Community-Based Organisation · Kisii County, Kenya
Government funds, grants and programmes are set aside for groups like yours every single year. Most are never claimed, because nobody in the community was told they existed — or because the proposal was never written. We fix both.
Who we are
We empower communities and registered groups by sensitising them on government opportunities, funds, grants, programmes and other available support.
We also train and support groups in proposal writing and resource mobilisation — helping them identify community needs, develop practical projects, prepare strong proposals, and approach potential partners and funding opportunities.
Our aim is to help communities access opportunities, mobilise resources, strengthen leadership and governance, and implement sustainable development projects that outlast any single grant. We work where the group already meets — in the community, in your own language, at your group's pace.
What we do
Three things, done properly.
Most groups miss out for one reason: nobody told them. We bring the information into the community — which funds exist, who qualifies, what they cover, and where to apply.
We train your group and then sit down and write with you — from the community need all the way to a proposal a funding committee can actually say yes to.
Funders look at the group before they look at the proposal. We help you register properly, orient your officials, and keep the records that keep you eligible.
How we work
Six steps, in this order — each one depends on the last, which is why we rarely start in the middle.
We sit with the community and name the real problem — not the assumed one. The need has to come from the people who live with it.
Register or regularise the group, sort out leadership, constitution, minutes, member register and records. Almost every fund starts here.
Turn the need into something the group can genuinely run, at a size it can deliver, with a plan for what happens after the money is spent.
Problem, objectives, activities, budget and monitoring plan — written against what that particular funder is actually asking for.
Map the right funds, grants, partners and programmes for your group, then make the approach together — committee, county office, or partner.
Support delivery, keep the books and records, report on time — and put the group in a stronger position for the next round.
Our work
Kiorori Primary and Secondary School in Tabaka Ward has no reliable source of clean water. The school depends on a nearby river and on rainwater harvesting. When the springs dry up, learners and staff fall back on the river.
That is not only a water problem. Learners who leave the compound to fetch water are outside adult supervision, which is a child protection risk. Sanitation is harder to keep functional, handwashing points do not work consistently, and for adolescent girls poor water and sanitation makes managing menstruation at school difficult enough that some stay home.
We have submitted a proposal to the Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency for the drilling and equipping of a borehole at the school.
The final depth, casing, pump capacity, power system and storage will be set by qualified professionals after the survey and drilling results — not assumed in advance. A borehole sized on a guess is a borehole that fails in year three.
A water-management committee, maintenance records and a clear repair-response mechanism are part of the design rather than an afterthought — which is what separates a borehole still working in ten years from one abandoned in two.
A girl without sanitary towels can miss up to a week of school a month — over a year, a term's worth of learning. It is one of the quietest reasons girls fall behind and then drop out altogether, and it is well within what a women's group or a school committee can fund locally once somebody shows them how to ask.
Opportunities
This is the ground we cover in a sensitisation session. Bring us your group and we will work out which of these you actually qualify for — and what has to be in place first.
Group lending for women, youth and persons with disabilities, run through constituency committees. You repay the principal only — there is no interest on the loan.
Affordable credit and enterprise support for women. Since 2007 the fund has disbursed over KES 28 billion to more than 2.25 million women across all 290 constituencies.
Enterprise loans, market linkage and capacity support for youth-owned businesses and youth groups, administered at constituency level.
The National Government Affirmative Action Fund backs projects run by CBOs and self-help groups that improve the livelihoods of vulnerable groups.
Digital credit and savings with no collateral and no paperwork. Interest is capped at 8% per year. Useful for working capital while a bigger application is in progress.
30% of government procurement is reserved by law for enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disabilities — under Articles 227 and 55 of the Constitution and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
Not less than 2.5% of the national government's share of revenue goes to projects identified at constituency level. Communities propose and prioritise those projects at ward public participation forums — that meeting is your entry point.
County bursaries, ward development allocations, county grants and sector programmes. These rarely get advertised widely — public participation is how community projects get onto the list in the first place.
Almost every fund on this list asks for a properly registered group first. Groups are registered under the Community Groups Registration Act, 2022, through your county Social Protection office. Here is what you need to have in hand:
Then, to stay eligible: renew the certificate every year, submit quarterly progress reports, and keep your records available to the registering authority. We walk groups through all of it — and fix the paperwork of groups that registered years ago and went quiet.
Who we serve
Not registered yet? That is often the first thing we help with — a group that exists on paper is a group that can apply.
Get in touch
Tell us how many members you have, whether you are registered, and what you are trying to do.