Reporting & learning
What makes a good quarterly report?
Donors read dozens of reports. The ones that stand out are short, evidence-based and honest about what did not work.
Quarterly reporting is often treated as an administrative task. But it is one of the few moments when a project has to explain itself — what changed, what did not, and what it will do differently.
Lead with the result, not the activity
A weak report says: "Conducted 12 training sessions." A stronger report says: "Twelve training sessions reached 240 extension workers; post-training visits found 62% applying at least two of the practices, against a target of 70%."
The activity is context. The result is the story.
Be explicit about targets
Show progress against the target for the period and for the project to date. If a target was missed, say so and explain why. Reviewers trust a report that names a shortfall more than one where every indicator is green.
Use a consistent structure
- Executive summary: three or four sentences on the quarter.
- Results against indicators: a table plus short narrative.
- Implementation update: what happened, by output.
- Challenges and risks: what is getting in the way, and what you are doing about it.
- Lessons and adaptations: what you learned and changed.
- Next quarter: priorities and upcoming decisions.
Keep the data trail
Every number in the report should be traceable to the indicator tracker. If a figure was adjusted, note why. This is the difference between a report that survives a review and one that creates follow-up questions.
Write for a reader in a hurry
Assume the reader has twenty minutes and five other reports to read. Put the most important finding in the first paragraph. Use tables for numbers and prose for meaning.
Our [quarterly report template](/product/quarterly-report-template) follows this structure and includes a results table that links to your indicator tracker.
Nhoeb Khan
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Specialist