Closure

By definition as a "project," it will come to a close. You need a plan to bring it to a satisfactory close. This is normally quite tricky if you need to hand over to local people.

1. What time limits apply?
2. Check for outstanding obligations in any contracts.
3. How will you handle public relations with your donors and constituents? What impression do you want to give?

Handover to local people

Handover to local people will be much easier if you started with a plan to hand over the program to locals. If you get to the end of your time and haven't started handing over, it's possibly too late and the pains are usually enormous. Locals have become dependent on your funding and expertise, and normally feel that they cannot continue without it. You will need to go through a whole new project cycle with this goal in mind.

In your handover, you may find it wise to include some kind of continued informal contact, if only to keep up the personal relationships and prevent people from feeling abandoned. You might find that orgaizational relations between your organization and the local group are easily strained, and you need to do what you can to keep relationships good.

Records

1. What records need to be handed over? To whom? Consider privacy laws; you may be unable to release some kinds of information.
2. What data needs to be stored? (e.g. financial records)
3. What data can safely be destroyed or erased, if any?
4. What data must legally be destroyed or erased, if any?

Depending on your organization, you may need to submit formal reports, for example:

• Evaluations, with or without recommended improvements
• financial acquittals
• financial audits
• post event evaluation and recommendations
• systems and procedural reports and recommendations
• personnel and staff training reports
• OHS reports
• incident reports
• impact statements
• informal reports like letters, articles for magazines and/or newsletters for wider audiences.