The Center for Nonprofit Development (CEND), formerly the Center for Development Initiatives (CENDIs), is a Ghanaian consultancy and training organization founded on the 28th day of January, 2010. It was later incorporated in Ghana as the Center for Nonprofit Development (CEND) on the 24th day of August 2012 under the Companies Code of 1963 (Act 179) to reflect its broad approaches to helping non-profit organizations accomplish their goals.
Two forces combined to make the idea of CEND a reality: the driving vision of its founder, Mr. William Kwaku Obuor, and the generous support of his wife, Mrs. Eunice Obuor.
Born of unbounded compassion and sheer audacity to help the nonprofit sector thrive, William had spent two years prior to CEND’s creation consulting with some 80 leaders and managers in the philanthropy and nonprofit sectors about what was missing in current efforts to attract funding from donors to carry out development activities.
The above early conversations, which included talks with the board of directors, chief executive officers (CEOs), executive management, and senior staff, confirmed that while some progress had been made through access to funding from donors to implement their programs and services, the greater proportion lacked the technical know-how and the experience to prepare their grant applications including other supporting documents such as auditors’ financial statements, annual reports, newsletters and brochures, constitutions and bye-laws, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reports, strategic plans, and project feasibility study documents mostly required by donors as part of the grant application process.
The study further found out that, in some cases, most of the nonprofit organizations do not have websites to attract donors and corporate support, and even those that do don’t have the information technically written and well presented. In his attempt to fill this gap, William initiated the establishment of this organization to provide consulting and training programs to help equip nonprofits with the information they need to make a difference.
CENDIs Today
Today, the Center for Nonprofit Development (CEND) maintains a professional staff of more than 30 employees. In addition, the center has an affiliated pool of 14 associates who conduct consulting and training engagements around the country on behalf of CEND. Through partnerships and alliances with other consulting and management training networks, CEND reaches large numbers of both nonprofits and philanthropy organizations. It brings expert consultancy and training to nonprofits and the donor community, empowering them to maximize organizational outcomes and drive social impact. Created specifically for nonprofits and the donor world, our programs provide rigorous and relevant tools and strategies for transformative organizations working in the non-profit sector such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), foundations, and association