NOTICE OF CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

The DEVELOPMENT EXCHANGE CENTRE (DEC) is a women-focused Non-Governmental Organization established in 1987 and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) – IT/10826.

DEC, supported by Bread for the World-Germany (BfW), is implementing a project “Small-Scale Project Fund for Community Based Organisations (CBOs)”. The project supports upcoming, existing formal and informal CBOs with an overall goal of enhancing local organization’s capacities for sustainable development. It will provide grants to support CBOs focusing on women, Persons with Disability, adolescent girls, other vulnerable groups and communities to implement their self-designed projects. It will also provide mentorship to groups, community development associations, community-based organisations and budding organizations on institutional development; this will enhance their capacity for managing grants after which they may then apply for the grant. The mentorship will be for a period of 6 months.

DEC hereby notifies (organized AND functional) women groups and young organizations working at the grassroots level, non-profit organizations/community-based organizations, and informal functional groups operating in Bauchi, Gombe, and Plateau states of this opportunity for partnership in the following thematic areas:

Sn	Thematic area	Focus
1	Education	a. Adult literacy b. Adolescent girls c. Girl-child education
2	Economic empowerment	a. Vocational/skills acquisition b. Sustainable agriculture c. Production
3	Environment	a. Water and sanitation b. Waste management c. Climate change
4	Peace building	a. Conflict resolution b. Trauma healing
5	Capacity Building (for Category D- see details below)	a. Mentorship b. Training

Each proposed project will be for a minimum of 9 months and a maximum of 12 months only. Mentorship will be for a maximum of 6 months only.

Much focus will be on functional AND organized women-groups working at the grassroots, Persons with Disability and Community Development groups.

Interested organizations will be categorized as follows (minimum requirement):

a. Category A: groups without a formal registration from any government authority but recognized by and accepted by their communities. They have minimal management structure and are financially self-sustaining through contributions and levies for their activities (‘informal groups’). This category has a budget range of NGN(1,500,000-6,000,000).

b. Category B: groups that have partial financial support and some form of legal recognition (such as members of trade unions, cooperatives, and associations), but may not have a structured constitution. Groups here have staff/volunteers, and their activities are financed by member’s contributions and donations. (‘Semi-formal’). This category has a budget range of NGN(6,001,500-9,000,000).

c. Category C: groups registered with government agencies such as the Corporate Affairs commission (CAC), with a management and leadership structure consisting of staff, management, and directors. The activities are planned and carried out by employees and financed by donations and grants. (‘Formal groups’). This category has a budget range of NGN(9,001,500-10,500,000).

d. Category D: groups that are either registered or yet to register, community development associations, community-based organisations and budding organizations requiring institutional development support; apply only for capacity building.

Eligibility: Groups or organizations who have benefited up to two times or have an ongoing partnership with the DEC-SSPF Project or Bread for the World are not eligible to apply.

Instructions for submission of concept notes:

1. “Expression of Interest” form for the response to this call can be accessed by downloading on the DEC’s website- deccentre.org or by sending a mail requesting the form to sspf.dec@gmail.com.

2. All completed forms and applications can be submitted in either hard copy or soft copy abiding by the following:
a. Hard copy submission: Completed forms should be placed in sealed A4-size envelope addressed to:
The Local Approval Committee
DEC SSPF
Please indicate the category (e.g. “Category X”) on the top right-hand corner of envelope.
The envelopes should be submitted at DEC head office at No. 5 Kaduna Road, Bauchi, Bauchi state. Submissions will be deposited in a collection box at the entrance of the DEC head office. A register to document submissions will be provided, please ensure to fill the register.

Soft copy submission: Please ensure to sign the form- (either insert scanned/e-signature in provided space on the form or print out form, sign in provided space on the form, and scan. Completed forms should be forwarded as attachments to the email address: smallscaleprojects@deccentre.org
The subject of the mail should indicate the category of application e.g. (“Category X”).
The body of the mail should be addressed to-
The Local Approval Committee
DEC SSPF

3. The deadline for submission is 4pm (Nigeria), Wednesday 22nd July 2026. All submissions must hit DEC’s collection box/email by this time. After this time, no submissions will be accepted.

All inquiry about this call should be made to sspf.dec@gmail.com with the subject- “SSPF INQUIRY” before Tuesday 14th July 2026 after which no further inquiries will be entertained.
DEC reserves the right to reconsider the geographic or sectoral distribution of projects based on the interests of its programming. DEC also reserves the right to discontinue all or part of this call.

DEC brings to the attention of the public that the application process is free of charge. The forms are not for sale, and you are not to give any kind of gratification to access/submit the form. Any organization/group found to either attempt to pay or pay for or give any form of gratification or incentive will be disqualified. You are requested to report any person(s) demanding or requesting payment or gratification for either accessing, submitting, or processing the forms via whistleblowing@deccentre.org or 08061975161, 09123182626.

Women-focused organizations, women-led organizations, women groups, PwD-focused organizations, PwD-led organizations, youth and community-focused groups are encouraged to apply.
Only organizations that qualify for the next stage of proceedings will be contacted by DEC.