Student Org Grants

The ASSU provides a number of grants to support costs of VSOs, or voluntary student organizations, registered with the Office of Student Engagement.

What You Should Know Before Applying

• There is NO RETROACTIVE FUNDING i.e. funds will not be provided for purchases that have already been made. Funds must hit VSO accounts before any purchases are made.
• GrantEd is the application site for both Undergraduate and Graduate Grants. Visit the Undergraduate Grants tab on the left side of the screen for more information on how to apply for Undergraduate grants, and visit the Graduate Grants tab for more information on how to apply for Graduate grants.
• *For quick grants, it's recommended to apply two weeks before event to ensure that funds will be in your VSO's account in time for the event. Funds are usually posted Wednesday following the Tuesday Senate Meeting.

Groups who submit an application by the original deadline but did not attend office hours nor notify the Appropriations Committee via email by Friday, February 12th @ 11:59pm PST will have their application funding be subject to the discretion of the appropriations committee if expenses or line items come into question. In addition, consistent with existing  policies, groups who submit annual grant applications beyond the original deadline will have their funding request cut by 50%

Annual Grants Summary

Annual Grants are the ASSU’s yearly allocation process to raise and allocate funds to VSOs with significant budgets that are predictable a full year in advance. They help fund student-led activities that contribute significantly to the Stanford community.
PREDICTABILITY All Annual Grants must contain only predictable expenses. This ensures  that the costs that the student body will shoulder are tangible and clearly defined. There are two ways that a VSO can fulfill this requirement:

1. A quote or invoice from a vendor for the budgeted request; OR
2. Records of GrantEd transactions over any/all of the previous 3 years.

Please note that other factors may lead to recommended or required budget adjustments. In order to maintain the stability of the Student Activities Fee, we ask that VSO budgets do not increase by more than 5% over a given year unless there is an exhibited change in operations that warrants the increase, other factors may lead to recommended or required budget adjustments, even with reasoning for a budget increase in excess of 5%

All expenses in your request must be predictable. This requirement can be fulfilled by providing either:
A quote or an invoice for an expense
Proof of historical expenditure related to your estimated expense.
For recently approved student groups, you must be off probation as set by the Office of Student Engagement.
Your probation end date should be listed in the contract letter that VSO founders receive after completing the new student organization application process.
If your VSO has a significant number of graduate students or benefits the entirety of the student body, the ASSU may ask that you apportion your budget request across both populations.
Annual Grants should not be expected to cover all expenses your VSO has; as such, FOs should make efforts to obtain funding from alternative sources.

ELIGIBILITY Your VSO must be recognized, have no outstanding debts, and not on a OSE-mandated probation.

UNDERGRAD/GRAD JOINT GROUPS If a significant number of members or beneficiaries of your VSO’s activities are both graduate and undergraduate students, the ASSU may split funding between the Undergrad and Graduate student bodies.

UMBRELLA GROUP If you are the FO of an Umbrella Group, you must detail the expenses of your constituent groups in your application as well. To ease this burden, you should involve your constituent FOs in the budgeting process as much as you are able.

ALTERNATIVE FUNDING Annual Grants might not cover your entire budget. Other funding sources include: TSF, academic departments, Stanford Arts, etc. More info here. Please note that groups that receive Annual Grants are not eligible to receive Standard and Quick Grant applications for that same academic year.

HOW TO APPLY

1. Complete Annual Grant application on GrantEd; see policies here. And please fill out this google form to provide us with additional information.
2. Upload required documentation on your GrantEd application. Only documentation on GrantEd will be considered (i.e. no email submissions).
3. Attend relevant office hours: Undergrad Senate or Grad Council (if you are a joint group, you will be required to attend both sets of office hours). If you can’t attend office hours, send an email to the appropriate committee so that we know to consider it.
4. The Committee will conduct a review to issue preliminary recommendations. Once those recommendations are published, VSOs will have until March 8th to submit a revised budget.
5. Once the Senate takes its final vote on the Annual Grants package, if your VSO wishes to ask for more than the funding recommended, begin the petition process. Note that VSOs who are unsuccessful in their petition will NOT have ANY Annual Grant on the ballot.

ANNUAL GRANTS TIMELINE

*For  more  information on the petitioning period and campaign timeline (if on the ballot), please contact the ASSU Election Commissioner, Edwin Ong, edwinong@stanford.edu

Undergraduate Senate Appropriations Committee: ugs-funding@assu.stanford.edu

Graduate Student Council Chair: gsc-chair@assu.stanford.edu

ASSU Financial Branch, Stanford Student Enterprises - kevinm95@sse.stanford.eduMore info on Annual Grants