Download January 14 2014 - UChicago Student Government

University of Chicago Student Government
Student Government Finance Committee
January 14, 2014
Reynolds Club RC019
5:00-7:00 PM
Arthur Lundberg
Anthony Martinez
Kayla Reinherz
Yusuf Janahi
Anastasia Kaiser
Aaron Mallory
Matthew Montequin
Sofia Flores
Society of Physics Students, 5:05-5:15
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Requesting $1950.25 – SwiP/SPS budget withdrawn
Requesting $791.05 for “An Introduction to Spintronics with David Awschalom”
o Prestige of speaker and his interdisciplinary approach
o Reserving large physics lecture hall
o Have not looked into funding from IME (Institute of Molecular Engineering) yet
o Online advertising via Facebook
Deliberation
o Concern about their willingness to contribute their own funds or find other sources
of funding; encourage them to come in to talk to an advisor about fundraising, etc.
o Motion to fund in full
 Passed, funded in full
Chicago RAAS, 5:15-5:30
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Requesting $3435.92 for two national competitions
Last year, sponsored by MAC and Rajun Cajun ($400 for this year unconfirmed, but likely),
also received the Dean’s Fund
Compete for prize money as well
Fundraising
o Haven’t needed to fundraise in the past, but would consider it in the spring if
necessary
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o Usually fundraise through private parties and workshops in the spring
Current account balance is allocated from Annual Allocations
Deliberation
o Requesting $840 for participation fees for two competitions
 Precedent for participation fees?
 Case-by-case basis
o Requesting $300 for food for both trips
 Precedent for food costs?
o Consider all costs under the Travel Fund (50%)
 Registration fees
 Participation fees
 Hotels
 Transportation
 Food
o Motion to fund $1717.96 (half of full request)
 Passed, funded $1717.96
OBS, 5:30-5:40
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Requesting $500
No show, budget not considered
Chicago Youth Philanthropic Group, 5:40-5:55
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Requesting $967.50
Last year, race brought about 150 people (mostly students and University community
members); raised $2000
Expect 300 people this year
Money in their account is from last year’s race and is used as a fund for CYPG’s 125
students to grant to non-profits of their choice (students will be choosing grantees in 3
weeks)
They expect $3,000 from ticket sales – this is more than the estimated cost of the event
Would consider charging higher ticket price for non-University-affiliated runners
Deliberation
o Their costs are less than their projected revenue
 Funding principles dictate all ticket sales must go toward funding the event
o If they want to generate more profit, they can adjust ticket prices
o Motion to fund $0
 Passed, funded $0
Catholic Student Association, 5:55-6:05
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Requesting $1,200 for winter blanket-making event
Working with Homeless Food Run to distribute blankets
o HFR will provide transportation, etc., so all they need to provide are the blankets
No costs besides purchasing the cloth, because they’re no-sew blankets
Fundraised last quarter through bun sale, raffle ($30-40), and t-shirt sale (made $70-80)
Suggested they request a discount from JoAnn’s Fabrics, the store where they plan to
purchase fabric
Deliberation
o Motion to fund in full
 Passed, funded in full ($1,200)
TEDxUChicago, 6:05-6:30
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Requesting $12,000
This is their fourth year; last year they only had about 150 paying attendees, as compared to
400 the previous year, and 900 the inaugural year
Cost reducing strategies
o Quad Club for 6 out-of-town speakers
 Highly reduced transportation costs – no car transportation to/from hotels
downtown
o Applying much earlier for funding from SGFC this year (Jan. instead of March)
 Lower travel (flight) costs
Some areas they’re asking for more money
o Requesting funding for a student to attend TEDActive so that in the future they can
have a student be the official conference “organizer” (must attend an official TED
conference in order to be an official organizer)
 $3,750 membership fee compared to $7,500 fee for the TED conference in
California
o Requesting $6000 for A/V
 Quote from UChicagoCreative is $7,993.15 for one camera; $10,402.35 for 2
cameras (quotes provided)
 Requesting $6000, will cover the difference themselves
Fundraising & ticket sales
o Study breaks & promotional events with other RSOs to boost ticket sales
o Ticket sales based on 600 attendees, and $7,923 in revenue
 Expect 70% of ticket sales from students and University community
members (faculty, staff, etc.)
 Ticket breakdown
 UChicago general [$10], ~70%
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Chicago general [$15] and Prospie+Parent bundle [$13.5
avg/person], ~21%
 General [$20]
 VIP [$30], ~9%
Speakers – want 12, contingent on funding
o Jeremy Bird, Obama’s former campaign strategist
o Rich Franklin, UFC fighter & entrepreneur
o Borris Powell, well-known Chicago area designer
o Kristin Rae Swanson, mathematical oncologist from Northwestern
o Lindsey Pollack, author
o Ryan Holiday, author
Why 12 speakers? Why not less?
o Need a diverse range of speakers
o These are much bigger names than last year
Is 600 paying attendees feasible?
o Ticket prices are half of what they were last year; $10 compared to $20 seems like a
much better deal
o Focusing on marketing and partnering with other RSOs via promotional events to
boost outreach
Marketing breakdown (based on budget from last year)
o Focus on online marketing – online ads, Facebook ads
o Signs, banners, flyers
o Study breaks
o Can provide a more detailed breakdown if needed
“Promotional events”
o Could you combine ‘promotional events’ with ‘study breaks?’
T-shirts – some are for volunteers and some will be sold (expect ~$400 in sales)
o 200-250 t-shirts
o Design will be specific to this year’s conference
Deliberation
o Requesting $5,090 TEDActive conference  reapply
 Travel fund
 Reapply for this
 Motion to fund $0
o Requesting for $1,600 for marketing and promotional events  reapply
 They can apply per event; reapply once events are planned
 Come back with more detailed proposals
o Requesting $325 for study breaks  reapply
o Requesting $6,000 for A/V equipment
 Excessive?
o No dinner with organizers  cut $500
 Fund $0 of $500
o Fund half of additional flights  cut $884.84
o Motion to fund $3,600.16 ($12,000 – 5,090 – 1,600 – 325 – 500 – 884.84)
 Passed, funded $3,600.16