Finances for your Society
Applying for Funding for Your Society
If you believe you have good reason to request funding for your society you may choose to appeal to the Societies Syndicate. Unlike most other universities money is given to societies by the university, rather than the students' union. CUSU does not receive any money from the university for supporting societies. The Societies Syndicate, however, is a resource much under-used by many societies.
Grants may be given for the following reasons:
Capital equipment purchases - normally for societies to purchase equipment that they could not ordinarily find funding for, which will be of lasting and continuing benefit to them.
Special activities - for extraordinary events that are not feasibly self-financing.
Guarantees against loss - Often given for musical or theatrical productions, these requests need to be submitted well in advance. Events must be budgeted to break even and any payments will only be made on receipt of the final accounts for the production.
Launching grants - small grants normally of around £75 to cover the start-up costs of a new society.
Annual grants - awarded to fund a society's activities throughout the year, particularly those societies who need to replace expensive equipment regularly for safety reasons or to pay high affiliation fees to a national or international body.
But the Syndicate will not provide grants for:
* Funding social activities.
* Making a loan that may in the future prove an unjustifiable financial burden on future officers of the society.
* One-off competition entry fees.
The Technical Committee of the Syndicate may make allocations of up to £1000 without referring to the Syndicate. The Technical Committee consists of twelve junior members of the university who have experience of running societies, the Junior Proctor, the CUSU Services Officer and two representatives of CUSU Council.
To qualify for funding your society must meet the following criteria:
* Be open to all members of the university regardless of political, religious or social considerations.
* Be registered, or in the process of registering, with the Junior Proctor.
And when applying you must:
* State the aims of your society as defined in its constitution. Under the terms of the 1994 Education Act the Societies Syndicate cannot support a political campaign unless the issue directly affects students in their capacity as students.
* Provide the most recent copies of your annual accounts, an up-to-date statement of your financial position and a statement of assets and liabilities signed by your Senior Treasurer.
* Present a clear and well justified statement of what is required and why, including multiple quotes of costs and explanations for why the ultimate offer was selected.
Applications must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which they are to be discussed. Consult www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/socinfo/jpo/grants.html for information on when they meet. Applications should be sent to:
Secretary of the Societies Syndicate,
University Offices,
The Old Schools,
Trinity Lane.
VAT and your Society
Any society that has a turnover of over £61, 000 legally has to register with HM Revenue and Customs, and through them receive a VAT number.
However, below this threshold a society can choose whether or not it wants to register. For some societies this might be sensible, for others not. For instance, if a society pays VAT on a lot of purchases, and only a little on supply (for most societies, what they sell on e.g. concert tickets), then it might be worth considering registration. This is as societies will have to pay VAT costs whether or not they are registered, but may be able to claim back VAT on supply.
For guidance on VAT for charities contact HM Revenue and Customs; charities helpline tel 0845 02 0203 or view information online. The main booklet on VAT for charities is notice 701. Also VAT Notices 731,732 & 733 give information on VAT options for small organisations. Also contact the CUSU Services Officer if you have any further queries.