Every planning of your programmes and services should start with the definition of what they are about (similar to the business idea) and why your institution is going to deliver these programmes and services (purpose). The following main points should be concisely described:

• Programme name, management and responsible organisational unit
• Background and needs analysis
• Fit with institutional vision, mission, objectives (programme goal)
• Programme objective/purpose, outputs and related activities

Many national and international organizations and donors use a certain methodology to develop and describe programmes and projects. We will use this methodology, the logical framework (LOGFRAME) methodology, to elaborate step by step the programme plan. First, this might help your institution to write programme/project proposals that are widely accepted by donors, and second, the LOGFRAME allows you to present the most relevant information in a very concise and logical way.

The LOGFRAME is a simple table:

	Description/ Summary	Indicators (Quantity, Quality and Time)	Method of Verification	Assumptions
Overall Goal
Objective/Purpose of Programme (only one)
Outputs to achieve objectives
Activities to reach Outputs

 

The overall goal clarifies in how far the programme/project contributes to the institution’s vision, mission and objectives. The achievement of the overall goal also depends on external factors (economic and political developments, priority setting of beneficiaries, etc.).

The objective/purpose clarifies the impact the programme hopes to achieve. Use an immediate objective - the effects on the beneficiaries in terms of changed behaviour or improved performance.

The objective is achieved by producing a series of outputs. Outputs define what the project can be held accountable for, i.e., the project’s deliverables, the goods and services it will produce (e.g., training materials, training method, number of people trained). Outputs are fully under the control of the project. One of the outputs is normally also a programme monitoring system.

The Activities define how the programme team will carry out the programme. Per Output, there will be around three to seven activities that need to be carried out to accomplish the output (e.g. research, developing training material, organising training events).

Indicators are means of measuring the extent to which the activities, outputs and the objective and overall goal have been/are being achieved. Indicators are measurable, i.e., they are specified in terms of quality (what?), quantity (how much?) and time (by when?). The planning of Indicators is explained in the section on “Planning Evaluation”.

The Method of Verification describes the sources of information that will be used to calculate the indicators. The Method of Verification has to clarify which information will be used, who gathers it and how often it has to be gathered. The planning of the Method of Verification is explained in the section on “Planning Evaluation” .

The usual logic of your programme should be that if all activities are well performed the outputs will be achieved and if all outputs are well achieved the purpose of the programme will be accomplished.

Assumptions refer to the external factors that need to be in place so that the programme can achieve the planned results. Assumptions highlight the “hidden factors” that could influence the result of your programme. Assumptions refer to factors that are beyond the control of the programme, that are necessary for the programme success but with little risk to disturb the programme.