Despite the summer heat that made travel difficult, 37 representatives of KWN member organizations filled the room at Hotel Prishtina on Jul. 29 for a training on narrative and financial reporting.
Writing strong reports is important for demonstrating to beneficiaries, community members and donors the results members have achieved through their projects. Financial reporting also is important for accountability and transparently showing how funds have been spent. Strong and interesting reports can encourage donors and community members to provide further support to organizations in the future.
Therefore, KWN staff provided KWN members with useful report-writing techniques during this one-day training.
“The topic of the training is very good, especially for our NGO which was recently formed,” a participant said.
Indeed KWN offered the training in response to members’ requests for support in this area, as part of KWN’s capacity development program for members.
Participants showed great interest in differentiating between activities, results, outcomes and impact, Nicole Farnsworth, KWN Program Manager and Mimoza Pachuku, KWN Kosovo Women’s Fund Coordinator, also explained how to collect data for monitoring and evaluation indicators. They also emphasized the importance of using qualitative and quantitative indicators, as well as making reports interesting to read (e.g., by including quotations, short stories about beneficiaries, and specific examples of achievements).
In the afternoon, Besa Shehu, KWN Administrative and Finance Manager, shared and explained templates for financial reporting. She provided advice on how organizations can strengthen their financial management systems, as well as submit accurate financial reports.
“This training is very useful for our NGO,” another participant said. “When it comes time for reporting on the grant we won, we will know better how to write the report.”