Club budgeting just around the corner

Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Reunion & Homecoming Weekend!

For all the club officers reading this—along with anyone who’s interested—I wanted to share some helpful information on the upcoming budgeting timeline. As you may know, each fall we complete the budgeting process for the following fiscal year, which begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 each year.

For Fiscal Year 2020, which begins on July 1, 2019, we will conduct the budgeting process during November and December. Union-funded clubs will be expected to have a preliminary budget uploaded to the Club Management System by November 16. This preliminary budget can be edited until November 26. No exceptions can be made to this deadline, so it is important to plan ahead and have your budget ready before then.

Once budgets are submitted, the Executive Board will conduct the budgeting process at the start of December. As soon as they are ready, we will make the reviewed and approved budgets available to each club’s officers. Hopefully, they will be ready by December 3. Clubs wishing to appeal regarding their approved budget will be able to do so on December 8.

It may seem like a while away, but it is important to start considering your club’s budgets as soon as possible to make sure you put together the best budget possible. Some questions to start thinking about may include: What long-term goals does your club want to pursue in the future? Are there any big potential purchases in the years ahead that you might want to plan for? Are there any new programs and activities that the club might want to pursue?

It is also important to consider what your current and past budgets contain that you may not be utilizing. It is important to try to match what you budget to what you actually use, and the Executive Board does take a club’s returns (unused budget) into account when completing the budgeting process. This doesn’t mean you should spend your budget unnecessarily; it may mean there are other areas where your club could see more benefit from the same amount of funds, and it might be worth tweaking your requested budget to reflect this.

Overall, I strongly encourage you communicate your club’s priorities and plans to your Executive Board representative and Student Activities Resource Person. They will be able to work with you to help bring your club’s dreams into reality wherever possible. They will also be able to help relay your club’s interests to the Executive Board during the budgeting process, so be sure to utilize these invaluable resources!

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at pu@rpi.edu.