1. Welcome to …

2. In this presentation… What is it? What’s great about participatory budgeting? How does Fund it! work Basic funding Fund it Guidelines The Fund it event, what to expect. Voting Criteria Is there anything that Manchester SU cannot fund? Fund it! explained Video How to apply FAQs Applications FAQs Fund it Event

3. What is it? Manchester SU has revolutionised our funding procedure! We are giving the student community the power to decide upon how much funding YOU need. Fund it! Is a Participatory Budgeting system (PB) and being used by SU’s across the country such as Liverpool Guild and SOAS PB is a transparent, democratic procedure, whereby societies present their ideas and vote upon how much money should be granted to other societies collaboratively coming to a decision on which projects they are going to fund.

4. Instead of filling in forms, there will now be six dates during the academic year when societies can bid for money from our £40,000 pot. Societies will come together to look at all the funding requests and discuss as a group where it would be best used, and why. This will give you chance to meet fellow societies and find out more about what they’re getting up to, and also work together to make sure all societies are happy with where the money is going.

5. What’s great about Participatory Budgeting? Transparent funding decisions! Better informed decisions! Society collaboration! Encourages bigger and more exciting projects! More effective spending!

6. How does it work? 1. Create an idea! Are you bidding for a large amount of money? (£100 +) Go through the Fund it! Process. Are you bidding for a small amount of money? (Under £100) Submit a ‘Basic Funding Request Form’ 2. Submit a bid! Write your bid for funding including a.) Your full bid amount and b.) A partial bid amount (which includes elements that you would like the SU to fund if we cannot fully fund your project). Create a presentation to present your idea to other students, Create a poster to accompany your presentation. All this should be uploaded to the SU website 3. The Event! Attend the Fund it event, take part in the decision making process and find out whether your event will be funded on the same day!

7. Basic Funding Each society has access to up to £100 each semester to cover: Society start up costs Printing and promotional material Subsistence (such as travel) Small costs that will help the society generate further income This will be allocated at the start of September (Semester 1) and at the start of February (Semester 2) Priority will be given to societies: New societies Societies that need financial support Societies that include the most detailed budget Societies that have not recently received funding Basic Funding applications will next be accepted in September.

8. Fund it Guidelines 2 society members may attend the Fund it event: 1 must be a society committee member. 1 Person will present the bid (then leave the room) 1 person will vote. You may present your project in any way you wish (and we encourage you to be creative) any supporting material must be uploaded to the website in advance Presentations are limited to 2 minutes each (you will be stopped if you go over 2 minutes.)

9. The Fund it event: what to expect The Activities committee set the amount of grant funding for the event before the event takes place 2 members of each society will attend 1 member will present the bid, answer questions then leave the room Another member will vote (we will have interactive voting) There will be 2 rounds of voting (firstly on full bids, then on partial bids) Any votes which are not clear cut will be resolved by discussions around ‘the discussion tables’

10. Voting Criteria Here’s some things that other societies will probably consider when voting to fund projects: How cost effective is the bid? How many students will it benefit? Is the activity in collaboration with other societies? How much money does the SU have to allocate this funding round? Does the society have other sources of funding?

11. How good is the budget attached to the bid, is all income and expenditure clearly explained? Does the activity bring together people of different cultures? Is the society sustainable or just reliant on this funding? Is the project a one off or will it need more funding in future? Will the funding help generate further funds for the society? Does the project incorporate members of the local community?

12. Is there anything Manchester SU cannot fund? As a charity, the Manchester Students’ Union will only fund projects that are being run for the benefit of its members. We will fund most things. However, there are a few things we cannot fund. These are: Food or drink Campaigning for the political aims and ends of a political party Donations to any other charitable organisation (this is against charity law) Personal clothing or items, e.g. society hoodies, prizes, gifts for speakers etc. Website domains Money will not be given retrospectively!

13. Watch the Fund It Video

14. How to apply Online at: www.eu1.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=338a300021 0f5120f8524618be4a https://eu1.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=338a3000e22b 1495b5b146e5b262

15. FAQs- Applications How much money can we bid for? As much as you like, however you are limited by the money we have to allocate; this is set by the Activities Committee before the event and remember that you need to share the funding with other societies. Are all parts of the Fund it! process mandatory? Do we have to attend the event and create a presentation and a poster? Yes! Any bid of above £100 will go through the Fund it procedure to ensure that the majority of funding decisions are made in a transparent fashion. All parts of the process are mandatory to make the process fair and also to explain to other societies why your cause needs funding properly. It’s up to you how much effort you put into the presentation/ poster. Will all applicant projects get funded? That’s up to you! It’s a democratic procedure so you decide who gets money and if anyone walks away with nothing.

16. What will happen if lots of societies apply for funding? There will be a maximum number of applicants who can apply for funding each event to ensure that there is enough money in the pot to fund projects. This will be set on a first-come-first served basis. Will any applications be rejected? Only applications which include things which the Union cannot fund will be rejected by the Activities committee before the event. Whether your project receives funding is up to your fellow students. Can I apply for money for society running costs, not for a big event? Yes you can, so long as you can put forward a decent bid explaining why you need the funding. Can you partial bid amount be close to your full bid? It’s up to you to decide how much money you would luike to apply for in both full and partial bids, just remember that you must share the money with other societies and you have a higher likelihood of receiving funding if you write a realistic application

17. FAQs- The Fund it Event Who will attend the Fund It event? 2 society members per society (1 person must be a committee member) 1 member will present the bid and then leave the room, one member will vote on the bids. Only society members will take part in the voting process. Union staff will be present to facilitate and chair the event. How can I get involved if I don’t have strong presenting skills? As part of the application process we also ask you to create a poster so that you can showcase your bid visually. Can you vote for yourself? No, you should support other society projects.

18. What voting procedure is used? Simple majority vote, the vote will be interactive and will happen at the event. How long will the event take? Hopefully no longer than 3-4 hours. All speeches/ presentations will have time limits and the event will be chaired by full time union staff. You will find out on the day how much funding you have received! Will the procedure put people off applying for funding? There is no evidence to suggest this- the procedure makes students think more carefully about what they are applying for funding for and how to spend money. Expectations will be managed- if you put little effort into your application you can only expect little response. At the end of the day you will be presenting to other students not a scary panel of staff!

19. Will the event encourage societies buddying up/ favour the bigger/ more popular societies? All societies at the event will have the same number of society members present. Information about society background gives all people a chance to make informed judgements The fact that there is no upper limit to amount of money you can apply for means that smaller societies can do larger projects. Different society members will present and vote to ensure that those who are making decisions have a better less conflicted chance to do so/ don’t feel pressured. Societies will also vote with stickers (you will be given different coloured stickers for your society) to discourage societies from voting for themselves. Can you vote for the same society twice? Societies are encouraged to vote for different projects, however if there is one you really like you can vote for them twice.

20. Any Questions?