When working with grantees, the PD monitoring entails delegating most monitoring tasks to implementing partners.  While the PD section should ensure the project’s expected outcomes align with strategic planning priorities, the implementing partner is responsible for completing the logic model and the monitoring plan as part of the pre-award process.

Monitoring via Grant-funded Implementing Partners

The following guidance refers to monitoring the outputs and outcomes of grant-funded programs.

PD Sections should consider staff capacity, the number of grants, and the range of grant amounts they manage when deciding how to apply the PD Monitoring Process to grants.  For example, a large PD Section who manages a large number of grants and has limited staff bandwidth may adopt a policy of requiring the PD monitoring process for all grants above $25,000, while a smaller section with fewer managed grants might decide to incorporate it into all grants regardless of the dollar value. 

Once a PD section has decided on which grant(s) to monitor, the PD section should assign one of the staff members as the Activity Lead.  Good candidates for the Activity Lead may be Grants Officer Representatives (GORs) and/or project leads who manage grants across the Public Engagement, Strategic Content Coordination, and Resource Coordination portfolios. The PD section should include templates for the logic models and monitoring plans in the grant application instructions for grants that will incorporate the PD Monitoring Process.  

The Activity Lead’s responsibilities include:

• Developing expected outputs and outcomes for their section activity and incorporating the expected outcomes into the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO);
• Reviewing grant applicants’ logic models and monitoring plans for alignment with expected outputs and outcomes;
• Reviewing grantee programmatic reports for updates on expected outputs and outcomes during the reporting period include reporting on the monitoring plan; and
• Conducting an after-action review with the grantee as part of the grant close-out process.  

The Grantee is responsible for:

• Drafting a logic model and monitoring plan that identifies the expected outputs and outcomes of the activity, the data sources, and how and when they would collect data
• Developing data collection tool(s);
• Collecting data in line with the monitoring plan; 
• Reporting output and outcome data in programmatic reports; and
• Participating in after-action reviews.

Monitoring PD Section-Implemented Activities

Posts should also monitor post-implemented section activities that are high priority and/or resource intensive.  This refers to activities and initiatives that do not use a grantee or implementing partner, where PD section staff conduct the work of designing and managing the project. PD sections can use the monitoring selection criteria to determine which section activities are the best candidates. 

Monitoring activities implemented by the PD section  monitoring responsibilities and tasks.  R/PPR recommends this approach for PD Sections with the interest and capacity to conduct monitoring of post-implemented activities themselves.

PD sections should use the monitoring selection criteria to choose a section activity and assign one of the staff members as the Activity Lead.  

The Activity Lead’s responsibilities include:

• Drafting a logic model and monitoring plan for the section activity by identifying the expected outputs and outcomes of the activity, the data sources, and how and when they would collect data;
• Developing data collection tool(s), such as a Menti quiz or a set of questions for follow-up chats with participants; 
• Collecting data in line with the monitoring plan (i.e.  administers the Menti quiz, asks participants follow-up questions);
• Recording the data in the monitoring plan; and  
• Organizing an after-action review to document best practices and lessons learned.