Royal Holloway Students' Union

As part of a student group, we understand that sometimes finances become an issue, and can even prevent any growth and development. One of our aims at the Students' Union is to support your groups' progression, which is why we have funding opportunities available throughout the year (you can read all about them here).

In this article, we will be talking about Development Funding. This funding opportunity is available throughout Term 2 of the academic year, with applications opening the first week of term, and closing the last week of term. The aim of this funding is to give groups the opportunity to make plans and ideas for development after term one. The applications should only seek funding which will directly contribute towards development costs. This could be one-off costs for equipment, events or activities that hadn't previously been considered that would benefit the group's growth and/or its members.

Applications will be reviewed once a month, so any allocated funds will be transferred to the groups' account the first week of the following month (i.e. if you send an application in January, you will not receive the funds until the first week of February). It's important to note that if you send an application right at the end of the month it likely won't be reviewed until the following month as it will miss the panel meeting.

The maximum amount of funding a group can apply for is £500 per application. Where possible a match funding approach is preferred. Match funding means that if the group secures funding from a different source (fundraising, sponsorship, event, etc.) the SU will provide an additional amount in a fixed proportion or equivalent of this funding. e.g. If the group raises £500, the SU could provide up to 100% extra of the funds (an extra £500) or in other proportions, like 50% extra (an extra £250).

This year's application dates are:

Applications open: 13 January 2025

Applications close: 4 April 2025

To apply please fill in the form here.

There are some requirements to being able to apply for funding. The eligibility requirements are:

• The group should be ratified by the Students' Union.
• The 3 core committee roles (President, Treasurer and Secretary/Vice President) should be filled.
• The group should contain a sustainable number of members.
• The committee will have discussed the funding request and be in agreement with the application.
• If the group has a historical deficit, the student group must have a working Deficit Management Plan in place.
• The group must have adhered to the published deadlines and completed a comprehensive application form within the timeframe given.
• Where possible, a match approach should be in place for the funding requested.

The process to apply for support funding will be:

1. Firstly, check that the group is eligible to apply for funding. You can read about the eligibility requirements above or in the Student Group Funding Framework Document.
   
2. The committee will need to fill in the application form with the help of
   1. Student Group Funding Framework funding principles and
   2. Criteria (Appendix 2, attached below also)
3. The application will go to the following panel meeting where a decision will be taken. The decision will be based on the criteria (attached below) and funding principles and applying them to the submission.
4. Once the panel has reached a decision, the applicants will receive an email.

Any money awarded will be transferred to the group's grant account. Any money not spent by the end of the academic year will be reclaimed by the Students' Union.

All decisions are final and made by a panel comprising of the Student Opportunities Team and the VP Societies & Sport. There is no appeals process available and any emails regarding this will be met with the same response.