Project Management guide
Project Management keeps every job that has several steps in one place, so you, your team and your board can see what is left to do, who is doing it, and whether it is on time.
Open Project Management: https://www.allinoneforprofit.com/project-management/
On this page
1. Why use it
Most organizations keep their to-do lists in email threads, meeting minutes and people's heads. Things slip when a volunteer gets busy or a board member rotates off, and nobody notices until the deadline has passed.
Project Management fixes that by giving every job one shared list. Each step has a person and a date, and anyone with access can see where things stand.
Use it for anything with several steps and more than one person, for example:
- setting up your organization on the platform (the Getting Started project, already there for you)
- a reunion, gala, conference or open house
- closing the year and filing the Form 990
- a grant application
- finding and welcoming new board members
- launching or refreshing your website
2. Three words to know
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Project | One job with an end, such as "Reunion 2027" or "2026 Form 990". |
| Task | One step in that job, such as "Book the hotel block". Each task can have a person, a due date and notes. |
| Progress report | A one-page summary of a project for your Executive Director and board: how much is done, what is late, and who has what. |
3. Your first ten minutes
- Open Project Management. You will see a project called Getting Started. It is the step-by-step setup checklist for your organization.
- Look at what is already ticked. The platform ticks the steps it can see you have done, such as filling in your profile or saving a letterhead. Click a ticked step to see why it was ticked.
- Pick three tasks that matter this month. Click each one, choose a person and a due date, and press Save.
- Open the Progress report tab. This is what your board will see.
4. Assign a task and set a date
- Open a project and click the name of a task. A panel opens on the right.
- Under Assigned to, choose a person. The list includes everyone with a seat, your board and your committees. To assign someone who is not on the list, a volunteer or a relative helping with a reunion, choose Someone else and type their name.
- Set a Due date and, if it matters, a Priority.
- Set the Status: To do, In progress, Blocked (waiting on something) or Done.
- Press Save.
To finish a task, tick the box beside it. To leave a note for the next person, type in Add a comment at the bottom of the panel. Every change is kept under Comments and history, so you can always see who did what and when.
The filters above the list help on a long project: search by word, show only what is not done or overdue, or show one person's tasks.
5. My tasks
The My tasks tab shows everything assigned to you across every project, with the soonest due first. Tick a task there to mark it done.
6. Start a new project
Press New project, or choose one of the ready-made lists under your projects. Each ready-made list comes with every step already written.
| Ready-made list | Use it when | The date you enter |
|---|---|---|
| Event planning | A reunion, gala, conference or open house | The event date |
| Annual financial review and Form 990 | Closing the year, the CPA review or audit, and filing | The date your 990 is due |
| Grant application | Applying to a foundation or a government funder | The application deadline |
| Board recruitment | Finding, electing and welcoming new directors | The election date |
| Website launch | Building or refreshing your website | The launch date |
| Blank project | Anything else with steps | Optional |
When you enter the date, every step gets its own due date counted from it. A reunion's venue booking, for example, comes due about eight months before the event. Change any date you like afterward.
On All In One For Profit, the year-end list is Year-end close and taxes, and the grant and board lists do not appear.
7. Show your board
Open a project and choose the Progress report tab. It shows:
- how much is done, overall and by section
- who has what, and how much of it is late
- what is overdue and what is blocked
- what is coming up next and what was finished recently
There are three ways to get it to your board:
Print it or save it as a PDF
Press Print or save as PDF. It prints on your letterhead when one is saved in My Organization.
File it for the board packet
Press File in the Document Library for the board packet. A PDF copy is saved in your Document Library, tagged board-packet, so you can attach it to the meeting along with the agenda and minutes.
Send your board a link
Press Make a board link and copy it into an email. Anyone with the link can read the report without signing in, so it works for board members who do not have a seat. It shows names, never email addresses, and it always shows the latest progress. Press Turn the link off whenever you like; the old link then stops working for good.
8. People and names
The People tab lists everyone you can assign. Seat holders sign in with an email address, so they show by email until you give them a name. The owner or an admin can type the name there and press Save. Board and committee members already show by name.
9. Who can do what
| Who | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner and admins | Everything, including board links and names on the People tab |
| Members who can make changes | Create projects, assign tasks, change dates, tick tasks done, comment |
| Read-only seats (viewer, staff, consultant without the pen) | See every project and report, but change nothing |
| Board members without a seat | Read a report through a board link |
Plans: every plan, including the Launch Plan, includes the Getting Started project. Any number of other projects, blank or from a ready-made list, comes with AIONP Essentials and AIONP Complete.
Email: Project Management does not send email or notifications. People see their tasks under My tasks.
10. Questions people ask
A step was ticked for me, but we have not really finished it.
Untick it. The platform ticks each step only once, so it will not tick it again.
Can I add my own tasks to a ready-made list?
Yes. Press Add a task on any project, and give it a section if you want it grouped with others.
Can I rename a project or change its date?
Yes, on the Project details tab. Changing the project date there does not move the tasks' dates; change those on each task.
We finished. How do I put a project away?
On Project details, set the status to Done, or to Archived to hide it from the list.
Who sees the board link?
Only people you send it to. It cannot be guessed, it shows no email addresses, and turning it off ends it at once.
Questions any time: [email protected]