Operations Grant Applications and Scoring

This page pertains to the Operations Grant offered by the UASU Student Group Granting Program. For more information on the program and how to apply, please see the overview page.

Operations Grant Applications and Scoring

The purpose of the Operations Grant is to support a student group’s general operations. Costs affiliated with specific events are not eligible for this grant and should be requested through an Event Grant application. This grant is recommended to student groups in their start-up period (typically the first two years of operations), and for groups who are experiencing extenuating circumstances which have begun to cause problems with financial health and security of the club. The Student Group Granting Program will prioritize those grant applications which best meet the standards and expectations of the scoring sheet below.

Application Questions

Grant Request Amount

Operations grants must be between $100.00 and $500.00 with the maximum awarded amount being affected by a variety of factors. This includes:

1. How much funding in operations grants was received in both the previous and current granting year. Up to $500.00 can be awarded to a single group in operations grants per two years.
2. How much funding has been received in events grants in the current granting year. Up to $2,000.00 can be received per group per year meaning that if an $1,800.00 events grant was received earlier that year, that group is only eligible for $200.00 of operations grant funding.

Constitution Upload

For this section, please upload a copy of your group's most recently approved constitution as a PDF. If you are unaware of your group's most recently approved constitution, please reach out to Student Group Services at clubs@uasu.ca. To change your group's constitution, please submit an Information Update Request form on Rubric.

Please note that you will only be able to upload PDF documents to the application form on Rubric!

With the mission in mind, what are some of the short- and long-term goals or projects of your student group?

This question is referring to the mission statement of your group's most recently approved constitution. Review this and then think about how receiving a grant will have a positive impact on your group and allow you to achieve your mission, goals, mandate, etc.. 

From your mission, expand your response to discuss how funding will affect your group continually, i.e. will funding help your group to build an emergency fund, host more events, expand your network or better support and represent your members? Does funding directly affect this or contribute to these goals as part of an ongoing project?

In the event that your application is successful, what will your group use the grant to pay for?

Your answer to this question is critical. It contributes to the determination of your total eligible funding amount and can affect your score in every category on the scoring sheet!

To receive full marks, you need to go above an beyond. Simply listing each item you intend to purchase is insufficient, what matters is the rationale behind each item. The Adjudicators are largely unfamiliar with your group and you need to convince them that this funding is essential to the success of your group and their on campus contribution. 

Pro Tip: Relate the funded items back to your mission and goals!

Do the items listed need to be purchased annually or are they one-time purchases?

One-time purchases show that you are thinking about the long-term sustainability of your group's operations and shows that this funding could help your group to move away from dependance on the Student Group Granting Program! Purchasing items annually does not hinder your application but you should come up with some ideas in other sections on how to be sustainable in your operations.

How will these items benefit your group’s operations in the next year?

When you receive an operations grant, you must submit a report on the funding a year after the application deadline of the grant you applied for. This means that all funds must be used within one calendar year from the date of application. Why does your group want this funding? What specifically is your team tying to achieve this year and how will this funding help with that?

How will this funding affect the long term sustainability of your group (4-5 years)?

Student group finances carry over year to year, a surplus typically has a positive impact on the next operational year. Additionally, one good fiscal year can lead to many good fiscal years but this is logistically complicated due to the annual turnover of executives and leadership in student groups. How does receiving funding now have an impact on future student group executive teams and contribute to long term financial success? For example by having funding to make an expensive one-time purchase, are you having a positive impact on your groups mission and preventing future teams from spending lots of money?

What are some of the challenges that the student group is facing, or could face in the foreseeable future? How will the group anticipate or prepare to overcome these challenges?

Different group have different challenges such as getting their name out, event attendance, financial struggles, interpersonal conflict and many more. Another contributing factor is group type, hobby groups have different challenges than departmental associations and thus need to be addressed in different ways. When grant applications are scored and funding is awarded, the adjudicators are not aware of your group or what they do. Make sure to outline these challenges well as they may be specific to your group or group type.

It is advisable to discuss how this funding would help your group with these challenges or prevent them from escalating. Be specific, it has a significant positive impact on your application's score.

Operating budget upload

Fiscal responsibility is one of the the most heavily weighted categories on the scoring sheet. This means that the outcome of your application is very dependant on the quality of the operational budgets you upload! To receive the highest possible score in this category, make sure to:

1. Include BOTH income and expenses on your budgets.
2. Include expected and actual income and spending on your budgets. 
3. Upload both current year and previous year budgets when applicable.
4. Be descriptive in your budgets, do not have unlabelled or miscellaneous expenses.
5. Show carryover from previous years.
6. Be reasonable in your estimates, do not under- or overestimate! Both will negatively impact your score.

Please note that you will only be able to upload PDF documents to the application form on Rubric!

For groups showing a surplus or deficit in their overall operating budget

This is your time to shine! In this section, you can explain your budget and contribute to your score in Fiscal Responsibility. Give the Adjudicators some insight into your financial history that does not appear on the budget, talk about contributing factors, plans to mitigate and your group's financial future.

• (Surplus) Why are you applying for a grant, instead of using your group’s surplus to cover the proposed costs?
  • What is the justification for having lots of money if it is not directly being used to benefit your members?
  • Is this normal for your group or is this new? Do you have specific plans for this money?
• (Deficit) How would you use grant funding to set your club up for success in the future? 
  • Why do you have a deficit, is it due to a specific circumstance or was it poor planning?
  • Is this normal for your group or is this new? Would granting be a bandaid solution or will you use this as a reset to begin your group's financial recovery?

Scoring Sheet Categories

Group Growth

• Student Groups should always be looking forward, planning for their future. In this category the Granting Program will prioritize applicants who have clearly outlined the short-term impact -- that is, within 1-2 years -- of the grant would be on their club operations, as well as the long-term vision for the club’s operations, to aspire to self-sustainability.

Strategic Planning

• When setting goals, it is important for a club to set their sights on foreseeable challenges and needs of the student group that are likely to come with the attainment of short- and long-term goals. The Granting Program will prioritize applicants who can identify strategies and best practices that will allow their student group to flourish, if their application is successful.

Fiscal Responsibility

• Documentation is provided on the fiscal management of the group, and they demonstrate that the group has plans beyond the current year. The application also demonstrates the considerations the executive has taken to ensure the financial health of the student group.

Details of Application

• Details provided in the application are relevant and specific. The application does not leave out major details and the specific items or services that will be covered by the grant funds, if the application is successful, are identified in the application.

Scoring Sheet

Weight	Criteria	4- Excellent	3 - Good	2 - Fair	1 - Poor
25%	Group Growth	Short Term Impact: Specific and significant impact on the group’s operations and success for the year are intentionally planned in relation to how they will feed into the long term vision.  Long Term Vision:  Goals and plans outlined in the application indicate that the group will likely not need to apply for Operational funding in the future.	Short Term Impact: Specific and significant impact on the group’s operations and success for the year are outlined; the connection between this impact and the long term vision is articulated.   Long Term Vision:   The application gives specific and realistic goals for the group over the course of five years.	Short Term Impact: The application identifies potentially significant, positive impact on the group’s operations for the current year.  Long Term Vision:  The application implies some goals beyond the current year, but the goals are unrealistic or vague.	Short Term Impact: The application identifies unclear impacts of the grant on the group’s operations for the current year. Long Term Vision:  The application demonstrates little to no long-term planning or goals for the group.
30%	Strategic Planning	Challenges & Needs: See criteria for score 3. Strategies & Best Practices: The application provides robust descriptions of strategies or practices that will help the group effectively manage challenges into the future, and internal accountability plans to ensure goals are always relevant as the group grows.	Challenges & Needs: The application identifies realistic challenges and needs that could arise from the group’s realization of goals and vision. Strategies & Best Practices: The application provides relevant strategies or practices that will help the group effectively manage challenges into the future.	Challenges & Needs: The application identifies challenges or needs which are too broad and general, and fails to explain the connections to the goals and vision of the group.  Strategies & Best Practices: The application provides examples of strategies or practices but the effect(s) on the challenges are unclear.	Challenges & Needs: The application does not identify realistic challenges or needs, or those identified are not connected to the group’s short and long term vision.  Strategies & Best Practices: The application does not identify strategies that will contribute to attaining the goals or vision of the group.
30%	Fiscal Responsibility	Budgets: See criteria for score 3.  Financial Planning:  See criteria for score 3. Budget is very detailed, and demonstrates  that group has taken all measures to reduce costs. Plans for the year contribute to the financial sustainability of the group.	Budgets: Required budgets are included on the application, and include details that are clear and agree with the purposes of the student group.  Financial Planning:  The budget suggests that the group is financially sound; that is, the listed expenses are reasonable, and/or justified, with evidence that the future financial health of the group is feasible.	Budgets: Required budgets are included on the application. Budgets are unclear in places and/or describe some “miscellaneous” costs that are undefined.  Financial Planning:  The budget suggests that the group will not run a deficit, but some practices or financial choices may be leaving the group somewhat financially unstable for the future.	Budgets: Requested budgets are not present, or if they are present, leave out significant details.  Financial Planning:  The budget suggests that the event will run a large deficit, or will otherwise leave the group in poor financial health.
15%	Details of Application	Clarity:  See criteria for score 3.  Specificity:  Items and services to be covered by the grant funding are specified; their relevance to the goals of the group have been described clearly.	Clarity:  Application details are clear, informative, and include all major details and additional context provided.  Specificity:  Items and services to be covered by the grant funding are specified.	Clarity:  The application is readable, though disjointed. Some questions may have been answered in sentence fragments, and is difficult to understand.   Specificity: Items and services to be covered by the grant are described generally.	Clarity:  Application details are lacking, vague and general. Some questions may have been answered in sentence fragments, and is difficult to understand.   Specificity: No specific items or services are mentioned.