The AU Club Council recently introduced a new budget service called Program Assistance, which clubs can use to apply for additional funding on an event-by-event basis, AUCC Chair Kristen Lyon said at a budget workshop Monday.
Each club is only eligible, however, for $500 per semester through the service, she said.
Any club or on-campus association wishing to apply for a spring supplemental from the AUCC must turn in their application to the Student Activities office in MGC 271 by 5 p.m. today, Lyon said.
Spring supplementals are for any new, renewed or old clubs who need AUCC funding and either did not apply in the fall semester or whose fall allocation was not sufficient. Clubs who submit spring supplementals must participate in a hearing, Lyon said. The last day to schedule an AUCC hearing is by 5 p.m. tomorrow.
The hearings act as opportunities for clubs to set themselves apart from others - a feat that is becoming more difficult due to the growing number of on-campus organizations, she said.
"There's over 190 clubs, and hypothetically all 190 could apply to the Club Council for funding," Lyon said. "It's hard enough for me to keep them straight. And there's all these different clubs that are kind of similar. We have five Chinese clubs - one is Chinese language, another is Chinese students and scholars."
For new and renewed clubs, the hearing's focus will be to determine what the club plans to accomplish. For old clubs who have already received AUCC funding, the hearing will determine why original allocation was not sufficient, according to Lyon.
AU College Democrats President John Cipriani said he would consider using Program Assistance if the club needed to.
"I don't think we'll need to use the service at this point because we carefully planned out our budget at the beginning," he said. "But we would definitely consider using it if the need arose. It's definitely a good tool."
When filing a budget request, it is important to itemize expenses, Lyon said.
"If we don't know where the money is going, we're going to go by default and not give it to you," Lyon said. "As long as we can see where the money is going, it's good."
She said she recommends getting an AUCC member to look over a budget request before submission.
"Even if you think you wrote a 'clear-as-water' budget, we're going to find something that we aren't sure about or we need some clarification on," Lyon said.
There is no revenue requirement for clubs applying for spring funding. This is different from fall budget requests where the AUCC allocates money in two parts. The first half is given up front, she said, while the second half is withheld until the club reaches its fundraising obligation. This mandatory amount is 10 percent of the overall AUCC allocation for clubs and 15 percent for associations, Lyon said.
"If you're allocated $300, you'll get $150 up front," she said. "Once you deposit $30 and let the Club Council know, the other $150 will be released."
AUCC policy prevents clubs or associations that did not fundraise the previous semester from applying for a spring supplemental, according to Lyon. It also states that the most a club or association can receive is 5 and 10 percent respectively of the AUCC's total funds.
Last fall, the AUCC had $105,000 to allocate, yet clubs asked for more than $400,000, Lyon said.
