I.C.E. Session: Finance

I’m sorry, dear readers. Exams and projects have kept my blog pretty tight-lipped lately, but I’ll make it up with this very important post.

Why so important? Well, in order to be a registered student organization with the Center for Student Activities and Involvement, you have to have a treasurer. Easy enough.

The problem is right now, the CSAI is in a transition period, and there aren’t a lot of resources for treasurers to turn to if they have questions. If  you missed the most recent I.C.E session on finance, you missed a good opportunity to clear up some confusion. (You can refer to this post to read about Operation F.I.R.E and I.C.E and the last I.C.E. session, which focused on membership) Lucky for you, I did attend the session hosted by Josh Earley, CSAI program coordinator, and EJ Walicki, the 2007-2008 Student Body treasurer.

Here’s a cheat sheet for your organization’s money man. A lot of the policies refer to Student-Government-funded organizations, but other organizations will find useful information as well.

The Treasurer

• Collects and deposits funds
• Pays bills
• Monitors the budget
• Compiles financial reports–This should be done on a weekly, monthly and annual basis because you will need it to request money in the future, and so you always know where your organization stands

Key people who will establish the budget:

• Officers–Both current and previous. Previous officers can give current officers insight into problems and advice that comes from experience
• Members–Include members in the establishment of the budget for transparency and transition purposes

If you aren’t allowing your members to be part of the process, who will put it in place when you leave? — Josh Earley

• Advisor– Advisors provide history and bring a sense of continuity because in many instances, they have worked for your organization for an extended period of time.

Review previous years:

• Annual budget–You can review previous years’ budgets to look at spans and trends. This will allow you to see how much money you’ve spent and what you’ve spent it on from year to year
• Program budgets–You should have overall budgets, but within that, you have budgets for the specific programs you put on. These budgets are also called “buckets.” When planning your buckets, you want to be as precise and inclusive as possible

It’s a lot easier to cut money than to find some under the couch. –Josh Earley

• Estimated versus actual–Review what you planned to spend and what you actually spent. This will help you to be more accurate in planning next year’s budget.

Be realistic

• Feasibility
• Think big; dream little–Keep your wish list to a minimum, and don’t spend too much time thinking about things that are completely out of your budget. Instead, “think big” about what you can do with what you have by being precise and inclusive in your estimated budget. It’s always easier to cut money!
• Scale down versus scale up–pretty much the same point as above. It’s easier to scale your plans down than to scale them up, so be precise in your planning
• Stay positive and conservative–People will get testy during conversations about budget. Presidents and treasurers have to stay positive and have reasons ready to give those who question the money allocation

Project revenue

• List potential sources–consider options such as charging dues, but remember, if you do so, you have to mandate the maximum amount that will be collected in your constitution
• Admission–You can charge people to come to your events, but keep in mind that the UF culture is very anti-admission
• Fundraising–More on this later
• Sponsorships
• Donations–Donations differ from sponsorships because they go toward materials for your organization’s operation, while sponsors help with one event or to pay for one item

Estimate Expenses

• fixed costs–will not change. National dues, for example
• Variable costs–food, space reservations
• Recurring costs–meeting room reservations

Plan for the future

• Purchase new materials–Try to buy reusable items
• Plan for future purchases–if your organization hosts a program that uses the same service every year, start budgeting now to buy those materials a few years down the road
• Office/storage rental
• Establish future baselines

Fund raising plan

• Explain the cause–Why should people give you money? A “car wash” sign isn’t very intriguing
• Seek donations–The worst they can say is “no”
• Total cost versus benefit–Think about the human resources you’ll need to fund raise. Continuously fund raising could wear down your member morale
• Make sure to publicize it as you would any other event
• Evaluate and document–This will help with the success of your future events.

Sponsorships

• All advertising must reflect student organization ownership
• Student organizations must remain the primary sponsor of the event–In other words, your organization always has to be the headliner
• No alcohol or tobacco-related sponsorships

SG special requests–lots of red tape

• Every year, SG sets aside a big pot of money for groups who do not have events or projects budgeted for this fiscal year in the SG budget (academic organizations must go to the Board of College Councils and housing organizations must go to the Inter Residence Hall Association or the Mayors Council)
• Requests must be submitted to the allocations committee at least eight weeks in advance
• Submitted requests must have an itemized breakdown
• The organization’s constitution must be approved by the judiciary committee
• The organization must exhaust all other sources of external funding before making a request
• Funding will not be for your entire organization or the entire year
• You will not be allowed to charge dues
• If you receive special funding for two consecutive years, you must get on the regular SG budget cycle

Wow, still with me?

As of right now, you can’t find this information anywhere else.

If you have more questions, you can visit the SG finance office in Reitz Union room 337, or you can visit the SG finance Web site, although it looks like it hasn’t been updated in a while because the title page references the 2003-2004 budget. Yeah… the facts are still good, though.

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