The Committee adheres strictly to the funding guidelines previously outlined. The clearest and most transparent requests will follow these guidelines as closely as possible. In addition, the Committee offers Budget Workshop sessions in the Fall semester led by the Chair and other senior members of the Committee. We highly recommend that the person who submits your budget attend at least one budget workshop session. In addition, you may contact the chair, Amelia Marceau, at [email protected], with any further questions or to set up a meeting with her or another Committee member. The Committee also offers office hours in the Spring semester.

Mission statements can be vague, and the Committee understands this. If you feel that the Committee may not understand your mission statement, we encourage you to add a clarifying explanation in parentheses following the mission statement. If you feel it is helpful, you may also quote specific parts of the mission statement when explaining why your line items relate to the mission of your group.

If there is a glitch or problem with Campus Pulse preventing you from filling out or submitting your budget request, please contact your SAI advisor or the SATF Financial Advisor. They can help you with the problem and ensure that your RSO is not hurt because of technical issues.

Yes, it is possible. Occasionally, a group will request funding only for ineligible line items (see funding guidelines for which items are ineligible). In this case, all of these ineligible line items will be removed and the group will receive an allocation of zero dollars. To avoid this, make sure to adhere to the funding guidelines.

Yes. No matter how much you write or how many line items you have, the Committee reads and considers everything that you include in your budget request.

The SGA bylaws specify that the SGA Senate votes on how high the Student Activities Fee is each year. The Senate has the power to raise the fee up to 7.49% each year. Once the Senate has voted on the Student Activities Fee, that money is entrusted to the Ways and Means Committee to allocate. If you have any concerns about the level of the Student Activities Fee, please direct them to [email protected].

live google docs link

The MinuteFund is UMass Amherst’s crowdfunding platform! The team in the Office of Annual Giving will provide training on outreach strategy, creating your website, and help you to craft compelling communications. Then, you will reach out to your contacts and ask them to support your RSO. 100% of the money raised will go directly into your RSO revenue account. Every donation is tax-deductible and your donors will become donors to the university. You can launch a MinuteFund project anytime (except April 1 to May 1 each year). Interested? Fill out an application here and someone from Annual Giving will reach out to you to set up a meeting!

• You can raise money through the MinuteFund for any expenses that your RSO has! Whether you are planning a trip, buying equipment, creating an event, or just need cash for operating expenses, you are able to use the MinuteFund. You are also able to use the MinuteFund platform to raise money for outside organizations in many cases.
• The MinuteFund is not a payment platform, and cannot be used to sell items or to collect dues from RSO members.

Occasionally, petitioning RSOs will only be able to provide evidence that is in a foreign currency. The Committee is understanding of this challenge that many RSOs face. You may submit evidence that is in a foreign currency, but you will need to attach supplemental evidence which shows, and proves the current exchange rate between the foreign currency and U.S. Dollars at the time you’re making your request. We recommend using the Federal Reserve’s page on exchange rates. You must also include this exchange rate in your cost-breakdown, and currency symbols should be explained in the description.

While the Committee does require the budget to be submitted by a singular person who holds SR, you may have as many individuals work on your budget as you’d like. However, the Committee strongly recommends keeping this number of other collaborators to a minimum, ideally of just one. Having “too many cooks in the kitchen” drastically increases the chance of your budget having errors. If you must have more than one person work on a budget, please coordinate with one another to ensure consistency.

No. As stated in the Student Government Association Bylaws Title VI, Chapter 13, Section 4, fee money is “use or lose”. Starting with FY23, NO ROLLOVERS OF FEE MONEY WILL BE ALLOWED.