Requesting Annual budgets

How to Receive an Annual Budget Allocation

As a fully chartered student organization at SMU, you’re eligible to receive funding through the annual budgeting process conducted each spring. Below is a detailed breakdown of how you can successfully secure an annual budget allocation for your organization.

Step-by-Step Annual Budget Request Process

Step 1: Gather Your Organization’s Information

At the beginning of the budgeting process (typically early spring), your organization will be asked to submit detailed information about your past year's activities and upcoming needs. Be prepared to collect and submit the following information:

  • Official Name of your organization

  • Purpose/Mission Statement of your organization

  • Key Contacts: Names and contact information of your organization’s leaders

  • Years of Existence: How many years has your organization existed at SMU? (0-1, 2-4, 5-9, 10+ years)

Step 2: Provide Detailed Event Data

The Finance Committee will evaluate funding based on your past activities and events. You’ll need to clearly outline:

  • General Body Meetings:
    Provide the title, date, and attendance numbers for your organization’s top 10 general body meetings over the past year.

  • External Events (open to wider campus/community)
    Provide details on your top 5 external events, including:

    • Event title

    • Expected attendance

    • Actual attendance

  • Internal Events (member-focused) Provide details for your top 5 internal organization events:

    • Event title

    • Expected attendance

    • Actual attendance

Step 3: Summarize Your Past Financial Activity

The committee will consider your organization's financial stewardship in their funding decisions. Please clearly summarize:

  • Total amount allocated to your organization last year through weekly and annual budgeting.

  • Total amount spent in the past year.

  • Clearly explain any unspent funds and the reasons why, if applicable.

Step 4: Project Your Financial Needs for Next Year

Estimate your total expected financial need for the upcoming school year. Consider factors like:

  • Planned events and initiatives

  • Anticipated attendance and scale of events

  • Equipment or resources needed

  • Any major changes in organizational direction or scale

Step 4: Document Other Funding Sources

Provide details of any additional funding you anticipate from sources outside of the Student Senate, such as:

  • Departmental funding

  • National affiliations or sponsorships

  • External fundraising efforts

Being transparent about outside funding sources helps ensure a fair and accurate evaluation of your organization's total financial picture.

Special Situations or Alternative Submissions

If your organization believes the standard reporting template doesn’t adequately reflect your impact, scale, or unique nature, you can submit a supplementary document or report. Please note:

  • This exception should be very limited, as it excludes you from the standardized scoring process.

  • Clearly communicate why an alternative submission is necessary.

  • Highlight your organization's impact, uniqueness, and campus contributions clearly in your alternative submission.

How Your Request Will Be Evaluated

The Finance Committee evaluates all submitted information based on an objective scoring formula. Organizations receive points based on:

  • Years of existence and sustainability at SMU

  • Event attendance and student engagement

  • Internal and external impact on the SMU community

  • History of responsible financial management

All submissions are carefully reviewed, scored objectively, and grouped into funding pools based on shared goals and characteristics. Your final funding allocation is determined by the Senate’s vote, to allocate money to each pool, to which your score will determine your organizations specific share.

Understanding the Bigger Picture

SMU’s Student Senate is introducing a new budgeting system to better support student organizations. Rather than requiring detailed budgets to be submitted months in advance, the new process provides organizations with a streamlined, flexible, and fair way to access funding throughout the year.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Creation of Organizational "Pools"

  • After submitting your organization’s annual information, the Student Senate’s Organizations Committee will group similar organizations into funding "pools."

  • Pools are groups of student organizations with shared purposes, activities, or operational sizes—ensuring you're evaluated fairly alongside peers with similar goals and resources.

  • Larger or uniquely impactful organizations may form their own pools, while smaller organizations are grouped to ensure equitable funding.

Step 2: Senate Voting to Allocate Money to Each Pool

  • Once all organizations are grouped into pools and scored objectively based on their impact and past activities, the full Student Senate votes to allocate money to each pool.

  • The total amount of funding given to a pool reflects the Senate’s evaluation of the collective impact, needs, and contributions of that type of organization on campus.

Step 3: Distributing Funds Within Pools by Scoring

  • Within each pool, each organization's individual allocation is determined by its specific score.

  • This score is calculated based on clear and objective criteria, including:

    • Number of years your organization has existed.

    • Event attendance and student involvement levels.

    • Effectiveness in managing previous funding.

    • Overall impact on the SMU community.

  • Organizations with higher scores within their pool receive proportionally higher allocations, ensuring funding is fair, transparent, and directly tied to the positive contributions they make to campus life.

Throughout the school year, your organization will easily access these funds by submitting individual event requests via the SMU 360 platform, drawing from your allocated amount.

This new approach means less bureaucracy, more transparency, and increased flexibility for your organization—letting you focus more fully on creating meaningful and engaging experiences for students at SMU.

Notification and Next Steps

  • Once the Senate approves annual budgets, your organization will be notified of your exact allocation within 14 days of approval.

  • After allocation, organizations can begin submitting specific event-based funding requests throughout the following school year, using the SMU 360 platform.