Community Engagement Fund

Application Period:

Applications will be reviewed and awarded on a first come first serve basis.

Purpose of CEF

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. 'Community engagement' is defined as the process of working collaboratively with identified group(s) of people to address areas that impact their well-being.
Projects to develop our students into individuals with a strong sense of social responsibility and promote integration within communities in Singapore and globally.

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

Funding Details & Consideration

CEF provides funding for projects with a deficit, covering up to 80% of the total deficit cost (limited to supportable items) and capped at $5,000 per project.

Funding is on a reimbursement basis, students will have to incur and bear all expenses upfront.

Applications must be submitted at least 1 month before the project's start date.

Projects should be completed by February 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a first come first serve basis.

Below are examples to illustrate eligibility for CEF:

Scenario	A	B	C
Project Income	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000
Project Expenditure	$7,000	$14,000	$17,000
Deficit?	No deficit	Yes, deficit of $4,000 (only $2,000 are supportable expenses)	Yes, deficit of $7,000 (all $7,000 are supportable expenses)
CEF funding eligibility?	No	Yes	Yes
Funding Quantum		Up to 80% of $2,000 (supportable items)	Up to 80% of $7,000 (supportable items), capped at $5,000

Below are examples to illustrate eligibility for CEF:

Scenario	A	B	C
Project Income	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000
Project Expenditure	$7,000	$14,000	$17,000
Deficit?	No deficit	Yes, deficit of $4,000 (only $2,000 are supportable expenses)	Yes, deficit of $7,000 (all $7,000 are supportable expenses)
CEF funding eligibility?	No	Yes	Yes
Funding Quantum		Up to 80% of $2,000 (supportable items)	Up to 80% of $7,000 (supportable items), capped at $5,000

A) Application Criteria

Organising committee should consist of only full-time NUS undergraduate students and be from an official NUS student group.
A valid WBS is required to receive CEF funding, and reimbursements can subsequently be requested via eRFP through NUServiceHub
- Registered Societies will receive reimbursement via the society's bank account. For more information, click here.
Applicant/Project leader should complete the project before graduating from the University.
Project teams should aim to pursue their passion, apply their skills and knowledge in real-life community projects to bring positive and meaningful impact to the community.
Projects should aim to promote the well-being of the community and/or environment.
Projects need to work with a community partner which could be a NUS department, faculty, residences and/or external community partners.
Projects must have a NUS Staff Advisor either from faculty or department.

B) Evaluation Criteria

The proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria:

Number of NUS students engaged to serve the community (eg. organising team members and/or volunteers)
First time application or repeated application
Indirect (eg. Awareness, social media campaign) or direct engagement (eg. collaborative, interactive workshop)
Collaborative effort of team to engage all team members and community partner(s) in the project designing stage
Social integration (eg. having a mix of international and local students in the group)
Diversity (eg. having a mix of students from different faculties/interest groups etc.)
Research effort (eg. including primary and secondary research)
Value-adding to community partner organisation and their initiatives
Application and learning of skills and knowledge
Demonstrates application of plans/actions to achieve sustainability beyond project duration

C) Projects not considered for funding

Projects that aim at, or will result in, financial or material gain for the organising committee
Projects that lack a clear community angle, or where the community angle is tangential to the project
Repeated projects (previously funded by CEF) which are unable to demonstrate evidences of project improvement (methodology/implementation plan or sustained impact)
Projects that successfully received OSA funding from other OSA funding sources such as Teach Singapore, U-SPARKS, Youth Expedition Project Grant, Student Wellness Grant, Maybank Green Fund.

D) Supportable Expenditures

E) Expenditures not supported

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

General operating expenses of start-up costs of student clubs, societies, interest groups or events
Direct cash prizes or outright donations to beneficiaries
Overseas travel expenditure (including but not limited to airfare, flight/train tickets, accommodation costs)
Goodie bags, door gifts and volunteers' t-shirts
Vendor fees and honorarium e.g. workshop training fees
Audit, legal, utilities, fines and penalties fees, insurance premiums for equipment e.g. third-party liability insurance;
Purchase and maintenance of fixed assets/equipment
Tobacco and alcohol products
Any private and personal consumption items
Items, goods or services where approved team members have a direct stake or interest in (This is to avoid conflict of interest)
Items that are not directly relevant to the proposed project or for which alternatives or substitutes are available within the University

Application Process

Projects that submit their claims in February/March may obtain reimbursement only in May due to the closing of financial year.

Contact Information

For enquiries, contact  community.engagement@nus.edu.sg.