Washburn Student Organization Funding Request Process

How to request funding for your student organization

Here at WSGA, we are committed to students serving students. One of the ways we do so is by allocating funds raised by the student activity fee to student organizations. Follow the steps below to request funding from WSGA for your student organization.

WSGA's funding of organizations policy states:

An individual organization can receive a maximum of $5,000 per school year
Up to $1,500 of total allocated funds may be used for apparel per semester
Collaborative on-campus events may be allocated no more than $8,000 total, regardless of how many organizations request funds for a singular event
Only $500 may be requested to advertise (not including apparel) an activity or project
Up to $5,000 may be requested for off-campus events and projects

Funding change announcement

Through careful deliberation and negotiation, the Washburn Student Government Association (WSGA) has reached a deal with Chartwells to allow organizations to be reimbursed for prepacked snack items. Previously, if a group wished to have food for their organizations meeting/event, they had to exclusively use Chartwells catering services to be reimbursed.

If there are any further questions regarding the funding policy please contact the WSGA Budget Director, Nick Lloyd.

Funding policy

Do these 4 things before requesting funding from WSGA

Register your student organization with the Office of Student Involvement and Development via organization registration form on Bods Connect
Make sure you have a university agency account
Contact Finance Office : Accounts Payable to make sure your agency account is correct
Read WSGA's funding of organizations policy

Steps for WSGA funding request

Fill out the funding request form or email wsga.budget@washburn.edu the excel funding request form.
Forms are due at least 15 days prior to the start date of your event. When filling out the funding request form and spending breakdown, have the following information prepared:
- Total cost of event: This is the total cost of the event or project. This can be more than $5,000, but WSGA will not give your organization more than $5,000 per year.
- Total cost requested: This is the amount that you are requesting from WSGA. This cannot be more than $5,000. If your organization does not know exact costs, over-estimate and inform the allocations committee.
Attend the allocations committee meeting. These meetings occur every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. in the Lincoln Room before full Senate adjourns (upper level of the Union). Representatives are recommended to show up early and wait in the Kansas room.
At the meeting, you will present your funding request and information about your club. Representatives should dress professionally, be punctual, and be prepared to answer questions. There is a funding deduction for not being professional. Please refer to the funding policy for further details.
- At this point, the allocations committee will grant the funding request "favorable" or "unfavorable" status.
Attend the full Senate meeting after the allocations meeting in the Kansas Room at 6:30 p.m. to present your funding request to the Senate. (The funding request will be presented to the Senate as a bill.)
- A member of the organization requesting funding MUST attend this meeting to answer any questions the Senate might have regarding the request.
If the bill passes, the budget director with communicate with you for further instruction.
After your event, the budget director will send you a very important email which is highlighted below. The critical aspect at this point is that copies of all receipts used for the event must be turned in within 4 weeks of the event and original receipts must be turned into to the accounts payable office. If receipts are not turned in on time the organization may lose funding in the future. Along with the receipts, there must be a typed, filled out debriefing statement that includes the following:
- How the project benefited the university
- How the project benefited your student organization
- A categorized summary of all costs
- The number of people who attended the event
- The signatures of the adviser and an officer of your student organization
Once an organization has complied with the above requirements a fund transfer request will be sent to the finance office. This step takes around 7 business days.
At this point relations with WSGA have ended. The following are requirements that the finance office has before an organization will have the funds put into their account. It is the responsibility of the organization advisor and authorized student officers to complete payment vouchers for use of the WSGA funding.
- Payment vouchers can be obtained on the finance office forms (SharePoint site).
- Original receipts or invoices must be attached to the payment voucher.
- The organization advisor and at least one authorized student officer must sign the payment voucher. Any disbursements payable to an authorized signer must be approved by another authorized signer.
- Payment vouchers are submitted to the finance office/accounts payable located in Morgan Hall, Room 211.
Grants operate in the same way as organizational requests. Students will work closely with the WSGA budget director to ensure funds are transferred to student accounts in a timely manner.

Checks are processed Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, available for mail Wednesday and Friday. Payment vouchers must be marked otherwise if not to be mailed.

Apparel

Every organization can spend $1,500 per semester on an apparel request (this will count to your $5,000 limit). If you would like your event to have shirts, sweatshirts or any other kind of apparel, fill out this funding form!

Pre-steps for requesting funding for apparel

Obtain estimated cost
Read the funding policy
- $1,500 limit per semester
- MUST have the student activity fee logo attached to apparel. Email wsga.marketing@washburn.edu for the logo.
- An image of apparel to show Senate
Fill out the apparel funding form
Submit all materials to wsga.budget@washburn.edu

Licensing, design help and the Washburn brand

Have questions about what companies to order your promotional materials from? Need help designing a logo or shirt or need to see if it follows Washburn's brand?

Contact Washburn's public relations office.