Society Funding

Societies can get funding from a variety of sources; this should give you a bit of a guide.

University funds

Lord Rootes Memorial Fund - A memorial fund administered by the University for innovative and creative one-off individual or group projects. Visit www.go.warwick.ac.uk/lordrootes.

WGA Opportunity Fund - A fund administered by the Warwick Graduates Association for extra-curricular activity that will help enrich students' experience at University. Go to www.go.warwick.ac.uk/wgaopportunity.

International Office - May help support some cultural activities. Have a look at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/international/contact.


Email the Societies Officer if you would like any help or guidance on these. It can be extremely valuable to get a better insight into what the fund applications are looking for.

Societies Federation Emergency Bids Fund

The Societies Federation Committee has a fund of £3000 for special projects and emergency bids that it administers each year. All societies are allowed to apply for money from the fund.

What to do

In order to apply for the fund, the exec should fill out an Emergency Bid Fund form, available from the forms page or the rack in the Resources Room. This asks the society for the following things:

• A brief outline of the event/activity that the funds are required for
• A breakdown of the costs that make up the bid and where the figures come from
• An explanation of why this was not budgeted for in the budget process
• What alternative sources of funding have been sought
• How this event will benefit members

Out of these five aspects it is the third that is most important. Due to the small size of the fund and the large number of societies, Societies Federation cannot afford to pay out large amounts of money that would usually be dealt with in the budget application process.

The committee is also more likely to award some or all of the money asked for if it has the detailed costings so they know exactly how the money will be spent.

What Happens Then

Once the form has been handed in to the Resources Room, the application will be discussed at the next Societies Federation Committee meeting. Exec members from the society will be invited to the meeting to take part in the discussion if they wish. The Societies Federation Committee will then either award money (all or part), reject the application or postpone the decision if they feel they does not have the necessary information to make the decision yet.

If the committee decides to award any money the money will then be transferred directly to the society account.

Sponsorship

www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk/media/mediasales/sponsorship

The above link is a guide for all clubs and societies who are looking to seek their own sponsorship for the year or a number of years. Sponsorship is a business expenditure, not a donation, so you have to go about it in a businesslike way.

There are a wide variety of sponsorship proposals that will be suggested, sponsors mostly want to contribute financially but there may also be opportunities for companies to provide services. Services could be kit, or a company producing materials that the club / society can use; it is often cost effective for companies to sponsor through donations.

How can your Club/Society Benefit from Sponsors?

Sponsorship can greatly improve and develop your society/club and what your can offer your members by:

• Improving equipment that is available for all members to use
• Reducing the amount that members have to spend, for example on clothing or publicity
• Helping societies/clubs achieve greater success through improved facilities and equipment
• Offering more opportunities to enter competitions or go on tour
• Give societies/clubs the chance to run their own event or tournament

What can you offer Potential Sponsors?

There are lots of opportunities available for potential sponsors and very often you will have to tailor a package to meet their needs. Some ideas of what you can offer sponsors are:

• The company name and logo featured on all society/club merchandise, clothing or kit
• The company name and logo featured on websites with links to sponsors website that all members can access
• The company name and logo featured on all emails sent out, as well as letters and any other publications produced
• The opportunity to come to run a presentation evening in which all your members will attend (good for larger societies and clubs
• Getting the company to give you a banner of their name and logo that you can use at large events or when on tour
• The chance to raise their profile to the students of the University of Warwick through their contact with your society/club
• To help companies who have a particular product or service to introduce or promote. Often societies/clubs have a clearly defined specialist audience; sponsorship allows a company to target those people very precisely.

Stand out from the rest

Sponsors love quirky ideas that you may be able to come up with, such as a new event, tour or an award for your society/club that you could name after the company. If your club or society is holding an event/awards dinner/ tournament, invite a representative from your sponsors to give out a prize or say a few words about their company.

Be concise but sell yourself

Make sure when writing to companies that you make the letter as snappy as concise as you can, but make sure you really promote what packages you can offer them. A nice personal touch is to add photos or publications with examples of past sponsors for them to look at. Mention any successes that your club or society has achieved such as awards or outstanding individuals.

Follow up your applications

When writing to companies let them know that if you don't hear from them you will call again, and try to give a breakdown about what you will spend the money on. You could also include facts about Warwick and the Societies and Sports Federation (see below for examples.)

Who can you Approach?

IMPORTANT: Please communicate with the Societies Officer so he/she can check with the Marketing department before you approach ANY sponsor to make sure you're not competing with them for the money! This will almost certainly damage your bid.

• Graduate recruiters like getting involved in Students' Unions as it puts them in contact with potential employees.
• Inside contacts within companies are often a good way to achieve sponsorship so ask your members if they know anyone who may be willing to sponsor you.
• Local companies are often very interested in sponsoring local students as it helps them to get their name to as many people as possible.
• Pubs and restaurants in Coventry and Leamington are often very interested in groups of people who can offer some custom and will also promote their name locally and amongst the University community. A good way to approach h these is by agreeing certain dates where you will hold socials or dinners at their establishment.
• A company who has been an active sponsor in the past should always be approached, if only to maintain a good working relationship that can be built on in the future.

Union policy can restrict which companies are allowed to advertise in or sponsor parts of the Union. Currently there are restrictions on McDonalds, Esso/ExxonMobil, Arms Companies, Tobacco Companies and Nestle (all restricted due to policies passed through Union Council or Referenda).

Do's and Dont's of Sponsorship

Do:

• Ensure that you follow up all sponsorship you get, ensure that you let the company know how they have benefited you and include examples of how you have promoted them. It's all about relationship building - it's a nice idea to sent them six monthly reports of what you have been doing.
• Keep a scrapbook over the year every time you managed to get their name in any publication, keep letters that you have sent with their logo on and take some photos of event you have organised under their name.
• Write up a contract so that both sides are exactly clear about what the deal entails to avoid any problems later on.
• Approach your sponsors early to see if they have been happy with the partnership and enquire about the possibility of extending the agreement.
• Make sure you get all the money you agreed when you agreed.
• Be clear about how you are going to benefit from your sponsors and make sure that you let the sponsors know exactly what you are doing for them and make sure you do it.
• Take full advantage of one-off events run by large companies. Sometimes they bring a lump sum of money to just give out and sometimes they will be running some specialist courses on sponsorship!

Don't:

• Not deliver what you said you would because problems could arise with your sponsor
• Approach other sponsors if you have signed a contract saying a certain company will be your sole sponsors.

Final thought: Remember there are loads of sponsorship opportunities available but you have to ensure your proposal sounds as attractive as possible to a potential sponsor without stretching the limits of credibility.

If you have any questions or want anyone to look over your proposal, don't hesitate to get in touch with the Societies Officer at ssdo@sunion.warwick.ac.uk.

Facts about Warwick they may like to know

General
- Warwick currently has 16,175 students, with almost 4,000 of those being postgraduates
- Consistently ranked in the Top Ten UK Universities in the National League Tables
- Consistently ranked 5th among the UK’s 100 Universities for quality of research
- The University is the fourth largest employer in Coventry/Warwickshire

The Students’ Union
- The central point on campus for students
- Provides training to equip students with practical leadership skills
- Has an Advice and Welfare service to provide confidential non-judgemental advice for students on all issues such as money, immigration and academic problems
- Has an effective communications media including The Boar (Students’ Union newspaper), The WORD (informative publication), Warwick TV, and RaW (Students’ Union radio station)
- A fantastic entertainments programme with events running pretty much every day of the week

Societies Federation
- There are over 8500 members of societies at Warwick in over 210 societies
- All societies can take part in Socs Fed’s two big festivals (One World Week and Warwick Students’ Arts Festival)
- One World Week is the biggest event of its kind in Europe
- Our societies win massive national and international awards (including our media societies and performance societies)
- Other high profile events include our presence during the Freshers’ period (namely a three day long Societies Fair) and the annual Societies Awards Party