Terminology
The terminology used by different donors differs slightly. This is the terminology used in this Call for Proposals:
- The intended impact of your project is reflected in the overall objective – longer-term benefits to beneficiaries and other groups which the project aims to contribute to, e.g. change in socio-economic conditions.
- The intended outcome is reflected in the specific objectives – short/medium-term benefits received by the project beneficiaries by the end of the project or shortly after, e.g. raised awareness, skills, or behavioural changes, changes on policy level, etc.
- The project output is reflected in the expected results – services to be delivered to the beneficiaries, these are project outputs of a series of activities related to this result.
- Assumptions and Preconditions – conditions which could affect the success or progress of your project which you cannot directly address through your project design or management, e.g. if your trainees soon after the training leave their job your training will not have a lasting impact, so that the assumption you have to make related to your objective would be “little job rotation”. If the assumption does not hold true you will not achieve your objective.
For further terms used in development aid, please consult the 2002 OECD glossary of key terms in evaluation and results-based management (Development Aid Committee - Working Party on Aid Evaluation). It contains terminology in English, French and Spanish.
