Communities are designed to be low budget initiatives. Unlike societies, Communities do not charge membership and are not able to automatically apply for grant funding from the SU. The costs you need to cover will depend on the scope of your Community. Here are some options for funding your Community:

Attendee contributions

There is a limited amount of SU funding available for Communities, and this is assessed on a case by case basis. As a Community you should always plan on being low cost and wholly covered by attendee contributions. When assessing if a Community should receive SU funding, a Coordinator will look at: the potential of the project; how feasible other funding options are; the scope of the project; the amount of funding needed against the impact on students and the amount of SU funding available. 

Any SU Funding a Community receives must be spent on what it was allocated for. SU Funding is not awarded in any circumstances for: alcohol; ‘socials’ including balls or similar; anything that benefits only Community leader(s) including personalised stash or items.

Collaborate

Communities can be extensions of an existing student groups interests and still run successfully. For example, you can organise an external speaker talk on an important, topical issue without overlapping with the regular activity of the Politics and International Relations Society. You may find that you can collaborate with an existing student group if your Community idea connects well with their interests. Collaboration could involve financial help or sharing equipment and helps to increase engagement and awareness for both the Community and the student group. 

Sponsorship or external affiliation 

In engaging a particular group of students, your Community may be able to reach out to external companies and sponsors for funding, resources or advice.

If you are receiving sponsorship from an external company, the terms of this agreement should be reflected in the sponsorship contract which needs to be signed by the company, the Opportunities Department and the Community leader. Communities should not enter into any financial or agreements without prior authorisation from NTSU. It is important to remember that Communities are NTSU affiliated groups, run by students and for students. You should always disclose any external affiliations or involvement to your Opportunities Coordinator who will help you to manage this relationship.

GIAG or RAG

The Opportunities Department run different programmes of events that your Community may be able to take advantage of. GIAG (Give it a Go) is a flexible program of events in which student groups open up their activities to all students, and staff run opportunities students want. This includes Skills and Learning sessions, Trips and Tours, Just for Fun and Mental Health and Wellbeing activities. RAG (Raising and Giving) is a program of tri-campus activities focused on raising money for charity. 

If your Community fits with these initiatives, there may be some funding and promotional platforms available. However, it is important to remember that this is not guaranteed. An Opportunities Coordinator will be able to advise on this in your initial meeting. 

SU funding

There is a limited amount of SU funding available for Communities, and this is assessed on a case by case basis. As a Community you should always plan on being low cost and wholly covered by attendee contributions. When assessing if a Community should receive SU funding, a Coordinator will look at: the potential of the project; how feasible other funding options are; the scope of the project; the amount of funding needed against the impact on students and the amount of SU funding available. 

Any SU Funding a Community receives must be spent on what it was allocated for. SU Funding is not awarded in any circumstances for: alcohol; ‘socials’ including balls or similar; anything that benefits only Community leader(s) including personalised stash or items.

The Students’ Union is a registered charity. That means we are bound financially by Charity Law and have procedures in place for accessing and tracking payments by groups affiliated to NTSU.

Due to the nature of Communities, many will not need to make payments or process funds. However, if you do raise money for your Community (go to ‘How to Fund Your Community’ for ideas) you will need to access this and may have to manage multiple payments. If you do, here are some key points you need to remember:

• You can only use the NTSU account to pay for Community activity. You cannot use a private bank account to fund Community activity or take profit for Community activity
• If selling tickets for an event or activity, this must be done through your webpage so that the sales go into your NTSU account

Completing a Payment Request is the only way you can access money for Community activity and all transactions must go through the form. Payment Requests are processed every Tuesday so keep this in mind when planning payments.

Type of Payment

Payment requests can be used for any type of payment. Before requesting funds, you need to outline where these are coming from to show that you have budgeted for any activity. It is important you select the right payment and upload any evidence so that this can be processed quickly:

• A reimbursement via BACS transfer- If you use your own money to pay for something for your Community you can be reimbursed from the NTSU account if you have raised the funds to cover the payment (e.g. if you sold tickets). You need to provide bank details of the person receiving the reimbursement and upload a receipt as evidence. If you are making multiple payment requests, you should group these together into one request
• Upload an invoice- You can directly pay a company from the NTSU account by requesting an invoice from that company. You need to make sure the invoice is made out to your Community, includes NTSU’s address and the name and bank details of the recipient. If a company asks for a Purchase Order number contact the Opportunities Coordinatorto generate this for you
• Online order- you can place an order to be charged directly to the NTSU account. Please provide full details and online links for what you want and consider delivery time

Your Community’s money must be spent on activity that benefits your group as a whole and helps you to achieve your Community project. Payment requests will not be approved if:

• You have not raised the funds
• They do not relate to Community activity
• They are for personalised items that only benefit a leader(s)
• They are for the direct purchase of alcohol