Community Engagement Fund

1. The Community Engagement Fund (CEF) is created to support NUS students in initiating and implementing

• Community engagement projects that address social or community needs locally or overseas.

• Events and programmes that will strengthen the culture of volunteerism and community engagement in NUS. Besides nurturing the i-NUS qualities (Inquisitiveness; Initiative; Inner Resilience; Imagination; Inclusiveness and Integrity) in our students through the process, CEF also hopes to develop our students into individuals with a strong sense of social responsibility and integration to the communities in Singapore and globally.

2. Students are strongly encourage to utilise CEF to launch a new project. For an existing project to be funded, applicants must be able to demonstrate improvement(s) in the form of methodology/implementation plan, or lessons learned and/or evidence of sustained impact

3. Community engagement is defined as the process of working collaboratively with identified group(s) of people to address issues that impact their well-being.

4. Considerations for project eligibility and funding are as follows:

Who can apply?

• Full-time NUS students

• Applicant/Project leader should complete the project before graduating from the University

How are proposals evaluated?

• The proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria

  • Meaningful and impactful engagement in terms of the beneficiaries and community outreach;

  • Meaningful learnings (for members of the project) including applications of existing skills, knowledge and strengths and/or acquiring of new skills and knowledge;

  • Innovativeness in ideas/ solutions to achieve intended outcomes

  • Demonstrates application of plans/ actions to achieve sustainability beyond project duration;

  • Recognises diversity and resolve to work within individual differences and strengths in target community and/or members of the project;

  • Cost- effectiveness
    
    

What kinds of initiatives will not be considered for funding?

• Initiatives that are aimed at, or will result in, financial or material gain for the organising committee

• Initiatives that lack a clear community angle, or where the community angle is tangential to the project

• Organising of conferences and fund-raising events

• Repeated projects (previously funded by CEF) which are unable to demonstrate evidences of project improvement (methodology/implementation plan, or lessons learned) or sustained impact

What kinds of expenditure will not be supported?

The following kinds of expenditure will not be supported, even if the project as a whole is approved:

• General operating expenses or start-up costs of student clubs, societies, and interest groups

• Purchase and maintenance of equipment and other fixed assets

• Cash prizes or outright donations to beneficiaries

• Goodie bags and door gifts

• Overseas travel expenses (e.g. flight tickets)

• T-shirts

• Vendor fees

Bonus funding for mixing of local and international students within project organizing committee:
To encourage integration and a more inclusive community mind-set between our local and international students, project teams who are able to achieve a mixing ratio of international/local students or local/international students (project organizing committee only) will receive additional funding as below:

Example:
Project ABC has a total of 10 members in its project organising committee. 9 members are local students while a tenth member is an international student. Their project was approved for a total of $5,000 of CEF funding. On top of that, they achieve the 10%-90% integration ratio for their project organising committee so they will be awarded another $500 (10% of $5,000) hence they will receive a total funding of $5,500 from CEF for their project.

*New Updates for CEF
Projects that are applying/applied/received OSA funding from either the Youth Expedition Project (YEP) or the University Support for Pursuit of Arts, Culture & Sports (U-SPARKS) will NOT qualify for CEF funding. 

5. CEF will not provide full funding for projects, events, or programmes; CEF provides funding of up to 70% of qualifying project expenditure (total project expenditure) capped at $6,000 (excluding additional funding for fulfilling the integration criteria). Students can claim for completed projects as long as it is within the financial year of approval. The funding quantum may differ depending on whether the project

• Is new or on-going; and

• Is conducted locally or overseas
  
  

6. The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) reserves the right to:

• Set conditions and provisions for approved initiatives;

• Place a cap on categories of expenditure deemed extravagant or not integral to the
  initiative; and

• Adjust, withdraw, or recover the grant, in full or part thereof, awarded if:

  • The project is not completed as planed or is abandoned

  • The project completion report, including the necessary supporting documents, is not completed and submitted within four weeks after project end date

  • The grant is not required in its entirety

  • The grant exceeds 70% of the eventual project expenditure

  • The terms and conditions of the grant agreement are not met, or contravened

  • There are other extenuating circumstances that warrant a review of the approval

Note: The timeline below may be subjected to change.

1. Submission of Project Ideas

2. Invitation to submit Project

3. Discussion with CEF Advisors (if assigned)/ Project Presentation

4. Submission of Revised Project

5. Results Announcement + Acceptance of Funding

6. Project Execution Period

7. First Disbursement

8. Final Disbursement + Submission of Project

9. Cut-off Date for Claims

Submission of project ideas is now open. Applicants can submit their project idea via NUSync for Cycle 2, 2020. 

Closing date is 23 Aug 2020 (2359hrs)

Submit Here  

An invitation email to submit a detailed proposal will be sent out to applicants whose project idea has been accepted. A CEF project advisor may be allocated to you at this stage as well.

The CEF advisor will guide the organising committee in the preparation of the project proposal as well as to further develop and enhance elements of the project itself.

Applicants are expected to work closely with their CEF advisors at least through to the proposal submission stage. Funding is not guaranteed at any level, until results announcement.

Invitation to submit a detailed proposal to be sent by 26 Aug 2020.  
Detailed proposals are by invitation only.

26 Aug to 13 Sept 2020 (2.5 weeks)

Proposal Submission: Detailed proposal to be submitted latest by 13 Sept 2020, 23:59hrs

Project Presentation: Groups will be invited for a compulsory project presentation between 21 Sept - 25 Sept 2020.

Revised proposal after feedback from CEF advisors and presentation panel to be submitted latest by 4 Oct 2020.

Detailed Proposal Review Process: 5 Oct to 18 Oct 2020 (2 weeks)
During the review process, applicants may be contacted for additional information. Failure to respond promptly to OSA’s request for more information or greater clarity may result in having the proposal rejected.

Results announced between 19 Oct - 23 Oct 2020.

CEF recipients, i.e. project leaders, are required to sign the grant agreement before proceeding with the project. OSA’s support should be acknowledged on all publicity materials and platforms from date of award of the grant. The project should be completed as planned. Should there be any changes, OSA should be informed.

*Please note that your project should be implemented within this period to qualify for this cycle.

**Including first disbursement, final disbursement and project completion report.

A) Acceptance of Funding

• CEF recipients, i.e. project leaders, are required to sign the grant agreement before
  proceeding with the project.

• The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) should be acknowledged on all publicity materials
  and platforms from date of award of the grant.

• The project should be completed as planned. Should there be any changes, OSA should
  be informed at the earliest possible date.

B) First disbursement

• Project teams are allowed to claim up to 50% of the approved amount upfront. This can
  be done via submission of original receipts with proper documentation and/or Request
  For Payment (RFP) forms with supporting original receipt(s).

C) Project completion report

• Within four weeks after the stated project end date in the proposals, project leaders are required to complete and submit the project completion report via NUSync. The report includes an article, which may be used for publicity and reporting purposes by the University.

D) Final disbursement

• The remaining 50% of the approved amount will be disbursed on a reimbursement
  basis, if necessary. The final disbursement will be based on verification that the
  submitted documents are in good order, and may be lower than or equal to the
  approved in-principle amount. Any surpluses are to be returned to the University.

• Project teams will receive the remaining funds within 6 weeks of upon confirmation that
  submitted receipts (for each particular reimbursement) are in order.

E) Withdrawal of Funding

• OSA reserves the right to adjust, withdraw, or recover the grant, in full or part thereof,
  awarded if:

  • The project is not completed as planed or is abandoned

  • The project completion report, including the necessary supporting documents, is not completed and submitted within four weeks after project end date

  • The grant is not required in its entirety

  • The terms and conditions of the grant agreement are not met, or contravened

  • There are other extenuating circumstances that warrant a review of the approval