Small clubs face funding issues

Danielle Wyatt, Tresurer of Forgotten Friends outlines the general purpose of the club for new members on Thursday September 10th.

By Mimi Ensley

When you’re a new, small club at the University of Georgia, funding can often be an issue — you may even have to pay for some things out of your own pocket.

That was the case for Lauren Miller.

Miller, president of Forgotten Friends at UGA, started her organization to raise awareness of animal advocacy issues last year — and club members had to be responsible for many of the costs.

“Our first year, we had no funding whatsoever,” said Miller, a senior from Lawrenceville. “We basically had to start from scratch. We really just did events that were simple and that didn’t cost much.”

Forgotten Friends has a four-person executive board and about 10 regular attendees. The group sets up donations for animal shelters and plans to organize a dog adoption in the Tate plaza sometime this year.

Members have tried to fundraise for the group, but it’s been a challenge.

“Fundraising costs money,” Miller said. “It takes money to raise money. With such a small group, it’s hard to get that money to even do the fundraising.”

Miller also said she found it difficult just to get her group’s name recognized.

“If we were the Athens, Ga. Humane Society, we might get a little more publicity,” she said.

Joshua Podvin, assistant director of student activities and organizations, echoed Miller’s concerns about the publicity challenges for smaller groups, but he said size wasn’t necessarily the deciding factor in a club’s ability to obtain funds.

“I don’t think it’s the quantity of people that you have; I think it’s the uniqueness of the fundraiser that you have,” he said. “We see lots of bake sales. We see lots of 5K races.”

Melanie Phelps, co-president of the UGA chapter of Habitat for Humanity, said she also thought creativity was a key element of fundraising.

“You kind of get lost when you just hand out fliers in Tate, said Phelps, a senior from Marietta. “We try to get creative and come up with events to raise money that college students will want to go to.”

But despite the challenges clubs may face with fundraising, they’re still expected to raise some of their own money.

Though smaller clubs have the option of applying for money through the Small Clubs Allocation Committee — the committee might be a little stingy when it comes to shelling out the cash.

“In reality, what Student Government Small Clubs wants to do is kind of co-sponsor,” Podvin said. “They want you to go out and fundraise. As an organization, you can have a bake sale, or you can sell a T-shirt, or you can ask for donations.”

The committee, a part of the Student Government Association, receives $10,000 each year from student fees, but they must spread it out among many campus groups.

“Unfortunately, they can’t afford to fund all these organizations, so it’s one of those things that kind of stinks,” Podvin said. “The less amount of money that you can ask for, the better for them because then they can assist more organizations.”

But Joe Chaudoin, treasurer of the Student Government Association and chairman of the committee, said he still recognized the importance of the fund.

“It’s important for smaller clubs to have an opportunity to get access to money for some of the programs they want to do,” he said. “Most of what we learn at school is through the programs and groups we’re involved in.”

Though the committee won’t fund an organization for the entire year, it will provide money for specific events.

“Ideally, you’re going to have an event that’s open to the campus community —that’s welcoming — because that’s where Student Government wants your student activity fees to go,” Podvin

said.

Edited by Crystal Villarreal