Fundraising strategy and proposal writing – ON LINE – VEC

The Community Empowerment and Development Team (CEDT) is a Cambodian NGO that was established in May 2009 and registered with the Ministry of Interior in 2010 as a local nonprofit organization. The organization aims to enhance the capacity of urban and rural communities to negotiate legal tenure with government authorities and key stakeholders, upgrade their housing and infrastructure, and assert rights to manage and conserve their natural resources/land through the provision of knowledge and participatory planning processes, including Community/GIS mapping, documentation of possession and land rights, community strengthening, pro-poor technical advice on infrastructure, non-technical community-led zoning, and options for resolving land disputes and housing issues.

In Cambodia, communities supported by CEDT are enhancing their self-empowerment, acquiring skills and self-determination to address their challenges independently, and collaborating to improve their housing and land conditions while achieving tenure security.

Therefore, the mission of CEDT is to empower local communities by promoting increased individual and community control, political efficacy, improved quality of life, and self-management of their development. This is accomplished through providing knowledge, pro-poor technical training, support for strengthening relationships with local authorities, and assistance for the long-term development and sustainability of communities. CEDT utilizes various methodologies and tools to collaborate with communities and address issues related to tenure insecurity, including community mapping and documentation, participation in local governance and commune planning, community strengthening, working with youth, increasing social capital, collaborative management of natural resources, and the Community Young Professional Team.

With the USAID funding ending, the situation at CEDT has become challenging, particularly in terms of covering essential operations such as office rent and supporting the core team. A staff member, whose entire salary was funded by USAID, has already been bid farewell. Currently, there are insufficient funds to fully compensate the remaining core staff – they are essentially volunteering with minimal support for expenses, but this arrangement is not sustainable beyond a month or two. The lack of stable funding poses a significant obstacle to maintaining the strength of all community programs.

Securing new funding presents a notable challenge at this time due to the challenging economic climate and heightened competition among NGOs. While the Management Team is fully committed and exerting considerable effort to explore all potential avenues, the existing limited capacity, particularly in terms of dedicated personnel for proposal development and outreach, hinders the effective pursuit of the necessary opportunities during this critical period.

Additional support in this area is greatly needed to enable catching up and submitting robust proposals.

-Monitoring activities ;

-Support in drafting funding requests ;

-Exploring opportunities for funding;

-Developing concept notes and proposals ;

-Discussing the future economic model of the association ;

Topics dof the proposals:

-Climate change ;

-Community empowerment in urban development ;

-Enhancing the role of youth in natural resource management ;

-Improving the livelihood of indigenous communities.

The NGO director.

The director has been actively engaged in the association for multiple years and possesses a deep understanding of the nonprofit landscape in Cambodia.