Societies Development Grant
Chester Students’ Union is proud to support societies to grow and develop. Our support includes limited dedicated funds that our societies can bid for to support their activities.
As CSU has a limited pot of money to support student activities and a large number of groups we support, our Societies Development Grant has strict criteria. Please be aware that not all applications will be granted, and you may not receive all the funding you apply for. Please do not make any purchases prior to confirmation that your application has been approved.
CSU is a legally constituted Charity, which means grants can only be made in line with the SU’s charitable objectives – this limits the uses to which grant money can be authorised.
Grant funding should not be relied upon to support your societies regular activities. You should always plan to be financially sustainable through other sources such as membership fees, ticketed events and fundraising. Grants will be subject to availability and reviewed on a case by case basis.
Criteria
Any accredited Chester Students’ Union Society can apply for the CSU Societies Development Grant. The grant is to support activities such as events, trips and to purchase equipment for the society.
- Have at least 10 members who are registered through the SU website.
- Ensure that the President and Treasurer have attended Committee training.
- Be submitted by a committee member.
- Focus on how the additional funds will help the society members thrive and develop.
- Fit with the aims of your society which you provided on your affiliation application.
- Clearly articulate the difference the grant will make.
- Fit with CSU’s charitable objectives.
- Be an application for something specific, with researched costs and relevant quotes.
- Include a breakdown of what the money will be spent on.
- Not include food and drink as a key part of the bid.
- Will have a significant benefit to society members.
- Fit within the wider plan for the group.
- Cannot be financed by the group themselves.
- Cannot be financed by the group charging a realistic membership fee (consider if the activity could be financed in the future by charging a membership fee which will not have a knock-on effect on membership numbers)
- Have other fundraising/support from other sources or is being match funded by the group.
Where physical items are to be purchased, these will belong to the Society as a whole and therefore CSU, rather than individual members. Committee members have a plan in place in terms of care and storage of items, fair use for all members and transfer back to CSU upon committee closure so that they can be held for adoption with the society in the future.
How do we access the CSU Development Grant once awarded?
The grant money can be spent in the same way that you make all of your union account claims and payments, whereby you spend the money yourself and then claim it back by submitting a Society Expense Claim Form along with the relevant VAT receipts.
Please note
All money allocated to a society must be claimed within 3 months of the grant being approved. We will only extend this deadline in exceptional circumstances. If you have not claimed the money by the set deadline, it will be reclaimed by CSU and redistributed.
If society is awarded a grant, they will be expected to share some feedback with Chester Students’ Union about the difference it has made. This may take the form of a blog, questionnaire or requests to be used for social media content.
Grants are subject to availability and awarded on a case by case basis
