The following are a summary of the Funding Guidelines are enforced by the Financial Committee of the Student Government Association to ensure that every Recognized Student Organization has equal opportunity to request funding for travel and events. For the complete guidelines, please see https://sites.psu.edu/sgaharrisburg/governing-documents/ . 

NOTE: SGA Funding Requests are due in Engage by 5:00pm (noon) every Thursday, to be reviewed by the Finance Committee the following week.  The Finance Committee meets every Wednesday from 11:30am – 1:00pm, in TL 118.  You will receive an email inviting you to attend the meeting at which your proposal will be reviewed.  Your request may be denied by the Finance Committee. All requests must abide by the following guidelines:

  • All requests must attach a PDF of an itemized quote (quantity, cost, total) that explains the request for funding. Applicable shipping, tax, fees, itemized quotes, online purchases, and gratuity (no more than 20%), must be included in the total of the items requested. 
    • If your expenses cannot be concretely totaled in advance (ex. final car rental expenses), please provide any formulas used to calculate the requested amount. Attachments of itemized quotes are mandatory.
  • Be specific with each proposal.  Include the date of the event/travel, who will attend, who the target audience will be, your travel destination, the purpose for your travel/purchase, etc. Events and travel must align with the mission of the organization proposing the request. 
  • Funding proposals can only be submitted by the organization’s President or Treasurer.
  • The organization’s advisor(s) must be made aware that the organization is seeking funding through a fundind request to SGA. 
  • Funding requests must be submitted at minimum four weeks in advance of the date the event the funding is being requested.
  • Organizations cannot ask for allocation of additional funds not included in their official request at the Finance Committee meeting. The Finance Committee of the Student Government Association will only evaluate, discuss, and vote on the amount requested through the submitted funding request form.
    • If an organization needs to adjust a funding request, they may do so by submitting a new request form with the updated amount, the proper documentation, and discussion notes stating that the request is meant to replace an existing request.
    • All updates to a proposal must be submitted before Thursday at 5:00 pm to be voted on the following SGA Finance Committee meeting. 
  • All purchases must be made through the Office of Student Engagement.
  • Organizations who are requesting food for events must first request catering from the Penn State Harrisburg Housing and Food services by emailing clcater@psu.edu or by visiting the office in E122 Olmsted Building.
    • If HFS is not able to provide catering for the event, you will then need to submit the Request to Serve/Sell Food Form https://liveon.psu.edu/harrisburg/catering for approval to work with a vendor from the approved caterers list.  In your SGA Funding Request, please provide proof that HFS refused your catering request for that particular request and provide a quote with itemized breakdown (food, beverages, quantity, flatware expenses, total cost, etc.) from the approved vendor. 
    • Note: all beverages must be Pepsi products, per the University’s contractual agreement with Pepsi Co.
  • If an organization requests funding for an off-campus trip or conference and the SGA provides funding for any cost incurred such as hotel fees, conference fees, and any up-front fees, it is expected that each person who is planning to attend must be present for all funded aspects of the trip. A list of all attendees must be provided.
    • If a person does not attend the trip or conference, the organization requesting funds will be accountable for reimbursing the SGA for the expenses incurred.
  • Organizations who receive funding for any off-campus trip are responsible to ensure that all members participating in the trip must sign and abide by the Accountability Guidelines (see below). 
  • SGA will fund no more than one multi-day trip/conference, per organization, per academic year.
  • A maximum of one thousand and five hundred dollars towards one head coach per club sport. All other coaching requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Finance Committee.
  • NO reimbursements will be made.  No exceptions. 
  • The following items will NOT be funded by the SGA Financial Committee:
    • Apparel (including T-shirts for sale, T-shirts for club members, t-shirts for events, etc.).
    • Food requested for club meetings, off-campus conferences, off campus events, or travel meals.
    • Adviser fees. Any amount associated with adviser fees will be subtracted from the funding request. The Financial Committee will only consider the remaining amount to discuss and vote on.
    • Decorations for events. These include, but are not limited to, streamers, tablecloths, flowers, balloons, etc.
    • Prizes, gifts or giveaways. These include, but are not limited to, pens, stress balls, lanyards, trinkets or anything that might be considered a prize, giveaway or gift.
    • International flights (travel outside the United States and its territories).
    • Advertisements or any public notice, informing the general public of an event, club, organization, information, etc .
    • SGA will not allocate money to be used for fundraising events.
    • Tolls, Parking, and Fuel/Mileage will not be reimbursed/funded by SGA.
  • Requesting the same amount of funds for the same event from both SGA and SAF will be considered “double dipping,” and therefore will be denied.
    • If an organization receives partial funding for an event from SAF, the club can ask for the remaining amount from SGA, as long as it follows the financial guidelines.
  • All guidelines will be actively reviewed by the Finance Committee throughout the semester.
  • The Finance Committee reserves the right to make financially responsible decisions. 
  • Restrictions may be extended or abolished at the discretion of the Treasurer of SGA.

The accountability guidelines are as follows:

  • This is an alcohol and drug free event.
  • All members must demonstrate professional and appropriate behavior.
  • All members must abide by the Penn State University Student Code of Conduct and the Penn State Values.
  • Any member that violates these expectations will be asked to leave the event at their own expense.
  • One executive board member must be present for any approved travel.
  • If the organization commits to attending an event, any absences will result in the organization reimbursing SGA based off the calculation in the Funding Guidelines.
    • Any outstanding debt from the event will result in the club being unable to submit new funding requests for the remainder of the semester. 
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