DPro Suite
DPro best practices (Project DPro, Social Good DPro, MEAL DPro, Program DPro, and Finance DPro) are adopted as a standards in many development organizations around the world. What are their differences and similarities? Which ones should my project, team, or my organization adopt?
To better understand which DPro certification fits your profile, click on each item in the table below to see detailed information.
Project DPro is a set of project management tools, techniques, phases, and principles within the context of the development and humanitarian sectors, especially in developing countries. It comprises a best practices guide and an internationally recognized certification exam.
Click here to download the Project DPro Guide.
Social Good DPro is a set of tools, phases, processes, principles, and techniques designed to support professionals working in not-for-profit organizations, social enterprises, community-based groups, and even impact-driven for-profit ventures, especially in higher-income countries. It comprises a best practices guide and an internationally recognized certification exam.
Click here to download the Social Good DPro Guide.
MEAL DPro is a set of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning tools and techniques for all professionals working in the development sector. It comprises a best practices guide and an internationally recognized certification exam.
Click here to download the MEAL DPro Guide.
Program DPro is a set of tools, advice, and guidance for program and project managers working in the development sector. It provides guidance to managing programs and their project components, or even stand alone complex projects. It comprises a best practices guide and an internationally recognized certification exam.
Click here to download the Program DPro Guide.
Finance DPro provides the fundamentals of financial management in the context of projects in development, humanitarian, and conservation sectors. It comprises a best practices guide and an internationally recognized certification exam.
Click here to download the Finance DPro Guide.
Project DPro is intended for an audience that includes:
- Project Managers and team members who are new to project management.
- Project Managers and team members who are new to the development sector.
- Development sector professionals who intend to pursue professional credentials in project management.
- Students who want to develop a career in the development sector or project management.
- Consultants/contract staff operating in the development sector.
Social Good DPro is intended for an audience that includes:
- Individuals working in not-for-profit organizations.
- Community-based organizers and team members implementing a grant-funded program.
- Social entrepreneurs.
- Impact-driven for-profit ventures.
- Project Managers and team members who are new to project management.
- Students who want to develop a career in the social good sector or project management.
- Consultants/contract staff operating in the social good sector.
MEAL DPro is intended for an audience that includes:
- MEAL Specialists, Project Managers, Program Managers, and team members who are new to project management.
- MEAL Specialists, Project Managers, Program Managers, and team members who are new to the development sector.
- Development sector professionals who intend to pursue professional credentials in MEAL.
- Students who want to develop a career in the development sector, project management, or MEAL.
- Consultants/contract staff operating in the development sector.
Program DPro is intended for an audience that includes:
- Program Managers, Project Managers, and team members who are new to project management.
- Program Managers, Project Managers, and team members who are new to the development sector.
- Development sector professionals who intend to pursue professional credentials in project and program management.
- Students who want to develop a career in the development sector, project management, or program management.
- Consultants/contract staff operating in the development sector.
Finance DPro is intended for an audience that includes:
- Finance and Administrative manager and specialists, working directly as part of a project/program team or as supporting department.
- Program Managers, Project Managers, and team members who are new to project management.
- Program Managers, Project Managers, and team members who are new to the development sector.
- Development sector professionals who intend to pursue professional credentials in project/program finance management.
- Students who want to develop a career in the development sector, project management, or program management.
- Consultants/contract staff operating in the development sector.
Project DPro tools and techniques are suitable for simple projects – initiatives that have one outcome, a few outputs, and contributes to the overall goals of a program.
More complex initiatives also benefit from Project DPro best practices, developing a common language and increasing efficiency.Â
The Social Good DPro is designed specifically for projects that aim to create positive social impact. Its tools and techniques are ideal for learners who are new to project management or who have experience, but have never received formal training in the discipline.
MEAL DPro presents tools and techniques that cross the levels or projects and programs. Monitoring tools are focused on projects while evaluation ones on programs, with possible overlap when looking at their logframes. Learning and Accountability support both projects and programs, with different timeline and depth, allowing knowledge exchange between programs and projects.
Program DPro tools and techniques are suitable for initiatives with multiple projects, managed in synchronism, allowing more efficiency on resources application, and linking the strategic management team with the Project Managers through an intentional set of activities and objectives.
Finance DPro tools and techniques provides support and guidance for developing and managing the finances on a project level. However, it is also helpful for programs as well as large and complex projects.
Although each DPro is independent, we strongly recommend learning and taking the Project DPro or Social Good DPro before any other DPro. Even professionals on specialized roles, such as MEAL and Finance, can benefit for learning the Project DPro os Social Good DPro and adopting the common language before diving into the respective DPro.
Although all DPros are contextualized for their sector, concepts are convergent and supplement each other, you might find a few different naming conventions within the guides.
DPros might present different levels of complexity (project, program). In addition, DPros are based on the knowledge, experience, and practices from many organizations – and there are different terms across different organizations in our sector.
Project DPro and Program DPro have different logframe levels because they represent different levels of initiatives (see levels of each DPro in this page). The Program DPro guide presents a diagram that compares and connects the project and program logframes.
Social Good DPro presents both 4 and 5 levels logframes, explaining the reasons for this diference and adoption the 4-level model for the best practice.
MEAL DPro covers both projects and programs, and, for that reason, it has a different approach to the logframe cells and levels. Same principle applies to Finance DPro, which is focused on projects but also applicable for programs.
Available in several languages, our guides are distributed free of any costs under a Creative Commons BY NC license. Click the logos above or the boxes below to access the download page of each DPro.
Project DPro (PMD Pro)
Making the world better, one project at a a time
MEAL DPro
Nurturing the project with data about its progress and changes is critical to success
Social Good DPro
Making the world better, managing change for social good
Program DPro
The program impact must be greater than the sum of its projects
