The Student Government Association plans to increase the buffer fund by decreasing initial allocations for student organizations.
This semester, SGA will allocate a total sum of $45,000 to student organizations as funds rather than the $50,000 given last semester. This will increase the buffer fund by $5,000.
The SGA Biannual Budget Meeting was held on Wednesday to discuss this new initiative. Karissa Nickish, senior communication disorders major from Melbourne Beach, Fla., and SGA press secretary, said the recent SGA Budget Meeting is the one chance a semester where SGA is able to talk to every organization together.
“It allows us to communicate clearly what the expectations are for using their allocated funds and how to use the P-card,” Nickish said.
The P-card is the purchasing card given to each organization that keeps track of purchases throughout the semester. Sixty-two organizations applied for funding and were expected to have a representative present at the budget meeting.
Aaron Bunting, senior financial management major from Copperas Cove and SGA executive treasurer, said the meeting is important for them to meet with all the organizations as a collective group.
“We get to have that one-on-one with them so they can understand how the budget works, what we plan to do with it this semester and all the information that goes into funding,” Bunting said. “This year, we plan to add more information, as far as funding goes.”
At the budget meeting, SGA executives also discussed fundraising and revenue opportunities for the organizations to receive money outside of SGA. Nickish said they want to help organizations become more self-sustaining by introducing fundraising ideas such as spirit nights at restaurants that will give back a portion of their proceeds.
“This year, the CEO and I looked at all of the restaurants around Abilene and looked at their fundraising nights to see which ones are better,” Bunting said. “We looked at pricing also. For example, if people order from Domino’s, we wanted to see where we could cut those costs and see where they can get pizzas cheaper.”
Organizations were shown a slideshow highlighting different fundraising ideas and information about who to contact to set up a fundraising event.
“It gives the SGA team the chance to introduce new ideas to increase the efficiency of the organizations funds, like utilizing food discounts,” Nickish said.
