Help centre / Projects, volunteers & impact / Run a project
Run a project
Go to Projects and choose New project. Start from a ready-made plan or a blank project. Break the work into workstreams and tasks, then record costs as you go. Spend adds up automatically, and budget changes go to the trustees for a decision.
Set up the project
- Go to Projects and select New project.
- Pick a ready-made plan, or choose Start blank instead. A plan comes with workstreams and a task checklist, all of which you can edit later.
- Give the project a name. Plain works best, for example "Summer fair 2027".
- Choose a type, such as course, grant or exhibition, and add a short summary of what the project is for.
- Pick a lead, and add start and end dates if you know them.
- If the board has agreed a budget, enter it under Board-agreed budget (£).
- Select Create project.
Break the work into workstreams and tasks
A workstream is one strand of the project, for example publicity or venue setup. Select Add workstream, then use the plus button on a workstream to add tasks. Each task can have an owner, a due date and a priority.
Tap the circle next to a task to move it from To do to In progress to Done. Completed work folds away behind a toggle so the page stays tidy. Nothing is deleted.
You can also plot key dates as milestones on the Timeline, and add outcomes under What success looks like. Post progress notes in Updates & change log so there's a running history anyone can catch up on.
Budget changes go to the trustees
Spend is added up automatically from the costs you record, so the figures on the project always match the records beneath them. See Track time and expenses on a project.
The board-agreed budget can't be edited directly, because it's a financial matter. Select Propose change on the budget card, enter the new figure and your reasons, then select Raise for decision. The new budget applies only once the trustees carry the decision. Until then, the project shows the change as awaiting a decision. See Motions and voting.
Common questions
Can I run the same project again next year?
Yes. Open the project and select Use as template. You get a fresh copy with the same workstreams, checklists and owners, with statuses, dates and spend all reset. Handy for anything you run every year, like a summer fair.
What does archiving do?
Archiving keeps everything, including tasks, spend and decisions. The project just moves out of the default view, and you can restore it any time.
The governance behind this: our free guide on charitycontrol.org explains the why in plain English.