Technology Grantmaking Toolkit: Practical tools for technology grantmaking in Canada's voluntary sector

TEMPLATE - Project Plan

Vision statement

A strategic technology plan should start with a big picture overview of what the project will produce (outputs or deliverables) and a list of the community or organizational impacts that it aims to have (outcomes).

Vision

A one paragraph description of the essence of the project. E.g. This project will use the web and e-mail to increase the number of youth we are able to engage as volunteers.

Project deliverables

A list of things that will be produced through the project – a web site, an online calendar, a database, e-mail lists, a collaborative online event. Each item in the list should include an annotation or description so that readers can understand what each of the deliverables will be used for.

Anticipated outcomes

A list of measurable objectives or community outcomes that will be achieved through the project. E.g. Increase number of youth volunteers by 25% in year one and 100% in year two.

Needs assessment

As with any initiative, a strategic technology project should be based on concrete, demonstrable needs. This section describes those needs.

Community profile

A brief description of who will benefit from your project. This may include: the community at large; clients your organization serves directly; or staff or volunteers.

Statement of need

A list of specific needs or desires that the beneficiaries have. E.g. Young volunteers need ways to contribute in a manner that fits better into their work and social patterns. Online virtual volunteering may help with this.

Research summary

A summary of the research that you did in order to develop your statement of need. This could include research that you did yourself (e.g. focus groups or online surveys) or research done by others (e.g. published studies and reports).

Project description

This section provides a rough picture of how the project will be implemented – the services to be built, the technology used, the people involved.

Functions and services

An overview of what will be built, written or otherwise created by the project team. Examples include: web site or other technology functions; training sessions; community development efforts; new or edited electronic content.

Technology approach

A description of the types of technology that will be used. This could be quite specific (e.g. the new online database will be built on top of our existing PHP and MySQL system) or just provide general principles (e.g. all tools used to develop this project should be open source).

Delivery approach

Information about how the project will be delivered. This should include: staffing roles; project management approach; project governance; list of partners and partner roles.

Marketing strategy

An overview of messages and techniques that will be used to market the project. Marketing should be thought of quite broadly as the process of letting people know about the initiative and getting them to use the systems put in place.

Action plan and budget

The plan should end off with an action plan and budget. For simpler projects, these two items can be combined into a single table something like this one:

Of course, a much more detailed action plan and budget is needed for larger projects. In these cases, the action plan and budget should be separate documents.