25 Registered student organization application. Most institutions require an application to be identified as a recognized student organization. This application generally requires renewal annually, and so it is prudent to keep a copy of the previous year’s application on hand to ease completion of new applications. The same is true for university grant applications and funding requests. Branding documents. The Chapter brand is more easily understood as the Chapter’s identity. While brand is discussed fully below, branding documents, to include the Chapter’s logo, style guide, and branding policies should all be included and maintained with the founding documents. Budget A budget is a strategic tool used for planning and controlling within a Chapter. It is a formal written guideline for a plan of action, expressed in financial terms within a set time. It can help refine goals that reflect realistic resources. It can compel members of the Chapter to use funds efficiently. It can provide accurate information to adjust, analyze, and evaluate programs and activities. It can aid in decision making. Finally, a budget can provide a historical reference to be used for future planning. A budget is made up of several components including a statement of the organization’s goals, objectives, and priorities. It considers what goals a Chapter wants to accomplish, how the Chapter will accomplish them, and how much they will cost to execute. It then identifies how each program, event, and service will be funded and a specified time to which the budget applies. The Chapter should have an outlined method of reviewing budget plans and procedures designated in their bylaws or constitution. To measure and track the financial stability, support, and success of the Chapter, a budgeted financial statement brings both an estimated detailed income breakdown as well as an estimated detailed expense breakdown. To develop a budget, Chapter Leaders should begin preparations a month or more prior to the close of the current year. In many cases, this would be a summer practice in preparation for Chapter operations in the fall, but Chapter calendars are at the discretion of the Chapter. Chapter Leaders should consult their Chapter calendar to prepare an outline of the organization’s planned activities for the upcoming year. Budget development involves careful studies, investigations, and research of funding, cost, and resources. Budgets start with determining available funds, such as carry-over balance from previous year, cash on hand, and estimate expected income as well as the expectation of when the funds will be available from dues, T-shirt sales, donations etc. The budget also defines needed expenses for advertising, rentals, printing, supplies, etc. It is a good practice to gather price quotes on certain expenses and delegate some responsibilities to Chapter Members. Budget items or activities should be rank ordered by their relative importance and then chosen to make the wisest expenditures for a limited budget. Chapter Leaders should consider how much funding is available to allocate to a program, negotiate as necessary, eliminate less-essential expenditures, or limit certain expenditures. The budgeting process, therefore, involves revision, coordination, cross-referencing, and assembling information into a final budget; the budget must be flexible to anticipate conditions which might have been overlooked during the planning process. Chapter budgets are often voted on either by the leadership team or at a full member meeting. School policies can also dictate how Chapter budgets are adopted. Once approved, adopted and prepared, a budget should be closely managed. The Vice President of Finance should set and ensure maintenance of a minimum cash balance, formulate policies and procedures needed to achieve objectives, keep an accurate log of financial transactions (income and expenses) in Chapter record books available to the Chapter President, and set up internal control designed for safeguards and accurate accounting data. This encourages adherence to accountability. To manage a budget, remember the most important cost control: allow only approved expenditures. The Vice President of Finance, Chapter President, or any other Chapter Leader should be available to assess
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