Page 10 - Sustainability and entrepreneurship for CSO's and CSO networks Cambodia 1 November 2018

CHAPTER 3: CAMBODIA CSO SECTOR AND ITS LIFE CYCLE
Every organisation has a life cycle, a beginning and an end. The Cambodian CSO sector has shown a fast rise from 1993 and contributed incredibly to the development of the country. Since 2013 the (I)NGO contributions to Cambodian CSOs are on a decline and it is expected that the contributions will further shrink in the years to come. The CSO sector in Cambodia has reached the Mature stage (see graph below), which is shown in its increased bureaucracy: systems, procedures, control and M&E systems. Decline and stagnancy may be near. Next to this, all CSOs practice the same business model: they apply for external funding from the same pool of (diminishing) funding agencies, which makes the sector competitive in a way that a substantial part of the organisational capacity is used to attract new budgets.
(Stevens 2002)
• Task - Fill out the questionnaire.
observations yes no
you lose sight of the market
your programs are primarily developed to attract funding
you have difficulties in delivering services and reaching goals
your leadership and staff morale are low and you have a high staff turnover
your focus is on individual programs, instead of organisational goals
your systems and planning is getting poor
you have insufficient cash reserves
you fall behind financial obligations
you experience loss of financial support and have difficulties bringing in new funding sources
you are reactive to crises that occur
you have no proactive marketing and community relation building
(source www.speakmanconsulting.com)
When you answer most questions with a Yes, you may have reached the stage of stagnancy. You are on a decline and need to renew or innovate your business.
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