When visiting the places where your projects take place, many of us treat them as site visits/monitoring visits to help us answer our project’s questions. We do it because we have a donor report coming up, or a big international presentation/conference where we need to share data from the project, or some other external demands.

I prefer to conduct these visits as learning opportunities, and that started when I worked at OSF as a grantmaker. Philanthropy treats these visits in a very top down way, taking their questions, criteria, and needs for grantees to answer. However as a portfolio lead, I knew there was a lot of knowledge and expertise I was missing, and I wanted to learn from grantees and local communities about how I could better channel the resources they needed. Some of these notes will be more relevant to funders conducting site visits therefore, but I think there’s something here for everyone.

Why are you going?

Why this visit? It’s important to be very clear of your objectives and what you’d like to get out of it. If you’ve got a key deadline coming up, for your donor or Board members, that’s a good target to have. Work backwards from that deadline to figure out when you need to visit.

Check with your grantees and partners whether your visit is appropriate. You would be amazed at the number of people, especially in foundations, who simply announce their travel dates. It is not always appropriate, safe, or relevant for you to visit, and you have to check with people first.

In a second conversation or email, ask them what they’d like to learn and get out of the visit too. Share what you would like to get out of the visit and your questions. Ensure everyone has a space to add their own objectives, questions, notes, feedback, etc. Create shared documents and a clear agenda based off this, which has space for everyone.

Who is going?

From your team, who will visit and why, and what is their role in the project? Ensure the right people are travelling. This means they have to be the most relevant, closest to the project, and also speak the language.

If you don’t have people speaking the language of your partners and communities, you shouldn’t be going. Visits should be organic and they’re a great opportunity to reflect together.

How will you implement the ideas?

Before you go, think about how you can implement what’s been discussed. For example, if you want to find out about the results of some project activities, think about what you’ll do with the data gathered during the visit. Could it help you plan a better activity next month, or maybe help you gather lessons learned?

Think about the end first and what you’ll do with it so you at least have a sense of what the visit can’t be used for.

If you’re a donor, think about whether your visit will create false expectations of a follow on grant, additional support, etc. If you are prepared to do this, let your grantees know this. They’ll prepare accordingly, and we are also treating each other’s time with the respect it deserves.

More Tips

• Make sure the people involved in the day to day of the project also visit
• Time them so they’re at the best time of year, and best time of day, for the people you’re visiting.
• Design the agenda with your communities
• Leave as much space as possible for their questions, reflections, and observations as your section to them. This is not an interrogation, and we cannot be extractive
• Why are you visiting? Find 2 objectives and ask for 2 from your parnters
• What other local partners and implementers can join you for the visit? Sometimes your communities work with more than 1 implementer, so ask them if it would be all right to coordinate with another and all of you meet together. That’s another great avenue for shared learning
• Hire translators and interpreters as a last resort. Better to make sure whoever visits your people can easily communicate with them in their languages and with their accessibility needs at the centre
• Prepare thoroughly. Do your reading and your homework, and make sure you know what’s going on politically, socially, economically, environmentally for them
  • Nothing they tell you about their context should surprise you, so if this is likely to happen, it means you’re not the best person to go. Start at the top of the list!
• Find the best ways to show respect to your hosts by demonstrating your interest and commitment
• Plan to meet a variety of people not just your direct partners. This will help you better understand your context, will deepen your relationships with your project and the place it’s being implemented, and it’s also just a good thing to do
• Make active observations. Take detailed notes that can help you learn more and engage with the project deeper – for your own learning and organisational growth. Pay attention to things happening around you beyond the scope of your agenda
• Group learning could also be a good way to do this – facilitated and semi-structured sessions to discuss one question or one topic, and brainstorm together
• Document what you’ve learned and discussed, and share feedback for reviews and comments before finalising
• Ensure that you keep communication open so that your partners, communities, and team members can hold each other accountable to the shared objectives you developed at the start of your visit

What else have you done, and what works for you and your work? Let’s keep the thread going!