Monitoring form guidance
For large and small grant progress reports and final reports.
This page previews the monitoring forms that MCF grant recipients are required to submit on an annual basis. Guidance on answering the questions is included here, and is built into the monitoring form itself.
The reports collect the experiences, achievements and challenges over the grant period, will help us see to see the impact the MCF grant made to your project, your charity and those who you support.
Grant recipients will be sent a link to complete the report online 3-4 weeks prior to the next instalment being due, and at the end of the grant period.
Small Grants
Reporting Dates
Confirm the date period your annual report covers
Grant use and outcome
Help us categorise how the MCF grant was used and the outcome it contributed towards by selecting the most appropriate option from the drop down list.
How has this year’s instalment been used, and what benefits has it had on the charity and its beneficiaries?
Please expand on your answers to the previous two questions: let us know more about what you used the MCF grant for in this reporting period (e.g. salaries, equipment, rent), and subsequently how this helped the charity achieve its goals and support beneficiaries.
What successes have you achieved in the last year?
Focus on the charity and its services as a whole. For example: developments in your services or systems, or any notable awards / recognition? We are particularly interested in hearing about any measured outcomes from your work with beneficiaries.
What challenges have you faced and what have you learnt?
Detail any barriers you have had to overcome (e.g. staffing, demand, unexpected events) and whether you will do anything differently in future as a result.
How many unique service users has your organisation directly supported in the last year?
Please explain this figure and how it has been calculated.
How do you measure attendance / engagement? Have you supported significantly more or less than previous years?
Are there any concerns about the financial sustainability of the charity for the year ahead?
If so, please provide a summary of any issues and actions being taken.
Looking back at the entire length of the MCF Small Grant, please briefly summarise the main impact of the grant on your charity (final report only).
We are particularly interested in hearing how multi-year and unrestricted funding is beneficial.
Declaration
Complete the Declaration to confirm that the information provided is correct to your knowledge, and provide the contact details for the person who is responsible for the content of this form. Ideally, they should be best person to contact if there are any follow- up questions about the information provided.
You are also given chance to add any other pertinent information, and to upload up to two supporting documents, e.g. case studies, impact reports, examples of publicity for the project or grant.
Large Grants
Please briefly summarise the main intervention / activities, and aim of the overall project.
E.g. We employed a family support worker to work with children who have experience domestic abuse, and their families. They delivered a programme of 12 weekly, one hour sessions of bespoke support for each family. The aim was to improve family relationships, and to give children coping strategies to better deal with their thoughts and emotions.
Reporting Dates
Confirm the date period your annual report covers
Please summarise how the MCF grant was used this year, to deliver the project and its aim(s)?
Explain what this year’s instalment from the MCF paid for, in the context of the wider project (if part funding). How did this help you deliver the project and achieve your aims (bearing in mind your answer to the previous question)?
What have been the main project successes this year?
Please let us know what has gone well, and why. E.g. Any methods/practices that have been particularly successful? Any good examples of beneficiary involvement in planning and delivery? Any notable recognition or awards, or have you secured any additional funding?
What have been the main challenges this year, and what have you learned from them?
Detail any barriers you have had to overcome (e.g. staffing, demand, unexpected events) and whether you will do anything differently next year as a result. Has the project delivery plan changed in any way since the application or previous report?
Outputs and Outcomes
Here you are asked to report on grant outputs and outcomes that you have defined.
Outputs are measures of what has been delivered and who has been engaged as part of the project. Outcomes are the positive effects for beneficiaries as a result of a service or intervention.
For example, a project may deliver 10 sessions (output) resulting in 10 young people gaining a qualification (output), and as a result the young people are better equipped to gain employment (outcome), and have higher aspirations (outcome).
What methods or tools did you use to monitor project outcomes?
E.g. Bespoke beneficiary survey, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), case studies.
Financial Breakdown
This sections asks you to provide a short breakdown of the different expenditure items this year, and how much has been spent compared to your budget.
You are then asked to specify how much of the grant has been spent in total since the grant award, as well as what percentage of the total project expenditure is covered by the MCF grant.
If there is any under or overspend, or there are any changes in budget items from the original proposal, please explain them.
Are there any concerns about the financial sustainability of the charity for the year ahead?
If so, please provide a summary of any issues and actions being taken.
What happens now in delivering the project (interim report only)?
Tell us briefly about any plans you have for next year. Is there anything else important for us to know about the project that hasn’t already been covered?
Please provide a short commentary on how the project has progressed over the life of the MCF grant, and whether overall the project has achieved what it set out to do at the application stage (final report only).
For example, has the project and/or its aims evolved, and if so for what reason? Did you set specific goals at the start of the grant, and have these been met? What have been the highlights?
What will be the long term impact or legacy of this project on the charity and its beneficiaries (final report only)?
Please be honest! Whilst we are interested in knowing about benefits of the grant in the long term, being able to understand the true impact of MCF’s funding on charities will help us improve our grants programmes and their potential impact in future.
Now that the MCF grant has come to an end, what is next in delivering the project (final report only)?
Please select the most appropriate option from the drop down list.
Declaration
Complete the Declaration to confirm that the information provided is correct to your knowledge, and provide the contact details for the person who is responsible for the content of this form. Ideally, they should be best person to contact if there are any follow- up questions about the information provided.
You are also given chance to add any other pertinent information, and to upload up to two supporting documents, e.g. case studies, impact reports, examples of publicity for the project or grant.