Ahead of the Student Government Association’s transition to an event-based budget model for student organizations next fall, some student organization leaders expressed hope about the switch’s potential for funding increases, while others said they foresee logistical and funding challenges.

Last spring, the SGA passed the Financial Transparency Act to restructure the budget by shifting funds from the semiannual general allocations system to an event-based funding model, which will allow student organizations to request funding weekly for events throughout the year. Some student organization leaders said they believe the new budget model will allow them to secure more fundings for events, while others said they are concerned about funding uncertainties and planning large events due to lack of foresight on how much money the SGA will allocate for them.

The SGA’s previous funding structure included a semiannual general allocations process that covered the majority of student organizations’ costs and a cosponsorship process where student organizations could request money on a weekly basis for additional costs. The new model renamed co-sponsorships to event-based funding, which will make up 60 percent of the existing SGA budget — up from 15 percent from last year’s 45 percent — and shift funds away from general student organization budget allocations toward event-based funding, where organizations can request the money they anticipate needing for upcoming events.

Student organizations need to apply for event-based funding at least 14 business days in advance of their anticipated event under both budget models, according to the SGA website.

The SGA Senate allocated $241,000 to student organizations for the fall 2024 semester last April. Last month, senators allocated $146,690.17 across 215 student organizations for the upcoming fall semester, with the $448,000 in remaining funds reserved for the need-based system under the new system.

Haley Chokshi, president of the Indian Students’ Association, said the transition to the event-based funding model makes her “nervous” because it creates uncertainty for student organizations who need to make reservations for food and venues ahead of time for large events.

“It’s hard to make reservations for bigger venues or put in orders for food ahead of time because we don’t know how much money we’re getting until maybe three weeks before the event, and it’s a lot of scrambling before,” Chokshi said.

The Indian Students’ Association requested $22,625.52 in general funding, but the SGA allocated only $4,300 for the upcoming fall semester under the fiscal year 2026 Operational Cost Allocation Part I Act, which the body passed last month.

Chokshi said both funding models have “flaws,” with the previous system requiring student organizations to estimate exact costs for line items, like food or decorations at the start of the semester, since funds couldn’t be reallocated between categories without prior SGA approval. She said the SGA cut necessary line items last year, like a DJ for Garba, an Indian folk dance festival, while approving less prioritized items submitted, like plates, forcing the group to submit forms to transfer unused funds from one category to another under the old model.

“It’s tough because it really takes time to transfer money from one section to another and deal with the logistics of that,” Chokshi said. “But by the time the transfer goes through, things have already changed with the company we’re working with, or things have already changed with the venue.”

Student organizations can submit a form to the SGA to transfer unused funds allocated to one category to another, under both the general funding and event-based funding models, which ​the Financial Services and Allocations Committee reviews weekly per the SGA website.

Ragheb Khalidi, the finance director of GlobeMed at GW — a health equity organization on campus — said he is “optimistic” about the transition to the new funding model because GlobeMed often relies on co-sponsorship funds, now dubbed event-based funding, to host their events.

“On the surface, this sounds like a good thing, though, of course, we won’t really know until the fall semester comes, since that’s when we will be submitting the co-sponsorships,” Khalidi said.

Khalidi said GlobeMed securing enough funding for their events has been a “problem” under the previous general allocation model, which is why the organization relied more on co-sponsorship funding to organize events toward the end of the semester.

“We usually end up getting the necessary funds through everything to operate and take on all of the other events,” Khalidi said.

GlobeMed requested $2,250 in general allocation funding for the upcoming fall semester, and the organization received $0.

“I am expecting us to get more money for our cosponsorships to kind of even it out,” Khalidi said. “I’m looking forward to or hoping SGA will finance us and fulfill that expectation that we will get enough money for our sponsorship to carry out our event.”

Sarah Yu, the treasurer of Camp Kesem, a summer camp for children who are impacted by their parent’s battle with cancer, said she’s concerned the event-based funding model may restrict the club’s spending on subscription services as she said she is unsure if those funds are covered under the event-based model.

“We use co-sponsorship to get subscriptions, like Canva and MailChimp, which we use to send emails to a lot of people,” Yu said. “So we haven’t tried that yet with the new model, but I’m a little worried if that’ll change, like, if they’ll be more strict about it.”

Camp Kesem requested $61,495 and received $1,000 in general funding.

SGA President Ethan Lynne, who ran on a platform of securing the largest funding increase for student organizations “in history,” said in his inaugural address at the swearing in ceremony earlier this month that the increase will happen in the “coming weeks.” Lynne called on the Board of Trustees at their meeting Friday to increase funding for student organizations.

“You all face a crucial decision in the coming weeks regarding student organization funding and approval,” Lynne said in his speech to the Board. “This symbolizes more than numbers on the spreadsheet. It symbolizes our commitment to enriching campus life and supporting organizations that make our university vibrant and diverse.”

Lynne said many student organizations reached out to him about the decrease in general funding after the SGA allocated funds for the fall semester. Lynne said the attendance at mandatory financial training sessions for student organizations’ leaders in January — which the SGA implemented to train organization leaders about the new system — was “very good,” but some confusion may have come from leadership transitions in student organizations or misunderstandings during the sessions.

“What I observed was a lot of orgs maybe sent people that were graduating and leaving the board, and then that knowledge just didn’t pass down fully,” Lynne said. “Or people were just confused, or maybe, just misinterpreted something from a session.”

Lynne said this budget is the “first time” the SGA met 100 percent of some organizations’ operational cost requests, which he said is “never seen” before in general allocation. He said he will work with Vice President Liz Stoddard and the Financial Services and Allocations Committee to host more training events for student organizations in the process of requesting for funding to host events in the upcoming semester.

“I will push to that my role as president, and I’ve continued to, in my role, explain to any orgs that come to me the changes,” Lynne said. “And how they are overly beneficial once we get into the fall, and you start to see that event-based budget having so much more money in it to support student orgs and the wonderful events that they do.”