SOAS Students’ Union is a registered Charity, which means that we must abide by standards on how we spend our money and how this is logged – this is why we must be robust with monitoring how Sports Team or Society money is spent and how this is audited.
Each Sports Team and Society have its own pot of money which sits under one bank account controlled by the Students’ Union. Some of this money will be from events you have done to raise money or membership fees, and some will be from our Society's fund which you can apply for. Societies and Sports Teams then operate like a mini organisations, so making sure your funds are well looked after is important.
Societies - Your account and Current Budgets
All societies have their own reserves within the Students’ Union’s main bank account.
You cannot at any time hold money in any external accounts! (These include but are not limited to: Bank accounts held in committee member names, floats or petty cash)
Money can only be spent with the authorisation of the committee; SOAS Students’ Union staff will not do anything without your permission.
Your society accounts are not carried over from the previous year, only money raised by a society/debts from previous years will be carried over.
Click Here to View Current Society Budgets
Societies - Applying for Budget for Your Club
For you to run your societies and clubs SOAS SU can provide financial support. Each year we have a societies budget which is used to fund all things societies!
The overall there is a Societies Budget of £20,000 and a Sports Club budget of £60,000.
(Nb. this is not per society or sport, rather a total amount between all societies and sports).
At the beginning of a term, societies with under £150 in their SU account will have £50 of start up funding made available. This can be used for their initial events in the Welcome Period, Freshers Fayre decor or for sports trials for example. Unspent start up funding will stay with that society for the rest of the year. Each term societies can also apply for a 'Fund Me Now' (FUN) grant of additional funding. The President or Treasurer should complete a form detailing what they need. A forum of all societies will meet near the start of each term and agree the distriubution of the Fund Me Now grants.
Things to consider when making a bid are set out in the Funding Guide
- Inclusion
- How does the application benefit all societies members and the wider SOAS student community?
- Does the application open up the society to a new audience?
- Is the event inclusive to a wide portion of the student body e.g. is it alcohol free, is the venue easily accessible?
- Does the event champion inclusivity?
- Collaboration
- Does the application set out how they will work with other societies, students, SOAS or local community?
- Innovation
- Does the application set out how this funding will help the society develop?
- Does it set out how other funds will be used e.g. society membership fees, event ticket sales, etc?
- Does it offer something that would not otherwise be available to SOAS students?
The dealines for FUN grants are as follows:
Round One: apply by 29th September; the funding furum will be the 9th October
Round Two: apply by the 5th January; the funding forum will be the 14th January
Round Three: apply by the 20th April; the funding forum will be the 29th April
Click Here to read and download the Funding Guide
Reclaiming Your Own Money
Is it important when making purchases on behalf of a society or club that you keep a meticulous record of what has been spent including keeping receipts and invoices. Without a receipt we cannot refund you for a purchase.
When it comes to food, we will only reimburse you for half. However, we do not pay for alcohol.
If you want to reclaim money you have spent on behalf of your club/society, you will need your bank information (sort code and account number) as well as the receipts to fill out the reclaim form. The Claim form is an online form where you can upload up to 5 documents. Find the reclaim form here
We will then process your reclaim form and you should be reimburst within 2 weeks of sending in the invoice or receipt.
Make sure you submit in your claims for the term by the deadlines below;
All Term 1 claims by: 5th of January 2025
All Term 2 claims by: 20th April
All Term 3 claims by: 15th August
Click here to submit a reclaim form
Remember, SU funding will not be rolled over between years or terms (unless specifically agreed). It will return to the general pot of society money. ONLY money raised through membership or otherwise raised by the society will carry forward
Societies - Membership Fee Guidance
As a society you may want to consider setting a membership fee for your society. You do not need to do this, but it may be advantageous as it would create a small pot of money which you can use for your membership. For example, a choir might set a fee to pay for sheet music rights for their performances.
Whatever membership structure and prices you are going to choose for your group, it should be based on the activities and events you are going to deliver next year. So, do think, plan and budget to for it. Also, consider accessibility in this!
Even if your society is free to students you may want to consider setting a fee for alumni. Please note that the cost of this membership will need to be reflective of the activity you run, so it will need to be higher than standard membership - the SU cannot subsidise their membership. In addition, no more than 20% of your membership can include alumni.
How to spend money?
Money spent by a society or sports team shouldn’t come as a surprise to the Union. That’s why we ask for some details in the FUN grant application.
It is very easy to spend money, but you must ensure that it is being spent on things which benefit every member of your society or sports team. For example, you shouldn’t be spending money on Clothing, equipment or any other spend for a select group of members, e.g. committee clothing, committee meal out, personalised playing kit etc.
Anything bought for a society is held by the Union for Society and Sports Team use and should not be taken home as outlined in the constitution. It is important that societies and sports teams keep an inventory of what they have in their possession to ensure that nothing is lost or stolen at the end of the academic year.
You can either buy things on behalf of your Society or Sports Team and reclaim the money using our online reclaim form or you can contact the Union to make a purchase for you. We would normally only expect you to contact the Union if the purchase is over £100. This will depend on circumstances - we appreciate that not everyone can outlay money and wait to be reimbursed.
Any concerns or queries around making purchases, check the Funding Guide, and if you still have questions please do contact our Finance and Officer Manager – Kai, ks84@soas.ac.uk or the general SU email – su@soas.ac.uk
Generating Income for your Club or Society
You may also wish to generate income from profits or sponsorships to support the aims, objectives and activities of society.
Consider what are the aims / ambitions of your society this year? Your ambition shouldn’t be to make money. Societies charge for entry so that students will invest in their events. It is better to have a great event that brings lots of people together than one that makes lots of money.
Money can be raised in a variety of ways. Much of it will come from Membership sales and the sale of ticketed events - all of which must be processed via the Union website using Native. You can find a guide on how to use it on the Native Knowledge Base.
Any income raised should be kept in your Club’s or Society’s money pot held by the Students’ Union. This type of money will be carried over into the next academic year for your club to use.
We have card machines you can use within the Union. Where usually you may pay a transactional fee on payments made through a card reader the Union will cover those costs meaning that you will have no deductions on money processed through our card readers.
A few ideas of how you could generate income:
- Ticket profits from social events e.g. party at SOAS, dinner, theme night, etc.
- Membership fees
- Organising competitions amongst UoL societies
- Apply for external sponsorship
Sponsorships
External Sponsorship is great way to get some extra money for your club or society. You may also be able to secure sponsorship for non-monetary items such as food and drink for social events or tickets to attend conferences and events for your members.
It’s worth thinking imaginatively about the type of company that could sponsor you; several companies may have never given money to a club or society before simply because they have never been asked. Also consider asking for support in other than financial forms such as training or materials.
Sponsorship applications should include some information about SOAS SU in general, something like a business plan for your society and a letter outlining the benefits, for the company, of sponsoring your society members or your activity. Before signing any deal or agreeing to anything, make sure you send all the details to SU staff to check the terms and tell let the sponsor know that nothing is agreed until there has been an SU sign-off.
For legal and political reasons, SOAS SU reserves the right to refuse any proposed sponsorship deal.
Money raised by sponsorship will be held by the Union. The same is true of membership fees, however if a society collects membership fees it must register this with the Union.
Please contact the SU - su@soas.ac.uk for support on this.
Raising Money for Charity (RAG)
SOAS Students’ Union is a UK registered charity, so we have to follow certain legislation. It is against the law for charities to donate money directly to other charities.
As a UK registered charity SOAS SU is subject to the legislation contained in the Charities Acts. As part of SOAS SU, our Clubs and Societies are also subject to the same legislation. This means money or resources cannot be donated from your Club or Society account.
If you wish to fundraise, you'll need to ensure the money is being donated directly to the charity. To do this, you can set up QR codes that link to a charity's website, or to a JustGiving page.
If you have any costs associated with fundraising, they must come from the money you raise at the event, and not be reimbursed from your society account.
The charity that you raise money for must have a UK Registered Charity Number with the Charity Commission.
If you do wish to fundraise, please contact the SU, su@soas.ac.uk so that we can support you from the start!
Sports Team - Budget for Your Club
All Societies and Sports Teams should consider the benefits to their members in everything they do, even when it comes to finances.
We get a budget for all sports teams for each academic year. At the beginning of each year at the first Captains forum the available funding for sports after the necessary affiliations, league entries, court and pitch bookings and any other fees have been removed.
Each team will be allocated a budget which they will have to cover costs throughout the academic year. As with societies, money that teams raise through membership fees, sponsorship and fundraisers will remain in that teams SU account.
No further SU money will be awarded to a team, so it is important to keep track of costs and stay within budget!
If you have any questions or want to know your team's budget, please contact the SU su@soas.ac.uk .