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NARRATIVE PROGRESS REPORTS
Most foundations require a written progress report at
the end or near the end of the grant period. If you have
a multi-year grant, an interim and final report may be
required. Reporting deadlines are usually detailed in
the grant award agreement. If reporting deadlines are
not included in the grant agreement, ask the program
officer at the beginning of the grant period so you aren’t
surprised later.
Some funders ask for this report after the grant is over
(that’s why it’s important to keep the funder informed
of your work throughout the year and not to wait until
the final report), while others want to see it before they
invite you to submit a proposal for renewed funding. A
satisfactory report may be a condition of eligibility for a
future grant, so it is important to write a good report.
Be sure to follow the foundation’s guidelines for reports.
Make sure you have them well in advance so you have
plenty of time to prepare.
Reports usually have at least two parts: the financial
report, which tracks your spending against the original
proposal budget, and the narrative report, which details
your progress toward the grant’s goals. Depending on
the funder, there may be additional requirements, such
as specialized charts or appendices. Some foundations’
guidelines include strict page limits, font size, and margin
requirements. Be sure to adhere to any requirements given.
Reports can be a good opportunity to share publications
or other materials you’ve created, press coverage you’ve
received, etc. But first check the funder’s guidelines: some
funders say explicitly not to send anything extra, but to
include only the information they request in your report. If
you keep these funders updated throughout the year, you
can send this extra information and examples of your work
during the grant period instead of with the final report.
COMMON ELEMENTS OF REPORTS
If you are aware of the reporting guidelines, you can
collect information throughout the grant period to help
you answer the questions asked in the report template.
You can also interview the relevant program staff before
you write the report. Common elements and questions to
consider for a report include:
A cover sheet or cover letter, which includes the
basic information about your grant such as title,
grant number, amount of funding, grant period,
and contact information for the organization, as
well as the primary person responsible for report
An executive summary, which provides a brief
overview of the contents of the report (this can
be one paragraph or up to one page in length,
depending on the size of the report)
A report narrative that answers the following
questions:
◆◆
What progress have you made toward your
project’s goals and objectives?
◆◆
What were your biggest achievements/outcomes
during the grant period?
◆◆
What activities did you complete during the
grant period?
◆◆
Did you conduct activities that were not in the
original proposal? If so, what were they and why?
◆◆
Are there any activities you did not complete?
If not, why? Do you have plans to complete
them after the grant period? If so, how will your
organization be able to do so? (i.e. do you have
other funding to continue them?)
◆◆
What challenges did you face and how did
you address them? Foundations want to know
what obstacles you’ve encountered and how you
overcame them.
◆◆
Have there been any major changes to your
organization in the past year? If so, what were
they and how did you respond to them?
◆◆
Have there been any major changes to the
bigger context (the community, the social or
political environment of the country, etc.) that
affected your work? How did you respond to
these changes? Foundations often want to learn
from their grantees about what is happening
in their countries and communities as well as
learning about the project.
◆◆
What was the impact of your project?
◆◆
What were the lessons learned from this project/
grant? What worked and what didn’t? Will you
share these lessons with others? If so, how?
◆◆
How has this project affected your
organizations’ future planning and activities?
◆ ◆ Did you receive additional financial/other
support in implementing this project? If so,
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