CCC votes to change club funding allocation procedures
By JULIA MILLER-LEMON
News Writer
The Club Coordination Council decided to change the way that funds are allocated to campus clubs in February.
As part of a strategic plan started under the Libby Bishop administration, the new policy requires clubs to raise 20 percent of what they are given from the CCC budget. This means that if a particular club is given $1,000 from the CCC in funding, it would have to raise $200 on its own.
The 215 campus clubs under the jurisdiction of the CCC are divided into six divisions: Academic, Athletic, Cultural, Performing Arts, Social Service and Special Interest. In the past, these clubs have all been encouraged to hold fundraisers, but they were never required.
"The change is primarily to help clubs earn supplemental funding," said CCC president Seth O'Donnell. "The CCC can only fund approximately 22.5 percent of total club budgets — thus alternative methods to support club activity are necessary."
O'Donnell discredited claims that the new requirements show a need for clubs to raise their own money despite the successful fundraising campaign of The Shirt. Proceeds from the sale of The Shirt are intended to go scholarships, charities and student government, although the Financial Management Board is permitted to use part of The Shirt funds for direct allocation to campus clubs.
"This isn't a need for clubs to raise more funds," O'Donnell said. "It's simply a way to ensure that clubs are not relying solely on student activity fee allocations."
CCC vice president Jessica Panza said The Shirt did not have anything to do with the new policy.
"Profits from the The Shirt project have in the past varied greatly from year to year, and are spread out amongst a wide variety of campus-wide groups and causes. Thus, the CCC recommendation was totally independent from it," Panza said.
Until now, the social service clubs were the only of the six club divisions that were not required to collect dues, and the CCC has no intention of changing this. But service clubs may choose to start collecting dues as a form of fundraiser.
"Our definition of a fundraiser is pretty loose," O'Donnell said. "Collecting dues from club members is just one way that groups can fundraise on their own."
When the CCC policy was first made, many club officers were worried that the change would affect the productivity of their clubs. But the CCC believes that requiring clubs to raise some of their own funds is not asking them to do anything differently from what they would normally do.
The majority of clubs were already raising some of their own funding, so the change now officially requires a fundraiser from each club across the board. The CCC vote to change the Council's funding bylaws is one element of the new strategic plan that will continue to give more student ownership and secure more funding to campus clubs.
All News Stories for Wednesday, May 7, 2003
