How can you manage project scope and deliverables in a nonprofit grantmaking environment?

2 Monitor your project scope and deliverables

Once you have defined your project scope and deliverables, you need to track and measure their progress and performance. Monitoring your project scope and deliverables will help you identify any issues, risks, or changes that may affect your project quality, schedule, or budget. To monitor your project scope and deliverables, you should use tools such as a work breakdown structure, a Gantt chart, or a dashboard. These tools will help you break down your project into manageable tasks, assign responsibilities and deadlines, and visualize your project status and milestones.

3 Control your project scope and deliverables

Sometimes, your project scope and deliverables may need to change due to unforeseen circumstances, new opportunities, or stakeholder feedback. Controlling your project scope and deliverables means managing these changes in a systematic and transparent way, without compromising your project objectives or jeopardizing your grant agreement. To control your project scope and deliverables, you should use tools such as a change request form, a change log, or a decision matrix. These tools will help you document, evaluate, and approve or reject any changes to your project scope and deliverables, and communicate them to your grantor, your beneficiaries, and your project team.

4 Communicate your project scope and deliverables

Communication is key to ensuring that your project scope and deliverables are understood, agreed upon, and valued by your grantor, your beneficiaries, and your project team. Communication will also help you build trust, rapport, and feedback loops with your stakeholders, and showcase your project impact and achievements. To communicate your project scope and deliverables, you should use tools such as a communication plan, a stakeholder map, or a reporting template. These tools will help you define your communication objectives, channels, frequency, and formats, and tailor your messages to your different audiences and purposes.

5 Learn from your project scope and deliverables

One of the benefits of working in a nonprofit grantmaking environment is that you can learn from your project scope and deliverables, and use them to improve your future projects and practices. Learning from your project scope and deliverables means collecting, analyzing, and sharing data and stories that demonstrate your project results, challenges, and lessons learned. To learn from your project scope and deliverables, you should use tools such as a data collection plan, a data analysis tool, or a learning report. These tools will help you gather and interpret evidence of your project impact and effectiveness, and disseminate your findings and recommendations to your grantor, your beneficiaries, and your project team.

6 Apply your project scope and deliverables skills

Now that you have learned some tips on how to manage project scope and deliverables in a nonprofit grantmaking environment, you are ready to apply them to your own projects. Whether you are planning, implementing, or closing a project, you can use these skills to ensure that your project meets your grantor's requirements, your beneficiaries' expectations, and your own standards of excellence. By managing your project scope and deliverables effectively, you will not only deliver high-quality outputs and outcomes, but also enhance your reputation, credibility, and impact as a project coordinator in the nonprofit sector.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?