How can you ensure your grant-funded project addresses the root causes of the problem?

In my experience, sustainability is an issue with grant funding. It is hard to solve long term problems with short term funding. Just about the time progress is happening, the funds run out and there is no one available to finish or finance the work.

In my experience with grant projects, budget must be approved before execution and execution must be as budgeted. Yes reclassification is acceptable when we have excess fund in a budget line but must be justified and approved.

I am currently working with one of GoPNG Agency and mostly deals with PNG Governments Grants on a monthly basis. There are many issues I encounter with grants that are allocated for projects in one particular year, for example re-sealing a driveway or carpark space for accessibility and safety in an office environment. 1. The allocated funding may vary in number when received from the Receiver. This often affects the progress of project. 2. Staff capacity to implement this program/project and 3. Timely Reporting.

It is important to make sure that you do not end up solving the wrong problem. To start with, think through whether the problem statement is correct before solving any problem. There are various techniques of defining a problem. In addition to methods mentioned in the point 1, critical thinking (Socratic Questioning), Dunker Diagrams, Statement/Restatement are some of the other techniques. At any rate, you would need to start with stating the problem in a general way, then understand the nature of the problem using aforesaid methods, followed by literature survey and brainstorming/discussion. Finally, you would need to rephrase the problem into a working proposition.

To ensure that any project effectively addresses the identified problems, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of the social, environmental, and political context, as well as a comprehensive understanding of the roles, needs, and aspirations of all stakeholders involved. The grant formulation process must be participatory and incorporate solutions that are tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the local communities affected by the problem being addressed. This approach will help ensure that the project is well-suited to tackle the challenges at hand and leads to sustainable and impactful outcomes.

For deep diving into root causes, you can also employ techniques such as Pareto Charts, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), 5 Whys, Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram, Fault Tree Analysis, D-M-A (of DMAIC), Scatter Diagram, whichever you think is most suitable for your case. You could use combination of techniques as well. The idea is that you should be able to nail down the root causes accurately.

For analysing the root causes I found really useful to take the following two approaches: 1- Asking why. Keep asking why to yourself and the other Stakeholder, this will help fostering the root causes and logic behind a problem/project and it helps also the person who answers to really articulate and understand the problem. This might help also identify some assumption we do unconsciously. Note that sometimes it is a bit stressful for the person who answers to keep answering the same question. 2- Fishbone diagram, this always help identifying all the different root causes and you can also divide them for each spine, giving an sera to each of them. You can also iterate by creating Fishbone diagram of one of the causes in the main fishbone

As stated earlier, 1. Late receipt of grants or less funding the project is either delayed or never eventuate. Although there are budget approriation, there are some risks on certain issues maybe theres lack of reporting and communication..etc 2. Human Resources must have the right candidates to implemente the project and the capacity to roll out the proposed project 3. Decision-making is paramount as stakeholders requires reports to prioritize the outcome of the program/project on the basis of proper communication and Team work most of all releasing funding appropriately as planned.

Before starting designing the interventions, and after the root causes are analyzed and are converted into solution statements, it is vital to think and map strategically what change pathways to be covered by the proposed interventions, and what will be covered or already covered by other interventions (synergies and complementaries) and/or other stakeholders to achieve the overarching goal of the interventions. A single intervention cannot and may not be able to address everything of the identified root causes, in principle. As a project designer, we need to ensure that all these aspects are seriously reviewed and considered comprehensively, otherwise, the whole change pathway could not be addressed for all root causes identified.

During the steps 1 and 2, a strawman of project roadmap would have been formed. This should help you in designing your project accurately with clear goal, objectives, activities, outputs, outcomes, logic and interdependencies.

When designing your project investigate parlaying your grant by obtaining matching funds from other organizations. For example: I had a historic structure in disrepair on an island preserve in the Gulf of Mexico. A local business owner donated $2,500.00 for the good of the cause. I gave the funds to my Citizens Support Organization (CSO) to hold and started a grant search. Ultimately, the CSO and I found a grant to match the $2,500 to hire architect and engineer to provide estimates to stabilize the historic building. They loved the idea and donated their cost. Ultimately we ended up with a $50,000.00 project. Our next grant was $250,000.00 for the structure.

Monitoring is key to evaluating the performance of the project. The data gathered in the process of monitoring is what will be used to learn from the project and improve on it.

Monitoring the progress can be difficult when trying to work inside long term issues. It is hard to get the needling moving in a data tracking way. So much of the ground work is hard to put into numbers.

To ensure your grant-funded project addresses the root causes of the problem, adopt a perspective of learning from others: 1. **Conduct a Comprehensive Literature Review:** Investigate existing research and studies related to the issue your project aims to address. Understanding the historical context and insights from previous initiatives can provide valuable lessons and inform your project design. 2. **Engage with Experts and Stakeholders:** Consult with experts By actively learning from others, whether through research, collaboration, or community engagement, your grant-funded project can benefit from a wealth of knowledge and increase its chances of successfully addressing the underlying root causes of the identified problem.

In addition to information provided under point 5 of the article, following may also be taken note of: In step #1, literature survey is mentioned as one of the activities that you would need to do. This survey would/should prompt you to learn from other similar or related projects. As you work on the project, you might come across information about others with whom you can collaborate as mentioned in the article.

Documenting throughout the project all the upgrades, the pitfalls, the challenges etc... Also enables to have a document at the end that can be used as a reference for similar future projects or also to be shared with other colleagues

Bueno, me parece que este artículo es demasiado abstracto y que difícilmente aporte valor al lector. Se habla de un "problema" y que debe ser abordado por un "proyecto subvencionado". Se desconoce si se habla desde la perspectiva de la administración pública quién crea la subvención para afrontar un problema general, o si el enfoque es empresarial donde debemos afrontar un problema apoyándonos con fondos públicos Lo que sí puedo aportar para las empresas que quieran optar a subvenciones y crear proyectos que puedan ser beneficiarios de dichos programas, es que se lean detalladamente las bases de la convocatoria. Ahí se especifica por qué la administración pública ofrece la subvención, y cómo deben comportarse los proyectos beneficiarios

Make sure you carry out steps 1 and 2 as best and accurately as possible because these steps set the foundation for rest of the steps. If you are thorough with steps 1 and 2, it will infuse you with a feeling of confidence that is always so vital for carrying out a project successfully.