UMich student organizations support each other through funding and collaboration

From smaller, newer groups to clubs of 200 people, University of Michigan student organizations are finding a surprising way to secure funding and boost engagement: by turning to each other for support. ‘aid.

Much of the funding for student organizations comes from the Central Student Government Student Organization Funding Committee. Clubs must complete an application linked to the CSG website to be considered for funding. Then, CSG offers the student organization as much money as it deems appropriate, ranging from $ 0 to $ 10,000 over the course of a semester. Organizations can also ask for more money if they feel they deserve more money.

According to LSA senior Chloe Halprin, SOFC president, the biggest challenge clubs face is for SOFC to operate on a reimbursement basis. The club must pay the expenses it incurs, present OCGC with a receipt for its expenses and may then receive money from OCGC. Newer clubs often struggle to find sufficient funds to cover their expenses before reimbursement, Halprin said.

To combat this problem, CSG also runs the Wolverine Consulting Group, which consults with new organizations and offers them funding.

Halprin said new clubs can benefit from partnering with an established and better funded organization.

“(SOFC) likes to know when (organizations) are partnering up, because one of the main things we consider when reviewing applications is the impact on campus,” said Halprin.

MUSIC Matters is a non-profit student organization that aims to create social impact through music. The organization offers a scholarship of $ 2,500 each year to two clubs, which must submit a written request and then go for an interview. The last four clubs go to a “pitchfest” where they speak to members of MUSIC Matters, explaining why they feel they deserve the scholarship.

LSA Senior Katie Kim, MUSIC Matters Community Partnership Co-Chair, said MUSIC Matters typically sponsors new organizations to support their initial growth.

“We are focusing on organizations whose values ​​match those of MUSIC Matters and who show that they will use scholarship money to create something meaningful in the community,” Kim said. “We often encourage smaller, newer organizations to apply, as they may not have a lot of funding early on in their establishment. “

The last two fellows were Michigan Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing homelessness and poverty in Ann Arbor, and We are Queens, a nonprofit focused on dancing and empowering people. women.

MUSIC Matters continues to work with fellows and attend each other’s events after the funds are transferred to ensure that the relationship between clubs is not just transactional.

The stock exchange clubs also continue this relationship. During the MUSIC Matters 2021 Virtual SpringFest, Michigan Movement and We Are Queens both hosted Zoom Chat Rooms where they hosted a Zumba class and created a Google Jamboard activity with written messages to the local Ann Arbor community.

Adam Bernstein, senior of LSA, the other co-chair of the MUSIC Matters community partnership, said MUSIC Matters and the funding recipients are benefiting from the scholarship.

“Often organizations are just getting started,” Bernstein said. “Having 200 people and immediately helping your organization, especially if it’s smaller and newer and whatever, is very helpful.”

Bernstein said that MUSIC Matters is often mistakenly seen as just a music festival, due to its annual SpringFest concert, when rather it is a multi-faceted organization looking to collaborate with other clubs. .

“(The music festival) is definitely a big part of what we do, but there’s a lot more to it,” Bernstein said. “And the opportunity to be in a club that can say, ‘We brought in J. Cole,’ and also helped the homeless population of Ann Arbor while being in an organization, is really rare.”

Music, theater and dance and Tal Kamin, senior at LSA, founder of We Are Queens, echoed Bernstein in saying that the collaboration helps all organizations involved.

“The purpose of what a student organization does… is to enable its members to develop both the soft and technical skills to not only be better students and better future job candidates, but also to be better people. “said Kamin. “And to be a better person, I think a lot of it is about spreading wealth and learning from each other. Not collaborating, I think, is a waste of potential.

Kamin said We Are Queens received money that helped fund their marketing, website software, t-shirts, music video production, and a club mentor allowance. Beyond these monetary benefits, Kamin said MUSIC Matters devotes extra time and effort to achieving We Are Queens goals, such as helping with music publishing.

“None of us are musicians and none of us are dancers, so it was cool to bring together our common passions,” Kamin said.

Kamin said MUSIC Matters is not the first club she has partnered with. For fundraising activities and mental health initiatives, she has informally partnered with sororities and fraternities to raise awareness outside of We Are Queens.

Two years ago, a brotherhood and sisterhood of Kamin – Delta Sigma Phi and Delta Phi Epsilon – co-sponsored a basketball tournament in support of We Are Queens.

Partnerships between student organizations are evident across campus, Kamin said, from newly formed clubs to fraternity and sorority life organizations.

“(The club collaboration) is a really cool opportunity to not only learn from each other and take advantage of different perspectives and points of view, but also to help bring something to life that wouldn’t exist otherwise. “said Kamin.

Daily news contributor Kavya Uppalapati can be reached at ukavya@umich.edu.