
4. Mark sensitive or highly sensitive files correctly. They are kept out of AI drafting and out of exports unless you include them.

Detail: Log activities, Upload evidence, Understanding evidence.

Tip: write specifics (numbers, places, what changed). The report can only be as precise as these records.

Stage 8: Review activities and evidence (weekly)

1. A reviewer opens Activities and uses Select all waiting → Accept, or Request revision with a note for a record that needs a fix. A duplicate is withdrawn.
2. Open evidence and verify each file (or use bulk verify on the evidence list). Only verified evidence supports figures in a report.

Detail: Review and accept activities, Evidence verification, Use bulk actions.

Stage 9: Enter and verify the month's numbers

1. Open the period, then Update Project. Type each indicator's period achievement (and cumulative if your donor wants it) in the grid.
2. For breakdown indicators, click Breakdown and enter women and men (or the categories required). They must add up to the total.
3. Leave an indicator empty in a month it was not measured (for example a quarterly survey). It is shown as not measured, never as zero.
4. Click Save & verify all. Rows that cannot be verified are listed with the reason.

Detail: Update indicator values, Import from Google Sheets, Troubleshooting indicator data.

Stage 10: Tell the story

1. Answer the five story questions: what went well, challenges, why targets were over or under achieved, what changed, and a lesson or story. Be concrete, and state reasons for gaps.
2. If the donor template has compliance sections (environmental, branding and marking, gender, coordination, safeguarding), a box appears for each. What you write there is what the report says, so state what was actually done. Use Same as last month or a standing statement for recurring text.
3. Check the launch card: figures verified, story written, evidence linked.

Detail: Tell the story and add inputs, Report writing fundamentals.

Stage 11: Generate, review, approve and export

1. Click Generate report. A monthly report takes about a minute. If a section is marked Written without AI, it shows the reason and a Try again button. See Generate an AI draft and Troubleshooting AI report generation.
2. Read the flagged statements. For each: use the verified value, edit the wording, keep with a note (say why), or leave it out. Use Approve all clean sections once nothing is flagged.
3. Open Report checks. Clear what blocks submission. Items that depend on your data close when the checklist refreshes; run ⋯ → Scan for missing items if one stays open. Attestations (for example sign-off) need a person. See Use the compliance checklist.
4. Submit for review, then Approve report (a different person from the author when your project requires a second approver). See Review and approve reports.
5. Export report and choose Final copy for the donor (sealed, no watermark) or Internal copy (watermarked, for your team). Download the Word, PDF, indicator spreadsheet and evidence checklist you need. See Export reports.

Detail: Report editor, Report readiness, Report statuses.

Then repeat stages 7 to 11 for every month. Fix a wrong number by editing the value and re-verifying; the report tells you which sections to re-check.

Stage 12: Close the project

1. When the last regular report is approved, open Reporting → Closing report. The page lists seven steps: calculations confirmed, earlier reports approved, project-wide figures complete, finance, activities accepted, donor template, and sign-offs.
2. Click Start the closing report. It covers the last block of the project and uses the life-of-project value of each indicator and all of the project's verified evidence.
3. Enter and verify the final financial figures (budget lines, spent, balance). Add the log of any procurement or close-out records the donor requires.
4. Generate, review, approve and export exactly as in stage 11. Resolve the closing checklist (sign-off, sensitive data handling, procurement records, donor submission rule).
5. Mark the project Completed, and archive it when you no longer need it in active lists.

Detail: Create the closing report, Archive a project, Prepare for a donor visit.

---

If something looks wrong

Symptom	Where to look
A period or report type is wrong	Create a reporting period
A section reads "Written without AI"	Troubleshooting AI report generation
A blocker will not clear	Use the compliance checklist, Troubleshooting report generation
An export is blocked or marked internal	Export reports, Troubleshooting export issues
An indicator has the wrong parent, type or target	Fix, move or remove an indicator
An upload fails	Troubleshooting evidence upload
You cannot do something your colleague can	Roles and permissions

Try it safely first

The Academy demo project is a complete sample project that does not count toward your limits. See Academy tour.