COURSE DESCRIPTION
What is the course about?
It may feel overwhelming to try launching an impact oriented
development project. Where can you turn to for information on design
and project management? What practical tools are working today? How do
you convey development concepts to a community? Together, through this
course, we will explore the full process that will allow you to design a
successful development project.
The
course has been developed so that YOU can design a real, international
development project, in real time, and package it in preparation for
sharing with a donor. So you won't just be learning how to do this, you
will complete this course with a proposal and ready to seek funding.
The goal of this course is to increase the number of people positively impacted by well designed projects.
We hope to do this in two ways.
One: by leverage. If we can get sound tools and techniques
into your hands, you and your NGO will be better prepared to develop
impact oriented projects for increasingly greater numbers of people.
Two: Encouraging you to engage community members in project
design and implementation will increase the likelihood that positive
impact will be sustained by communities for the long-term.
You will finish the course with a project design based upon
community need, sustainability, solutions that use best practices, and
sound project management tools such as log frames, budgets and
schedules.
What the Course Will Provide You.
I will provide solutions to the challenges that I've seen in the
form of documents and handbooks that you can download. You are free to
use all of the templates, examples and handbooks that I've developed to
get your organization running efficiently, develop donor relationships,
get your projects running on track, and improve the lives of your
community members.
You can use these course materials to:
- develop a brand-new project from scratch in response to a donor request for a proposal
- help a new staff member inherit and launch a project designed by a former staff member
- get a current project with challenges back on track.
What kind of projects have students worked on?
Global warming, the environment, deforestation, indigenous
communities, humanitarian aid, poverty, food security, hygiene, hunger,
health, gender, education, water—and 270 other types of projects.
How long will it take to complete the course?
There are two ways to take this course. You can actually
work with a real community in the field and use each of the assignments
in a step-by-step progression to develop a real development project on
the ground. If that's the case, and if you were to work between one and
two hours a week, and do one assignment per week you could complete this
course in approximately 10 to 12 weeks. This includes 2 weeks to set up
an appointment with a community and conduct a needs assessment.
Or—you can develop a virtual project which would speed the
process up quite a bit because you wouldn't need to make time for
meetings with community members.
How is the course structured?
I provide you with two kinds of resources:
1. Word and Excel documents which can Download and you uses
templates. You take my example template for each assignment, and simply
edit it so that it matches the context of your very own project. I also
provide detailed workshop plans for doing things such as leading a
participatory needs assessment.
2.
Handbooks and manuals which you can download. You can scan the list of
handbooks in order to find hands-on information about the subject matter
of your project.
Each assignment
represents one sequential step in developing a project. If you do one
assignment a week, you simply download that week's discussion, that
week's homework instructions, and my example template of the finished
assignment in order to complete the assignment. Each assignment builds
on the previous one. Much of the work is simple copy and paste from last
week's assignment into this week's assignment—speeding up the process
tremendously.
You will receive a Course Completion Certificate when you are all done.
If you'd like to learn more about the course, simply watch
the two introductory videos: an introduction to OL 101 and about the
courses facilitator—Tim Magee.
CURRICULUM
Thank You: A Few Tips and a Summary of Course Concepts
A Community of People Define the Local Challenge
A1 Screencast: Challenge + Root Cause + Negative Impact = Project Design
A10 Screencast. Step by Step. Writing a Compelling Mini Proposal about your Idea
A2 Screencast: Design your First Project Presentation
A5 Screencast: Turn Your Idea into a Logic Matrix to be Shared with other People
A6 Screencast: Step by Step: How to Design Activities for your Logic Matrix
A7 Screencast: Step by Step: How to Show Evidence of the Success of your Project
A8 Screencast. Step by Step: How to Express Cash Needs to a Donor & Manage Cash
A9 Screencast: Step by Step: How Long do Activities Take—Feedback for the Budget
About Your Course Teacher: Tim Magee
Assignment 1: Define the Community Challenge
Assignment 10. Connect—Win Support with Clear Communication about your Community
Assignment 11. Ask Questions: Donor Development through Shared Communication
Assignment 11. Perfect Presentation: Challenge—Solutions—Finance—Benefit—Impact
Assignment 2: Select Solutions, Develop Theory of Change, End the Challenge
Assignment 3: Will your Theory Work? Use Science to Research Solutions
Assignment 4: Community Feedback on your First Project Design
Assignment 5: How to Organize your Design Idea for Funding & Project Management
Assignment 6. Make it Real: Add Specialized Activities to your Logic Matrix
Assignment 7. Plan for Impact: How to Monitor the Success of your Project
Assignment 8. Design a Specialized Project Budget: Necessary for Accounting
Assignment 9. Communication: The Graphic Design of a Project Schedule
Boost your Course Experience with an International Partner
Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change Option
Discussion on Community Based Needs Assessments
Finance your Project: Seek Donor Support with these Tools
How to Access & Download Specialized Course Homework Directions and Templates
How to get the Most Benefit from this Course
Introduction. How To Design & Fund International Development NGO Projects
Next Steps: How to Expand upon your Experience in this Foundation Course
Project Management Tools to Fund, Launch and Run Your Project
LINK FOR THE FREE COURSE
