SSMU Funds

The SSMU has a variety of funds available to student groups. Each fund has a different set of criteria, and it is highly recommended that you check them out, because many of them actually have excess funds at the end of the year, meaning that they would have been able to provide funding to more applicants. Applications are considered on a rolling basis, so apply as early as you can! You can submit one application per event/initiative, and select one Fund to apply to. All funding decisions are made by a central Funding Committee, and they may decide to allocate funds to you from a different Fund, or from more than one Fund - basically whatever they can do to help fund you!

The following guide was written by Vivian Campbell, SSMU Rep of 2017-2018, who sat on the SSMU Funding Committee. Check out SSMU's Funding page for a far more aesthetically pleasing guide. Then come back here for tips & tricks.

Available Funds

Fund	Apply For...	Requirements	Do...	Don't...
Ambassador	opportunities to represent McGill as a participant in event of academic, athletic, or social nature; contribute visibility and recognition of SSMU, its members, or McGill	must contribute 25% to overall cost, unless they can demonstrate efforts made not benefit sole individual member of club	include any costs paid by participants in your budget, even if they're not paid through you ask participants to contribute a reasonable amount to the cost	ask for funding for food/alcohol remove food/alcohol form your budget just because it can't be funded apply for funding if the costs can be covered by other revenues in your annual budget
Campus Life	contributions to the betterment of campus life for McGill undergraduate student population; initiatives of academic, social, athletic nature	initiative must take place on campus must benefit McGill undergraduate students first and foremost	include projected attendance/involvement make your budget very clear, so that it is easy to tell the difference between food & alcohol expenses and everything else	(same as above)
First Year	events that enhance the experience of first-year students	must benefit first-year students primarily	(same as above)	(same as above)
Equity	opportunities aiming to end discrimination, promote inclusivity and accessibility; Foster leadership, encourage civic engagement, make observable differences in representation or experience of disadvantaged groups	must be inclusive wherever possible focus on making McGill community more equitable and inclusive	(same as above)	(same as above)
Mental Health	the promotion of mental health awareness, improve student mental health, support de-stigmatization of mental issues on campus	initiative funded should focus on supporting McGill students and other community members fund can go towards events and ongoing operations	(same as above)	(same as above)
Environment	the promotion of the culture of sustainability; reducing the environmental impacts of a group, campus resources or services	event or initiative must be in itself sustainable	include the costs of both the original and more sustainable options	(same as above)
Space	physical improvements to student spaces on campus, similar to the EUS Student Space Fund	promote improvements to spaces specifically on the McGill campus
Community Engagement	empowering club members to engage in charitable initiatives; build connections between McGill students and surrounding community/fundraising events for a charity	sole purpose of event cannot be fundraising not for ongoing operations
Club	providing funding for club activities throughout the semester; support operational costs, events, initiatives; activities should correspond to club mandate	be a full-status SSMU club in good standing with society's rules and regulations	-	apply for this fund if you're not a SSMU Club

General Rules for all Funds

1. Funding can only cover a deficit, and only if it carries over to a deficit in your annual/operating budget.
2. Funding cannot cover the cost of food or alcohol, but can be selectively applied to cover all other costs.
3. Funding is allocated only for events/initiatives in the current semester. Exceptions include:
   - Anything you have to pay for in the current semester (ex. booking fee/deposit, plane tickets bought early, etc.)
   - Funding for the Summer - apply in the Winter if possible, or retroactively in the Fall
   - Some retroactive funding, but generally only for Summer expenses
4. There is no official limit on the amount you can apply for. Apply for as much as you might reasonably need.
5. You can reapply for more funding if something goes wrong. Although not ideal, the Funding Committee has granted funding increases to groups where their budget has changed significantly since the original application (ex. failure to secure expected sponsorship).

The Application Process: Step-by-step

1. Register your student group - Do this NOW, even if you won’t be applying till later! It will take time to process your registration. Registration is done once per group, ideally by the person who will be applying for Funds. You would likely be a “Departmental Association” or “On Campus Student Group” or perhaps “Special Event”.
2. You’ll get login instruction for the online Application Portal. All Funding applications are submitted here. The link to access the Portal is not posted anywhere, so here it is for convenience.
3. Prepare an event/initiative budget and an annual/operating budget such that the amount of funding you are requesting and which expenses it will cover are clear. Your EUS budget(s) are great for this, if you've filled them in correctly. Key points are:
   - Making sure each expense has a clear title/description. Since SSMU can't fund food or alcohol, any vague expense that might contain either will not be funded.
   - Having a deficit in your annual budget. If you are an EUS Committee, consider splitting your deficit between EUS and SSMU Funding requests.
   - Including all the details! Don't remove food/alcohol expenses from your budget because they can't get funding. If participants are paying their own conference fees, even if it's not through your Group, add lines in revenue and expense for this. The Funding Committee needs to have a full overview of the cashflow to make a decision.
4. Gather any receipts, invoices, quotes, etc. that you have for your expenses into a single pdf. The more information you can provide, the better, especially for large expenses.
5. FILL IN THE APPLICATION WOOOOOO. Here's the info they ask for:
   1. Name & student number of your Financial Officer (or whoever is submitting the application)
   2. Description of your club / group
   3. Name, date, and description of your event/initiative/project
   4. How much $$$ you want, from which Fund, and why that Fund
   5. Budgets & other relevant documentation (if applicable)
6. Wait. Hopefully only around a week. For 2017/18, the Funding Committee meets every Tuesday to review all applications submitted by the previous Thursday. You may be asked to provide more information or some clarification to the Funding Commissioner/Committee
7. You will receive your funding decision through email. If you feel the decision is not fair, or if you don't understand why you have(n't) been given a certain amount, you can respond to the Funding Commissioner's email.