As leaders of student organizations at YDS, your role in the community carries responsibility, including the financial management of your organization.
Learning how to manage a budget effectively is an important skill to acquire in preparation for your future role as leaders in ministry and communities.
Below details the funding your organization has access to, and how such funding is managed.
Funding for student organizations comes from a centrally funded source at Yale Divinity. Students are not charged a student activity fee for the funding of student organizations at YDS. The funds are managed and operate under the Office of Student Affairs.
Each academic year, student orgs must request funds for their events and initiatives in advance of each semester (fall and spring). The Finance Committee of Yale Divinity Student Government (YDSG-FC) review all requests under OSA's guidance, and approves or rejects all requests at the beginning of each semester. YDS student orgs do not receive a flat-rate allocation.
In order to receive funding, your event must be open to the entire YDS community (your event must be approved on Yale Connect.)
The funding of student organizations is overseen by a YDSG-appointed committee, known as the Funding Committee (YDSG-FC). This committee will review all budget requests from student organizations at YDS, approve or reject requests, and will act as representatives to the administration in the context of funding for student organizations.
The treasurer of YDSG leads the committee, oversees the convening of meetings, and manages the process of reviewing budget requests each semester. In the absence of the treasurer, the YDSG VP oversees the committee. The treasurer also oversee the spending of YDSG directly, and brings financial decision to YDSG meetings for the YDSG voting body to vote on.
Serve as members of the Finance Committee. Working with the treasurer, review the requests, recommend decisions based on funding available, and vote on final budget approvals for students organizations. A quorum of at least three members (incl. treasurer) must be met for funding to be approved for student organizations.
The Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Student Life serve as ex officio members of the committee. Their role is to advise and recommend based on Yale policies, provide context and reasoning based on their work in previous years, and to encourage fair and equitable allocation of funding based on needs of the community.
Student organizations cannot request funds from individuals, including YDS alums. If an alumni or individual approaches a student organization at YDS, offering to provide funds to an initiative or event, then OSA must be notified to assist with this process.
It is not always guaranteed that funding from outside contributions can be allowed and requires OSA and the Office of Development to be involved in the first instance of this gift being offered.
In special circumstances, a student organization may request to ask other Yale centers and departments for additional funding. Such outreach should not happen without OSA's approval first.
Student organizations that do not involve OSA in the request for external funding could find themselves blocked from future funding!
