Guidelines for Fundraising

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GUIDELINES FOR FUNDRAISING

GHANA UNIVERSITY SPORTS ASSOCIATION (GUSA)

1.0   PURPOSE:  The purpose of these guidelines is to provide modalities to govern fundraising activities by the Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA).

2.0 SCOPE: These Guidelines apply to raising of funds by GUSA with respect to: students’ subscription; sponsorship; donations/grants; and merchandising to support GUSA’s activities in Ghana and beyond.

3.0 TERMS AND DEFINITION: For the purposes of these Guidelines, the following operational definitions apply:

  1. Fundraising Committee refers to the Committee responsible for raising funds to support the running of GUSA. The Fundraising Committee shall be made up of permanent and co-opted members. There shall be five (5) permanent members made up of the Vice-President, the Treasurer, two other members appointed by the Executive Committee, and a student appointed by the Students’ Committee.  The Vice-President shall be the Chairman of the Committee. The Co-opted members shall be appointed depending on the GUSA activity under consideration.    
  2. Sponsorship refers to the provision of financial or in-kind support for an activity or event of GUSA for which the sponsor receives formal recognition and/or promotional opportunities;
  3. GUSA Subscription refers to the authorized amount payable to GUSA per a registered student per academic year. Such an amount shall be paid on behalf of the student by his/her institution, who shall be a member of GUSA.
  4. Sports levy refers totheauthorized amount payable by a registered student to his/her institution for the purpose of running sporting activities in the institution and beyond. The GUSA subscription shall be paid from the Sports Levy
  5.  Donations refer to the act of giving a grant or contribution both in cash and in kind to GUSA towards a specific cause. It is often given by individuals, groups, foundations, or an institution for a specific project. Donations could be given one-off or in bits.
  6. Grant refers to non-repayable funds disbursed by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to GUSA for a specific project.
  7. Merchandising refers to the development and sale of GUSA-branded items for the purpose of raising funds for GUSA activities.

 

4.0 GUIDING PRINCIPLES:   GUSA shall be guided by the following Principles in its fundraising exercise.

Partnership:-Where necessaryGUSA shall engage in partnership for the purpose of achieving a fundraising objective provided such partnership shall not compromise or be seen to compromise the independence of GUSA in its decision-making process.

 

Integrity:-  GUSA shall treat all parties in ways that demonstrate that GUSA is honest, impartial, professionally competent and ethical.

Responsibility:- GUSA shall carry out all agreements in relation to fundraising in an impartial, comprehensive and appropriate manner in accordance with established guidelines, procedures and policies of GUSA.

 

Accountability:  The fundraising process shall be open, transparent with accountability at its core. In line with this, GUSA shall make full disclosure of information in relation to in-kind / cash contributions received from sponsors to any third party at the end of each sponsorship exercise provided this shall not compromise the confidentiality clause.

Confidentiality:  GUSA shall respect and protect confidential information from Sponsors. Sponsors shall be required to indicate to GUSA information that has to be treated as confidential; 

  

Recognition: GUSA shall grant recognition in a manner deemed fit in appreciation of the contributions made by sponsors.  

 

Appropriation:  GUSA shall ensure that funds raised shall be used for the purpose for which  sourced for.

 

Outsourcing:  When necessary, GUSA shall solicit the services of an external Consultant to execute a fundraising activity under terms and conditions agreed by both parties.

 

Exclusion: GUSA shall not grant promotional opportunities to sponsors for the advertisement/promotion of alcoholic beverages, cigarette etc. GUSA shall not solicit funds from blacklisted companies as well as companies whose actions are not in line with GUSA principles.

 

5.0 GUIDELINES FOR FUNDRAISING

 

The sources of fundraising for which these guidelines have been developed are: GUSA Subscription;

Sponsorship; Donations/Grants; and Merchandising.

 

5.1        Guidelines for GUSA Subscription

        i.            For the purposes of GUSA Subscription, the Secretary-General, as a co-opted member, shall join the five (5) permanent members to constitute the Fundraising Committee;

      ii.            Each registered student shall be required to pay an annual subscription to GUSA. Such a subscription shall be known as GUSA subscription:

    iii.            Member institutions shall be required to pay the GUSA subscriptions on behalf of all registered students in full by the end of the first semester

    iv.            The level of the subscription shall be revised, as and when necessary, by the General Assembly, communicated to all Patrons of GUSA  and shall take effect from the following academic year;

      v.            The treasurer shall write to all member institutions requesting for the annual GUSA subscription in the second week of September. A copy of the letter shall be sent to the Director/Chairperson of sports of the member institution;

    vi.            The Director/Chairman of Sports shall be required  to do the necessary follow-ups, among others to ensure that;

  1. Cheques are ready by the end of October after receipt of the letter requesting for subscription; and
  2. Cheques, as much as possible, reflect the actual number of registered students;

  vii.              The treasurer shall be required to confirm the number of registered students at any point in time by liaising with Registrars of member institutions.

  1. Where a discrepancy in the figures of registered students is identified, the Treasurer shall draw the attention of the Registrar of the member institution to this discrepancy in writing  with a copy to the Director/Chairman of Sports of the member institution;

     ix.            Where payments are made, receipts shall be issued by the Treasurer indicating the amount of subscription paid against the number of registered students.

       x.            At the end of the first semester, GUSA shall request from member institutions, the number of registered students and where the number of registered students is observed to have increased, GUSA shall make request for supplementary payments.

     xi.             Such request shall indicate the additional number of students and the corresponding amount payable.

   xii.            Where supplementary payments are made, receipts shall be issued to that effect.

 

5.2              Guidelines for Sponsorship

  1. For the purposes of sponsorship for a GUSA competition/activity, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) shall appoint three (3) of its members to join the five (5) permanent members to constitute the Fundraising Committee.

 

In the event that, a GUSA activity takes place outside the campus of a member institution, the Executive Committee shall appoint three GUSA members to join the permanent members of the Fundraising Committee;

 

  1. The Committee shall identify sponsors and inform them by writing of GUSA’s intention to seek sponsorship for a forthcoming GUSA competition. This shall be done early enough to allow potential sponsors to incorporate this into their budget for the competition year;

 

  1. The Committee shall prepare a sponsorship document stating the various benefits associated with the different sponsorship packages (Platinum, Gold, Silver etc) available;

 

  1. A copy of the sponsorship document shall be made available to the Executive Committee for approval;

 

  1. The sponsorship document  shall be sent to the identified sponsors preferably three (3) clear months before the competition starts;

 

  1. Upon acceptance to provide sponsorship , GUSA and potential sponsor shall sign a contract detailing the responsibilities of each partner ;

 

  1. The Sponsor shall be required to deliver in full the contribution associated with the selected package;

 

  1. The Committee shall ensure that all benefits associated with the selected package is redeemed in full;

 

  1. A Certificate of Appreciation, Citation  and a Letter of Gratitude  shall be presented to each Sponsor at the competition grounds as part of the benefits to the Sponsor;

 

  1. The Committee shall submit a report on the sponsorship to the Executive Committee within four (4) weeks after the competition.

 

5.3 Guidelines for Donations/Grants

  1. For the purposes of donations/grants, a member(s) of GUSA who is privy to information about or has access to a potential donor shall join the permanent members, as a co-opted member to constitute the Fundraising Committee;
  2. All members of GUSA shall be encouraged to assist in the solicitation of donations/grant for GUSA;
  3. Donations shall be solicited from foundations, government/non-governmental organisations, individuals etc;
  4. A member of GUSA who identifies an opportunity for donations shall bring it to the notice of the fundraising committee, who shall appraise the donations opportunity;
  5. Granted that the outcome of the appraisal is positive, the committee shall seek approval from the Executive Committee to go ahead to solicit the donations;
  6. Members of the Fundraising Committee, depending on the circumstances, shall have direct interaction with the potential donor to discuss funding;
  7.  Depending on the outcome of the interaction, the Committee may develop a fundraising proposal for the purpose of soliciting the donations from the potential donor. Such a proposal shall take into consideration how to meet the objectives of the donor;
  8.  Upon the approval to give the donations, the Committee shall inform the Executive Committee, who together with the Fundraising Committee shall do a second appraisal of the donations only and only if the initial offer has been revised;
  9. Depending on the outcome of the second appraisal, the donation/grant offer may be accepted or rejected;
  10. Upon acceptance of the donation/grant offer , GUSA and potential donor shall sign a contract detailing the responsibilities of each partner ;
  11.  GUSA shall ensure that it complies with the provisions in the contract to the letter;
  12. A letter of appreciation shall be sent to the donor upon receipt of the donation/grant;
  13. After the completion of the project for which the donation/grant was sourced for, an audited accounts shall prepared and presented to the donor as evidence of complying with the agreed terms 

 

5.4              Guidelines for Merchandising

  1. Any member of GUSA with expertise in merchandising shall be co-opted to join the permanent members of the Fundraising Committee for the purpose of developing and sale of GUSA-branded items;
  2. The Committee shall determine the items to be developed and branded as merchandise. Such items shall include, but not limited to T-shirts, Polo-shirts, Pens, Caps, Bags, Canopies, Key Holders etc.
  3. The items shall be branded in line with the Brand and Style Guide of GUSA;
  4. For the purposes of the development of the items, three companies shall be invited to submit proposals;
  5. The Committee shall appraise the proposals and recommend one of the companies to the Executive Committee for approval  to undertake the production of the items;
  6. A contract shall be awarded to the selected company for the production of the items;
  7. Sale of the items shall be done through member institutions and during GUSA competitions/activities.
  8. A Point of Sale (POS) shall be erected at the grounds during GUSA competitions to sell the GUSA–branded items;
  9. The Committee shall render accounts to the Executive Committee within one month after each GUSA competition.     

 

6.0 Revision of Guidelines

 

This Guideline shall be revised every 2 years starting from January 2014.