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 Funding 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.
It is generally accepted that all YDS Student Organizations should first utilize the above outlined process of funding from the YDSG-FC.
In certain situations, it may be permissible for Student Organizations to secure additional funding outside of the YDS campus. Before external funding is requested by the student organization, the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) must be notified before any outreach or confirmation of funds is undertaken. Failure to do so may result in funds not being transferred and future requests limited. Should an outside entity approach a student organization wishing to provide funds, OSA should be notified before responding to such requests.
For YDS Student Organizations, additional funding can be explored through Yale-affiliated department and centers, after the Office of Student Affairs has formally approved such outreach to occur by the student organization.
While you may perform outreach for additional funds around Yale (with OSA's approval), there are limitations or prohibitions to some external funding:
Student Orgs may not receive or request funds from for- or non-profit external companies outside of the Yale Corporation.
An In-Kind donation is a non-cash contribution of goods or services given to an organization. Student orgs may not receive or request these types of services from a non-Yale entity.
Student leaders must under no circumstances obtain, receive, and/or use any type of funding that directly or indirectly is considered payment/salary for leadership of their org.
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.
