The end of my mission in Cambodia

As part of a steering committee within the Econocom group to assist Passerelles numériques, I have been in Cambodia for the last two weeks to volunteer and bring value in the fund raising business model of PN. During these two weeks I have coached local managers on their commercial skills and strategy and helped the sales team to increase efficiency in their local fund raising activity.

This mission has been of a strong interest to me and from the feedback I’ve received from PN Cambodia I know that this feeling is shared. As a first time being in Asia and a first time working with an NGO, I have been pleased to notice the possible bridges between private and non-profit organizations.

I would like to emphasise the fact that, before departure, I have been very well supported (both on content and logistic) by the PN team in Paris and was warmly welcomed by the local staff and students. If you add this to the natural friendly behaviour of Cambodian people towards
                                   foreigners, it makes this mission an unforgettable experience to me.

The main achievement of this mission is that the PN scholarship is turning into an offer for their local companies; that PN Cambodia can deliver added value to the local businesses and can sell it. The first steps in this direction have already been taken by the design of the scholarship offer, my mission has mainly been focused around the commercial skills and the changes for the commercial department organization to be taken.

After having made some company visits, I am positively surprised by the booming market of Cambodia. I am convinced that Passerelles numériques will benefit from this situation and become one of its main IT related NGO players.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Passerelles numériques in general for opening the organization to external people and give them the room to contribute. And of course a warm thank you to the staff and students of PN Cambodia without forgetting the Econocom people involved in this mission for their appreciated support.

Finishing the mission, I have the strong feeling that this is only the beginning of a long story...

From Charity to Investment

In business I have noticed that it’s quite a common belief that the opportunities of collaborating with non-profit organizations is seen as a one way direction: the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) ask private companies for funds, so they can achieve their mission in the field. And these companies usually provide them those funds in order to reach their Corporate Social Responsibility goals. According to this vision, it’s quite obvious that NGOs are often seen as in a pleading position.

What people do not know is that – and even more often than believed - NGOs can offer a varied range of services and benefits to the private sector. The programme ‘PN Scholarship’ designed by Passerelles numériques is a
                                             meaningful example of a fundraising strategy, that is mutually worthwhile for
                                             both NGOs and their collaborating companies.

The mechanism is simple: the company supports one or more students by paying 25% of their study fees during their training (2 years). Thanks to this contribution, the company will automatically profit from benefits such as;

• a 4-month internship(s) at the end of courses (free of allowance),
• an annual report on social impact indicators,
• interns and employed students’ performance follow-up via PN’s tutorship programme.

Moreover, in the Cambodia fast-growing and changing market, where one of the main concerns of companies is the continued employees turnover, PN ensures a minimum of 12 months loyalty from the recruited students and refunds 50% of the scholarship if these terms are not respected.

“From charity to investment”, as part of PN’s Company department mission, is to promote this new approach.

During my stay in Phnom Penh, I have the opportunity to work with the ‘Enterprise Relation Department’ and more closely with Saroem Run, who works as a Project Manager at PN Cambodia. Acting as a sales man for the NGO, Saroem’s main goal is to create new partnerships with IT related companies through the ‘PN Cambodia Scholarship’ program.

Spreading the idea of a fundraising strategy, that can turn out in a convenient investment for companies, is a daily and ambitious challenge for Saroem. Especially in a country like Cambodia, where the idea of Social Responsibility is still quite unknown in the local market. However, I am convinced that this creative approach will bring success and enables PN Cambodia to switch to new ways of raising funds!

First day at work with Passerelles numériques

Monday was my first day at work in Cambodia. I visited the first school Passerelles numériques (PN) created in order to help disadvantaged students by getting access to a high level of education, and finding qualified employment. I’ve been friendly welcomed by the complete staff and students. The school building, located in Phnom Penh and built in 2005, is well situated, it has good facilities and offers the students a very good studying environment.

The training program of PN has been designed to provide students a set of professional skills, specific technical IT skills and they teach them to speak English fluently. The program is constantly updated to meet the growing needs of a constantly changing market.

I also had my first meetings with the fund raising-, internship- and job placement team. After graduating, the students can still count on Passerelles numériques support, thanks to this job placement service. I find it amazing that all students find a job within 3 months after graduating. Since 2005, 607 Cambodian students have graduated from this training center, from whom 358 completed a 2-year training program as IT technician. Now that’s what I consider a job well done!

My calendar for this week is scheduled, I will be mixing sales training's with brain storming sessions and also have some interesting visits to prospects planned. I am looking forward to it!

From left to right: Sopheak, Saroem, myself, also Sopheak (the same name is used for a male and female) and Channita.

Give a man a fish, and you have fed him once. Teach him how to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.

This proverbial saying which suggests that the ability to work is of greater benefit than a one-off handout, is a well known way to say in short the goal of charity organizations aiming for sustainable development. Less obvious is the fact that this saying has to apply also for the organization itself...

The first time I came in contact with the French charity organization 'Passereles numériques’ was in 2007. I was working then for the ECS group, one of the sponsors of the organization by donations and by providing its employees the possibility to go for missions  in the field, more precisely in Cambodia.

Passerelles numériques enables the most underprivileged to access employment in a promising  sector and to break with their families the circle of poverty. The mission is to enable the largest number of youths, in a precarious situation, access to training and skilled employment in the Information Technology sector. The ambition is to help at least 90% of the students directly enrolled in the programs to find a qualified job and ultimately end the cycle of poverty for themselves as well as their families.

I have seen colleagues and team members going on missions for the organization and their feedback has always been fascinating to me. The idea of doing it myself often came to me but both professional and personal involvement, especially with young kids,  have always kept me away from dedicating time and focus to those missions.

When the Econocom group took over the ECS group in 2010, I was pleasantly surprised to hear during a managers meeting that Econocom sponsored ‘Passerelles numériques’ as well. Being in touch again with this organization, I have then been triggered by their new arising challenge : Learn how to fish !

Sponsors are very kin in helping charity organizations to kick off a project by providing funds. But sponsors are also more and more expecting those projects to be locally self-sufficient, to reach autonomy in raising their own funds, not depending 100 % from donations on the long run. This is the challenge the organization is facing now, learn how to fish, find a sustainable way of being self-sufficient by raising funds locally !

It is at that moment that the decision became obvious to me, after 5 years of maturation, that my involvement in this charity organization should be more than supporting colleagues. I foresee added value in providing support to this business model switch, and that time to go on the field for a mission had arrived.

A steering committee has been set up within the Econocom group to assist the organization in this change, and as a part of this project, I will be leaving for Cambodia for two weeks to volunteer with the main objective to bring value in the fund raising business model of Passerelles numériques. During these two weeks I will coach local managers on their commercial skills and strategy and will also hopefully help the sales team to increase efficiency in their local fund raising activity.

My responsibility and involvement is not going to stop after these two weeks. I will continue to support this unique and challenging project for much longer. I would like to share my experiences with you, via this blog and the use of Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter).

And of course, feel free to follow the developments, provide support, inspiration, feedback, guidance, and why not use them as an inspiration for yourself.