Money

Each year, societies review their membership fee. This fee can help raise funds for your society to fund its regular activities and socials.

You can also decide to not charge a fee. If you do charge one, it must be a minimum of £2. Consider what your society spends in a year (or plan to) to help decide what you charge for memberships.

Alumni memberships can be set up on request, please note that alumni memberships will be your society fee + £10 (if your society is free, then the alumni membership will be £12). £2.50 of that £10 goes to the students’ union to cover the costs of administration.

Please contact studentopps@chester.ac.uk for more information or to request an alumni membership be set up for your society.

When selling memberships, event tickets, or merchandise through Rubric, there are two costs to be aware of: VAT and Rubric transaction fees.

VAT (20%)

• VAT is deducted from any income your society receives through sales. This is a legal requirement.
• When budgeting for purchases, remember that if an item includes VAT, the Students’ Union may be able to reclaim this on your behalf. Because of this, your expenditure budgets should be based on the pre-VAT cost where possible.
• Always keep and submit VAT receipts for purchases, as these are required to reclaim VAT.

Rubric Transaction Fees

• All sales made through Rubric are subject to a 3.5% + 70p transaction fee.
• For society memberships, the society automatically absorbs this fee.
• For event tickets and merchandise, societies can choose whether to:
  • Absorb the fee themselves, reducing the amount received from each sale, or
  • Pass the fee on to the purchaser by adding it to the sale price.

When you set up an event or new item of merchandise, there is a button for you to toggle either option.

When setting prices, make sure you consider both VAT and transaction fees so that your society receives the amount of income you expect.

Every society has an account which sits within the union. All monies associated with your society comes through this account and this includes:

• Membership Fees
• Ticket sales (for your events)
• Fundraising
• Sponsorship

To claim your society funds (or to be reimbursed for any grants you’ve been accepted for) – you will need to fill in an expense claim via your society’s dashboard. A VAT receipt detailing items purchased must be attached to the form or expenses will not be paid. The claim must be submitted within 30 days of purchase. The payment will be paid into the claimant’s bank account.

Payments may take up to 5-10 working days (or longer if staff are on leave – societies will be told before if this is the case).

For large purchases, please contact studentopps@chester.ac.uk who will be able to assist you.

Chester Students’ Union is proud to support societies to grow and develop. Our support includes limited dedicated funds that our societies can bid for to support their activities.

As CSU has a limited pot of money to support student activities and many groups to support, our Societies Development Grant has strict criteria. Please be aware that not all applications will be granted, and you may not receive all the funding you apply for. Please do not make any purchases prior to confirmation that your application has been approved.

There is £6,500.00 available for CSU to grant societies from 1^st September 2026 – 24^th July 2027. You can apply for this grant via the application form, found on your committee dashboard.

Maximum funds available to apply for are applied based on society size*:

10-15 members = £50

16-29 members = £150

30+ members = £300

*If your society is collaborating with CSU on an event open to all students then there is no limit based on society size, but funding available will be subject to availability.

CSU is a legally constituted Charity, which means grants can only be made in line with the SU’s charitable objectives – this limits the uses to which grant money can be authorised.

Grant funding should not be relied upon to support your societies regular activities. You should always plan to be financially sustainable through other sources such as membership fees, ticketed events and fundraising. Grants will be subject to availability and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Applications where the society has already made the purchase will be rejected and the following events will not be considered; balls/individual society awards or parties.

Your society must:

• Have at least 10 members registered on the SU website
• Ensure that the President & Treasurer have attended committee training
• Complete the society development plan (found on Rubric)

Applications must:

• Be submitted by a committee member.
• Submitted at least 10 working days before funds are required.
• Focus on how the additional funds will help the society members thrive and develop.
• Fit within the aims of your society.
• Be an application for something specific, with researched costs and relevant quotes.
• Include a breakdown of what the money will be spent on.
• Not include food and drink as a key part of the bid.

Strong applications will be for activities that:

• Are unique and specific to your society.
• Will have a significant benefit to society members.
• Fit within the wider goals of the society according to your society’s development plan.
• If the grant is for resources, that the items are sustainable & reusable.

Where physical items are to be purchased, these will belong to the Society as a whole and therefore CSU, rather than individual members. Committee members have a plan in place in terms of care and storage of items, fair use for all members and transfer back to CSU upon committee closure so that they can be held for adoption with the society in the future.

Claiming the grant

You can claim the grant via the expense claim form accessible via Rubric after an application is approved. You can also expense it the same way as society expenses.

All money allocated to a society must be claimed within 3 months of the grant being approved. We will only extend this deadline in exceptional circumstances. If you have not claimed the money by the set deadline, it will be reclaimed by CSU and redistributed.

Societies are open to receive sponsorships from businesses to receive extra support in the form of funds and/or resources for their society. In return, the society may need to promote the business to their members, use their facilities or any other requirements they seek as part of a sponsorship agreement. You may also be offered alternative reward schemes – if you’re unsure, please contact us before entering your details on any third party websites.

All sponsorship agreements must follow the ‘Third Party & Sponsorship for Societies Policy’. All the information around this process can be found on your dashboard.

If you are looking to sign an agreement, please email studentopps@chester.ac.uk if you are unsure or have any questions about sponsorship/third party affiliations.

Fundraising is at the core of many of our societies and we are committed to supporting you to achieve your fundraising goals.

There are two main ways in which a society might choose to raise money:

1. Raise money for your society – this could be to help fund an event or raise money for new supplies.
2. Raise money for a charity – some groups might decide they want to nominate a core charity which they will raise money.

As Chester Students’ Union is a charity this means that any fundraising money you raise cannot come straight from your Society Social Account. However, you can raise money for charity through an event using a Just Giving Page. NUS provide a fundraising guide for students that may be helpful to read.

Important steps:

Notify CSU – Chester Students’ Union must be notified about any online funding page. To notify CSU, please ensure that you send an email to studentopps@chester.ac.uk with the link to the fundraising page.

• Be transparent and clear – Ensure any online fundraising is as clear as possible about who you are, who you are fundraising for, and where the money is going.
• If you are holding a fundraising event you will need to submit an Event Proposal Form which information can be found in the Events and Trips section, within the appropriate deadlines.
• Be creative and make fundraising fun! We can’t wait to hear your fundraising ideas!