Student Fundraising 

From time to time, student groups may wish to hold fundraising activities. This might be to increase their membership fund to pay for a specific item or activity, or to donate to another charity. 

As a registered charity, South Bank SU itself, the Union must make sure that any fundraising activity undertaken on its behalf meets the legal requirements under Charity law. It is therefore essential that any group wishing to fundraise, first seek approval for this from the Union. 

This process will highlight how to safely manage a student fundraising event and ensure the safe management of any donations that are collected.

Below are the key principles to consider before starting any fundraising event for your student group;

• Student groups are allowed to fundraise. Please make sure that any fundraising activity is agreed on behalf of your group before commencing. 

• Student groups are allowed to fundraise for themselves. This can include donations as a way of raising money for their own activities

• You must clearly state exactly what you are fundraising for (i.e fundraising for a particular trip or event) and money raised must only be for that purpose. 

• You can only fundraise for things that further the purpose of your society. This can include funding for sports equipment for your sports team, but not just for general social activity. 

• When planning a fundraising event, you should consider the costs of running the event to make sure that they don’t exceed or significantly reduce the funds you make. 

• All fundraising activity must be in accordance with charity fundraising law and no group funds can be used or directly donated to charity. Only funds raised after all of your costs have been taken out (i.e ingredients to run a bake sale have to be deducted before you can donate). Any remaining funds after costs can be donated to the charity. 

Are we allowed to fundraise for other charities ?

Yes you can. But because South Bank SU is a registered charity,  you must make sure you follow our guidance to make sure you are following the law. 

You are able to conduct fundraising activities that benefit students, but you cannot just donate society or union funds directly to a charity, as that would break the law in England.

Some key points to follow;

• Make sure you liaise with SBSU and the organisation you are fundraising for to make sure the communication you put out is clear about exactly what you are fundraising for. 

• You cannot donate society funds or membership fees directly to others (charities). However you can use the resources that you have as an affiliated group to deliver the activity. 

• Please make sure you pass any cash from activity to the Union via the approved processes who will make donations to your charity on your behalf. You will receive confirmation of the deposit. 

What activities can we run ?

There are many fundraising events you could put on. This could be from a bake sale to running a marathon to a quiz night. 

You must present your plans for all activity including any fundraising events to the Union as part of your annual/termly activity proposal. The SU will provide you with guidance on how to run the event and make sure it is compliant, and meets any regulatory obligations. 

No activity can be delivered on or off campus without approval from the SU. 

Managing Charity Donations

Cash Payments 

SBSU wants to try and limit the amount of occasions where the use of cash is required. If you wish to run an event or activity, please make use of the website to run all payments electronically. You can make use of our card machines if you wish.

If you absolutely need to pay cash to us, then please be aware of the following;

• Please include cash handling on any risk assessment you do for any event or activity and make sure you have appropriate actions in place to limit the risk

• Please deposit any cash to the SU office by either 4pm on the day of the event or by 10am the next morning. 

• Please complete a paying in form alongside this. This should detail the amount of money, what the activity is for and the name of the society

We will then pay this into your account for you.

Float Requests

If you require a float for an event, please place this request at least 7 days before your event is due to take place. Please include details of the event, how much money you require and how you would like this to be split up (how many £1, £2, £5’s etc).

Please then return the float along with any cash you receive as soon as possible. Please note, you must return the float with exactly the same amount of money you received from us. 

Card Machine Hire

If you want to take money on the door for your events, then please hire our card machines to help with this and to avoid using cash.

If you wish to hire these from us, please send us a request at least 14 days before with the following information on it

• Name of group

• Date Required

• Date of Collection

• Date of Return

• Name of person responsible

• What event

• Where the money will be paid to

The Student Opportunities team will then process this request. Please note, we have a limited amount of card machines available and they will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. So please send any request in as early as possible. 

When you return this, our finance team will run a report from the machine and allocate all funds received into your club account within 30 days. We will update your accounts within 7 days but please note the physical money may take longer to be transferred. 

Sponsorship

There may be occasions when a student groups wishes to increase their membership fund through sponsorship. As student groups come under the legal responsibility of the Union,  they can not enter into a contract with external parties on their own behalf, whether in writing or verbally, and doing so could breach the rules of their affiliation. 

Any sponsorship arrangement or similar can only be approved by members of the SU’s senior management team. The student group must arrange to meet with the team to discuss the sponsorship terms and agreement will be given at the SMT’s discretion and on a case by case basis. 

Due to the complexities within charity law for non-profit organisations, it is unlikely that sponsorship arrangements in return for money will be agreed, instead provision of venues; kit, equipment, events might be more.uitable.