Designing And Funding International Development Projects

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Train for career change, job search, or promotion; boost proposal writing & project management skill sets to raise funds

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.9

- 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 finished product ready to request funding.
- This course provides a system for you to use in developing successful projects and includes the tools needed to assess and organize information about challenges that communities face
- approach funding organizations
- work side-by-side with communities to develop long-term
- sustainable programs
- empower communities to take full charge of programs once up and running.

What you'll learn

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 finished product ready to request funding.
This course provides a system for you to use in developing successful projects and includes the tools needed to assess and organize information about challenges that communities face
approach funding organizations
work side-by-side with communities to develop long-term
sustainable programs
empower communities to take full charge of programs once up and running.

* Requirements

* You will only need to have functional knowledge of Word
* Excel
* email
* and the Internet.
* One to two hours per week. I would schedule three weeks to complete the first assignment.

Description

This Course has 4+ Hours of Udemy Video and Document Content

You will receive a Course Completion Certificate.

Plus: 59 Word & Excel documents to download that contain field guides—and project templates for you to edit and personalize.

Plus: Links to over 300 development documents, handbooks and specialized sites.

Proof of concept: My development courses have been taken by people from 151 different countries and 500 organizations who have created projects impacting over 360,000 people.

Just for fun you can learn about their projects here: 100 Projects: The Best of 3 Years of Partner Field Projects

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.

Who this course is for:

  • This course is perfect for you if you are a: ▪ grant writer ▪ in-country NGO field staff member ▪ donor ▪ consultant ▪ humanitarian worker ▪ project manager ▪ executive director ▪ person looking for charity jobs or non-profit jobs ▪ Southern or Northern student of development ▪ scientist ▪ university professor ▪ government agency staff
  • Current course participants include postgraduate students, staff from large INGOs, staff from small in-country NGOs, people considering a career change into development, staff members trying for a promotion, people on a job search, and African business owners with a social conscience.
  • These courses are as relevant to a person considering a career transition into development as they are to a seasoned NGO staff member.
  • If you don't live in a developing nation or have contact with a community, this course will be an opportunity for you to gain a close perspective of development work on the ground simply by your participation. You even have the opportunity of partnering with a fellow student from a developing nation with community access.

Course content

4 sections • 29 lectures

About Your Course Teacher: Tim Magee 5 lectures

About Your Course Teacher: Tim Magee Preview 03:20

I run the Center for Sustainable Development. Years ago I had learned about challenges in the developing world. Over 1 billion people face daily hunger. Challenges in water, health and education are huge. I wanted to help. Probably you feel the same way. In this course you will learn how to become part of the solution.

Introduction. How To Design & Fund International Development NGO Projects Preview 06:25

Let Me Tell You Why I Developed this Course. Two of the most important groups of people in development are field staff—the people on-the-ground doing the work—and the communities that they work with. The most well-intended generosity of donors won't have positive impact if well trained, effective field staff aren't on site—and if well-prepared communities aren't ready to take over projects when NGO staff depart. Without the cooperation of these two groups in project design and management, project outcomes run the risk of coming to an abrupt halt at grant’s end.

How to Access & Download Specialized Course Homework Directions and Templates Preview 1 page

  Udemy only accepts PDF documents for upload. I want to make sure that you have Word and Excel templates that you can modify to reflect your project—so here's a link where you can download Word and Excel documents and edit to your heart's content!

Here is the download link:

https://csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

How to get the Most Benefit from this Course Preview 2 pages

Welcome to OL 101: Designing and Funding International Development Projects.

This course is the real deal. With the step-by-step process, and with the materials that I provide, people from all over the world have actually developed real projects, with real communities, and have worked with donors to get the projects funded.

People from over 500 organizations in 150 countries have participated in the distance-learning version of this program at the Center for Sustainable Development.

You can check out this compilation to see what I mean. Here is the link:

100 Projects: The Best of 3 Years of Partner Field Projects

http://www.csd-i.org/udemy-student-partnerships/

Boost your Course Experience with an International Partner Preview 1 page

Are you looking for a way to make this course feel more real? Are you looking for a little excitement and a source of motivation in the course? Then consider forming a project partnership with a fellow course mates. We've put together hundreds and hundreds of partnerships with students from all over the world. Students in partnerships have fun, develop friendships, and have a more tangible experience.
Many participants in the developing world are using the course to design real on-the-ground projects with real communities.
We have people living in big cities (without access to communities) in Australia, Spain, Canada, the US, Brazil, and Panama, partnering on projects with on-the-ground field staff (with access to communities) in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Kenya, Columbia, Peru, Cambodia, Nepal Mauritius and Venezuela.
Partners communicate with each other about assignments through email, photo exchanges, chat rooms, and Skype.

Here is the partnership signup link:

http://www.csd-i.org/udemy-student-partnerships/

A Community of People Define the Local Challenge 8 lectures

Discussion on Community Based Needs Assessments Preview 03:44

This is a course on community-based development. The goal of the first assignment is to determine community need from THEIR vantage point. As donors or NGOs—and as human beings—we are all guilty of assuming that we know what is best. But what is best for us may not be what is best for another person from another culture. As development practitioners we need to understand THEIR perception of their needs.

Assignment 1: Define the Community Challenge Preview 6 pages

These Assignment 1 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, Needs Assessment Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Why a participatory needs assessment? There are several positive reasons for encouraging your community to participate in:

    - the process of defining their needs and challenges

    - prioritizing their needs, and

    - choosing the solutions to be used in addressing their needs

A1 Screencast: Challenge + Root Cause + Negative Impact = Project Design Preview 09:07

How to turn the results from your Assignment 1 participatory needs assessment into a project outline.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change Option Preview 1 page

Over several years, a large number of our online students had come to the realization that a major underlying cause of their project challenges related to a changing climate.

So a few years ago we launched a 4 course diploma program in CBA. OL 340: Community-Based Adaptation (CBA).

Realistically, the first two courses of the diploma, 341 & 342 and this course, 101 are exactly the same with the exception of a weekly CBA discussion, and one line on the first homework assignment:

So that's it, if you're interested in doing a climate change related project, you could include the line in my example for 341 in your first assignment and read the weekly discussions and you will be getting a full version of OL 341 & 342.

Assignment 2: Select Solutions, Develop Theory of Change, End the Challenge Preview 5 pages

These Assignment 2 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

You concluded Assignment One with a set of community identified problems organized into a unique project outline. You also wrote a short and concise description of the overall problem. Now is your opportunity to develop a theory of how to solve this problem, and to begin exploring specific activities that will fulfill your theory through discussions with colleagues, through your own experience, and through Internet searches.

A2 Screencast: Design your First Project Presentation Preview 12:07

Download Assignment 2 instructions. Also open up a document called Solution Oriented Program Examples for Community Challenges. It's chock full of ideas about programs and activities that might be useful in your project. These programs were all originally developed by our online students and then slowly refined over time by course facilitators.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 3: Will your Theory Work? Use Science to Research Solutions Preview 6 pages

These Assignment 3 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Investigating if there is a scientific basis that our proposed theory and activities have worked on other projects.

Suppose that you are a mother whose children are suffering, and an unknown organization came to you with a plan to help your children. Wouldn't you want that plan to work?

Suppose that you are a donor hoping that your donations will fulfill some need. Wouldn't you want your donations to have an impact?

Suppose that you were a local NGO hoping to improve the lives of your people. Wouldn't you want to be successful?

Assignment 4: Community Feedback on your First Project Design Preview 5 pages

These Assignment 4 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

You last saw your community a month ago after completing the participatory needs assessment. Although they had an idea of what kind of project you might be developing, your project has progressed tremendously since then. It would be a very good idea to return to the community, just for a short meeting, to let them see how the project has evolved before you invest more time in it.

Project Management Tools to Fund, Launch and Run Your Project 10 lectures

Assignment 5: How to Organize your Design Idea for Funding & Project Management Preview 6 pages

These Assignment 5 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

The Logical Framework (logframe) is a powerful tool that aids in project planning, budgeting, project management, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). In working with donors and stakeholders, your logframe will allow you to communicate to others exactly what you are trying to accomplish, and convey to them if you are making progress toward your goals.

A5 Screencast: Turn Your Idea into a Logic Matrix to be Shared with other People Preview 05:56

These Assignment 5 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

The Logical Framework (logframe) is a powerful tool that aids in project planning, budgeting, project management, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). In working with donors and stakeholders, your logframe will allow you to communicate to others exactly what you are trying to accomplish, and convey to them if you are making progress toward your goals.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 6. Make it Real: Add Specialized Activities to your Logic Matrix Preview 6 pages

These Assignment 6 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

In this assignment we’re going to begin the process of turning the Assignment Five simple matrix into a full-fledged logical framework -- or logframe.

A6 Screencast: Step by Step: How to Design Activities for your Logic Matrix Preview 08:38

These Assignment 6 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

In this assignment we’re going to begin the process of turning the Assignment Five simple matrix into a full-fledged logical framework -- or logframe.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 7. Plan for Impact: How to Monitor the Success of your Project Preview 7 pages

These Assignment 7 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Why are we planning for impact? Development isn't keeping pace with growing need. Part of that is because the projects that we design and implement haven't traditionally been designed to achieve long term impact.

We began the process of designing long-term sustainability and impact into our projects earlier in the course by making sure that we had community buy-in. Next we investigated if the activities we had chosen had an evidence basis for solving the challenges that we identified.

The next step is to begin designing impact into the project by adding outcome and impacts statements into our log frame matrix.

A7 Screencast: Step by Step: How to Show Evidence of the Success of your Project Preview 07:29

These Assignment 7 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Why are we planning for impact? Development isn't keeping pace with growing need. Part of that is because the projects that we design and implement haven't traditionally been designed to achieve long term impact.

We began the process of designing long-term sustainability and impact into our projects in the last course by making sure that we had community buy-in. Next we investigated if the activities we had chosen had an evidence basis for solving the challenges that we identified.

The next step is to begin designing impact into the project by adding outcome and impacts statements into our log frame matrix.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 8. Design a Specialized Project Budget: Necessary for Accounting Preview 4 pages

These Assignment 8 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

This week begins a very important new step. We will start developing a series of parallel documents. We already have our log frame with all of our activities laid out in a numbered sequence. Over the next two weeks we will transfer this information into a detailed budget and a project schedule.

A8 Screencast. Step by Step: How to Express Cash Needs to a Donor & Manage Cash Preview 19:47

These Assignment 8 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

This week begins a very important new step. We will start developing a series of parallel documents. We already have our log frame with all of our activities laid out in a numbered sequence. Over the next two weeks we will transfer this information into a detailed budget and a project schedule.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 9. Communication: The Graphic Design of a Project Schedule Preview 3 pages

These Assignment 9 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Having a detailed schedule as shown in this week's example allows us to make sure that we are going to be able to manage our project in a timely fashion, and be able to report our management capabilities to our donors.

A9 Screencast: Step by Step: How Long do Activities Take—Feedback for the Budget Preview 05:37

These Assignment 9 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Having a detailed schedule as shown in this week's example allows us to make sure that we are going to be able to manage our project in a timely fashion, and be able to report our management capabilities to our donors.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Finance your Project: Seek Donor Support with these Tools 6 lectures

Assignment 10. Connect—Win Support with Clear Communication about your Community Preview 8 pages

These Assignment 10 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Donors are busy and have a dozen proposals sitting on their desks waiting to be read.

Something that I have found is a good alternative is to hand them a 1 ½ or 2 page clearly organized document: a fact sheet. They can scan it for 30 seconds or a minute, and quickly get a good understanding of your project. Properly done, they will also get a sense of your organizational capability.

A10 Screencast. Step by Step. Writing a Compelling Mini Proposal about your Idea Preview 10:45

These Assignment 10 documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Donors are busy and have a dozen proposals sitting on their desks waiting to be read.

Something that I have found is a good alternative is to hand them a 1 ½ or 2 page clearly organized document: a fact sheet. They can scan it for 30 seconds or a minute, and quickly get a good understanding of your project. Properly done, they will also get a sense of your organizational capability.

This Screencast shows you how to do this and provides the templates you need.

Assignment 11. Perfect Presentation: Challenge—Solutions—Finance—Benefit—Impact Preview 4 pages

These Assignment 11 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

When I visit donors, I like to carry along a presentation book (that I keep), and a few loose documents that they can keep. So, what I did this week is that I collected 10 weeks' worth of my own assignment examples and had them bound into a presentation book.

I can use this presentation book in a meeting with a potential employer, in a meeting with my boss when I'm looking for raise, or in a meeting with a donor when I hope to impress them with the quality of my work.

Assignment 11. Ask Questions: Donor Development through Shared Communication Preview 2 pages

Many course participants have used this course's step-by-step project development process and the project templates to organize their project concepts and approach donors—and have received project funding.

Each one of these different types of funding agencies—and each of the different agencies within those groups have remarkably different submission requirements. The purpose of this course is to provide you with the tools you need to develop a dialogue and a relationship with a potential donor.

These Assignment 11 Word & Excel documents (Discussion, Homework Instructions, and the Example Template) can be downloaded to edit into your own project here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/

Thank You: A Few Tips and a Summary of Course Concepts Preview 1 page

Community Based Development (CBD) Project Activities

There is confusion over what CBD activities are. Many people are expecting a palette of brand-new technologies to begin arriving any day now: development silver bullets. But challenges faced by communities will likely pose a risk for livelihood, health, food security, and access to water—many of the same things that traditional development projects struggle with. CBD project activities will in many cases be the same activities used in a traditional development project.

Next Steps: How to Expand upon your Experience in this Foundation Course Preview 1 page

The Center for Sustainable Development offers a number of ways for you to expand upon the experiences driving in this course.

This document can be downloaded here:

http://www.csd-i.org/download-udemy-101-documents/