Project Management Vocabulary

The "birth certificate" of a project. It’s a formal document that authorizes the project and gives the manager the power to use resources.

Anyone affected by your project. In an NGO, this includes donors, board members, volunteers and most importantly the beneficiaries.

When a project slowly grows beyond its original goals (e.g., a "small community lunch" turning into a "full weekend festival") without extra budget or time.

The actual "things" you produce—like a research report, a refurbished community center, or a set number of training hours.

• Key Performance Indicators

The specific metrics you use to prove to funders like Pobal or Rethink Irelandthat the project is succeeding.

Significant checkpoints in a project (e.g., "Grant approved" or "Pilot program finished") that show progress without getting bogged down in tiny tasks.

• Work Breakdown Structure

Breaking a massive project into tiny, manageable "work packages."

A visual timeline showing when tasks start, finish, and overlap.

The sequence of tasks that must be finished on time for the whole project to finish on time. If a task on the critical path is late, the project is late.

Deciding which staff member or volunteer is working on what task, ensuring nobody is overworked (or underworked).

Your "Plan B." A pre-determined strategy for what to do if a major risk occurs (like a losing a key sponsor).

When one task cannot start until another finishes (e.g., you can't deliver food until you buy the van).

A high-level map showing how your project’s activities will lead to the long-term social impact you want.

The specific group of people your project is designed to help.

Ensuring your project follows Irish laws, such as the Charities Governance Code and GDPR.

The "starting point" data. You measure your progress against this to show how much of a difference you’ve made.

• Output: We trained 50 people (the fact).

• Outcome: 30 of those people found jobs (the impact).

The formal process of reporting back to a funder at the end of a project to show exactly how their money was spent.

AI "teammates" that can independently update your project boards, send reminders, or draft status reports based on your team's work.

Using AI to look at current progress and "predict" if you’ll hit your deadline or go over budget in the future.

The ethical requirement that a human must review and approve any decision made by an AI (especially regarding beneficiaries).

Using AI to automate the "work about work"—like filing receipts, scheduling volunteer shifts, and triaging emails.

• Retrieval-Augmented Generation

A way to use AI that only looks at your organization’s private files (like past successful grants) to give you accurate, safe answers.

The legal requirement that your sensitive NGO data stays on servers within Ireland or the EU, rather than being sent to a public AI model.