Budgets

Run your elections in Term 2 so that the current and new exec can do the budget together. This is really important because you're applying for money for next year for your society. You could elect your new exec now but then not have them take over until sometime in Term 3.

Essential Information

The budget form has been emailed to your society email account and is available here.

If you have any difficulties at all with the form, please email the Societies Officer.

You must email your budget form to the Societies Officer or hand it in to the Resources Room by Noon on Thursday Week 10 Term 2. If you are late you may not be allocated any money!

The Societies Committee and the Societies Officer will meet and go through all the forms and allocate funds. Your society will receive an email late in Term 3 to the society inbox telling you how much you got and a little bit about why.

The Form Itself

The Report is just for you to put down some of the main things that your society has been up to this year. This is important for a few reasons, including looking at the strategic development of the society, and even having the information to show off what societies do at Warwick!

Grant money is given for things that you’ll use for only next year. For example money for a specific set for a play or transport subsidy would come under Grant because the set will be used for one year only.

Capital money is given for things that will last for more than one year. For example electrical equipment and books usually come under Capital.

The Equipment List is really important because none of the stuff you own is insured unless it is on the database. Put down everything you own on this list, even if you have put it down on forms in previous years.

The Process

There is a set amount of money put aside for us, and every year the total that societies bid for ends up being much more than this amount!

Money is not allocated by one person. All your forms are gone through at length by the members of the Societies Committee and the Societies Officer. These are the people who have been working behind the scenes for societies all year long and so they really are the people with the overview of societies.

Once the money is allocated, the Societies Committee Chair and the Societies Officer take the budgets to the Union’s Executive Committee (the elected students that are all trustees of the Union) for verification.

Then the society budgets go into the main Union budget and the money is set up to be allocated in the coming year.

The Societies Committee and the Societies Officer will then send out emails to all societies who submitted forms. This email will include a copy of your submitted form, details of what you have received from the budget this year and some reasons why.

What is money given for?

Money is given to societies for all sorts of things. For example money was given to societies last year for anything from bibles to broadcast licenses! Think about what will benefit your society in the long term as well as just next year.

Not all societies receive money every year. The idea is that societies should be able to financially support themselves day-to-day. Grant and Capital money is given to societies for things that will elevate their activity to a new level. For example the Photographic Society run their dark room without financial support from the budgets, however last year they wanted to expand their activity to digital photography. They raised some money and asked for the rest from capital funds for equipment for digital photography.

Bids for technical things will need to have some extensive explanatory notes attached. This is because it is difficult for the committee to decide what you need and what you can get by without if they are not experts in a particular field!

Money cannot be given for anything of a purely social nature. For example the Socs Fed Committee cannot allocate any money for food and drink for a party or for a social.

General Rules for Money Allocation

We are unable to give money for food and drink of any kind, regardless of what it is for. This is a restriction put on us by the University. All events and balls etc. must stand alone financially. Therefore we are unable to give money towards venue hire, publicity, tech hire, etc for events. It is the general rule to give 33% towards the cost of transport. The society can contribute 33% from the current account (if you choose), and members are expected to contribute at least 33% towards transport. Up to 50% of speakers’ travel expenses can be given. Up to 50% towards entry fees for competitions etc. can be given. Societies should pay for publicity materials out of their own money. When lots of societies are asking for the same equipment, it will most likely be bought from the Societies Federation Equipment Fund and then it can be hired out to all societies.

Societies Federation Fee Exemption

The Societies Committee considers applications for exemption from the Societies Federation fee at the end of Term Three for the next academic year. This will mean that your members do not need to join Societies Federation before joining your society.

In order to apply for exemption you must indicate that you wish to do so on your budget application form and Societies Committee will contact you during Term Three. The Societies Federation will only consider applications at another time if there is a legitimate reason for the society missing this deadline.

You will be asked to fill in an Exemption form outlining why you believe you should be exempted from the fee. Exemption is most commonly given on welfare grounds, e.g. students require the welfare services of particular societies and if the Socs Fed fee deters them from joining, their individual welfare will be damaged. Exemption is not granted very often, so it is important to make sure the application explains exactly why you require it.