Project management mentoring for 12 civil society organisations in a donor capacity programme

What was delivered, in short

Two waves of mentoring for NGOs and charitable foundations that receive institutional support from a large Ukrainian donor foundation. Wave one: 30 hours of one-to-one sessions across 12 organisations, two certified mentors, a consolidated analytical report for the donor. Wave two, the following year: a deeper format, five sessions per organisation ending in a working project management document for each.

About the client

The client is one of Ukraine's largest charitable foundations, focused on strengthening civil society and communities. Through a multi-year programme it supports local organisations working with vulnerable groups: children leaving institutional care, people with disabilities, families of political prisoners, internally displaced people, the elderly.

Most of these organisations grew fast over the last three years. A first donor grant, then a portfolio of parallel projects, several donors each with its own reporting rules. Teams of 3 to 20 people, often without a single manager trained in project management.

Business challenge

These organisations know how to help people, but they run projects on intuition. The founder is director, project manager and report writer at once. There is no single project management policy, roles are blurred, risks are not logged, budget plan-vs-actual is never compared, lessons are not captured after projects.

This shows up directly in donor reporting quality, team burnout and the sustainability of results. The donor had diagnostic data and training results but could see that knowledge was not turning into practice. It did not need another training course. It needed targeted help on each organisation's real questions, and an honest picture of where the sector's systemic gaps are.

Specific needs

• Individual format: 1 to 7 sessions per organisation on its own question, no one-size-fits-all curriculum.
• Topics from live projects: planning and scope, running several projects at once, risk, monitoring and evaluation, budgeting, donor communication, internal team communication, onboarding, time management, drafting policies and procedures.
• Transparent logistics for the donor: open slot schedule, self-booking by organisations, attendance confirmation, a reporting form with hours.
• Confidentiality of session content combined with full accountability for service delivery.
• A consolidated report on typical requests, difficulties and recommendations for further capacity building.
• In wave two: a tangible output, a working PM document per organisation, not advice alone.

What was delivered

Wave 1 (10 weeks). Two certified In-Star mentor-consultants ran 30 sessions for 12 organisations. Format: online, 60 minutes, up to two active participants per organisation. Every session was logged in a single structure: request, issues discussed, recommendations, next steps, observations on the maturity of practices. Outputs: a schedule with actual hours, a report per organisation, and a consolidated report for the donor with sector-level conclusions.

Examples of what organisations took away: a RACI matrix and retrospectives for a team with delays and blurred roles; a move from a functional to a project-functional structure and a task tracker set-up for an organisation running several projects in parallel; a first risk register and a new format for team meetings; a project management policy, an M&E system and grant application templates; onboarding checklists and a team charter for an organisation about to double its staff; Rolling Wave and earned value methods for more accurate planning; budget plan-vs-actual analysis for a foundation where the founder ran everything herself.

Wave 2 (the following year, deeper format). A needs questionnaire upfront, five 60-minute sessions per organisation, joint work on the document in the cloud between sessions, written preparation guidelines for mentees. Organisations worked on their own instructions, checklists and approaches to managing projects under uncertainty and security risk.

Team: two mentor-consultants, an administrator, a project lead on the In-Star side.

Business impact

• For the donor: instead of abstract "capacity building", a card per organisation with its request, recommendations and focus for further work, plus sector-level conclusions used in planning the next programme phase.
• For the organisations: specific tools put to work in 1–7 hours, without pulling teams off their projects. Most common results: a first risk register, a first PM policy, clarified roles, budget plan-vs-actual.
• For the sector: typical gaps documented, namely M&E, risk management, teamwork, and the absence of formal PM documents. A base for future programmes and training products.
• Repeat business: the donor came back for a second, deeper wave. The clearest signal of value.

Let's talk

Need mentoring or PMO support for your programme, grant portfolio or team? Tell us about it and we will get back within two working days.