Grant Guidelines and Procedures

Guidelines

• Grants will be awarded only to programs which all persons have equal access without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, ability, public assistance status, or sexual orientation.
• Student Activities grants (single grant or combination of grants) may not be used to fully fund any activity or event. Applicants must demonstrate efforts to secure funding outside of this grant program on the grant application.
• Funding will not be awarded for stipends/honoraria for any University of Minnesota student, faculty or staff member.
• Events at which alcohol is available will not be considered for funding. Any beverages served at events funded by Coca-Cola grants must be Coca-Cola products.
• Funding is not intended for start-up costs, retreats, or recurring events without demonstration of improvement. Events held as fundraisers or intended to generate revenue for an organization are not eligible for funding.
• Funded programs must acknowledge the grant(s) in all advertising and publications for the event.
• Partisan political organizations (organizations affiliated with a registered political party or candidate for public office) may seek funding through University grant and student funding programs for non- partisan political activities only (e.g., candidate forums available to all qualified candidates, nonpartisan educational programs, etc.)
• No registered student organization may use University funds on behalf of a candidate for public office in a political campaign.

Procedures

Student Activities and Coca-Cola grant opportunities are intended to further the student group experience. As funds are limited and hundreds of groups apply, applicants must be accountable to uphold the grants process. Funds must be used properly in order to ensure that groups continue to have access to funds. Therefore, the following process is in place to ensure student group accountability:

• Applications must be submitted online (www.sua.umn.edu) at least 30 days prior to your event in accordance with the application due dates. No funding will be given to activities held prior to the review of the application.
• All applications will be reviewed by a review board made up of University students, faculty and staff. All judging criteria used by the review board can be found here: http://www.sua.umn.edu/groups/funding/grants/evaluation.php
• Committee award decisions are final.
• Student groups are required to schedule a pre-event meeting with a Student Activities Advisor within two weeks of grant award notification. At this time, the Statement of Agreement must be signed and submitted. Failure to schedule this initial meeting will result in the forfeiture of your grant award. No other penalties will be incurred by your group as a result.
• Awards will be given in one lump sum, checks will be requested after the submission of the Statement of Agreement and the pre-event meeting with a Student Activities Advisor has taken place. No exceptions will be made. All applicants must consent to understand that a Student Activities Advisor may request receipts at any time and they must be therefore be submitted promptly upon request.
• Grant recipients are required to have a post-event meeting with a Student Activities Advisor within 30 days of your event completion date. Complete your Project Evaluation and Financial Report before your meeting. Failure to schedule the Advisor meeting or submit paperwork may result in any of the following consequences to be determined by Student Activities:
  • Ineligibility to apply for grants for the remainder of the academic year
  • Ineligibility to apply for grants for the remainder of the calendar year
  • A formal complaint may be filed (per complaints process in the Student Group Handbook)
  • Probationary status will be assigned to the student group if follow-up paperwork is not submitted and post-event advising meeting does not take place within 90 days
  • May be required to repay the full amount of the grant award
• Receipts totaling the amount awarded will be automatically required for any event awarded $2,000 or more from the Student Activities Grant Initiatives. Receipts for the entire event expenses may also be requested by your Student Activities Advisor, as deemed necessary.
• When you receive any information about your grant application, it will be via e-mail. All correspondence will contain your application number. Please reference this number when inquiring about your grant application. Please note, the e-mail address you supply on your application will be the only method through which we will correspond. It is your responsibility to ensure the accuracy of this e-mail address. Any missed deadlines due to an e-mail account error on the grant application will result in forfeiture of the grant.
• We emphasize the importance of applying for grants early and the submission of thorough applications is encouraged since funding is limited and grant awards will be based solely on the content of your application.