The C&C Fund is Dwight Hall’s main method of financial support for Member Groups. We incorporated your feedback from the last Cabinet meeting and there will now be 2 rounds of funding this semester. Also, as a result of our collective advocacy efforts last semester, we were able to increase our budget from $30,000 to $40,000 per fiscal year, which will be divided into around $20,000 per semester.  Unfortunately, we often receive requests totaling $50,000+ per semester, which means we typically are not able to grant the entirety of funding requests for all member groups. Because of this, it is imperative that you carefully consider and prioritize what you request funding for.

With any questions, please reach out to the Student Executive Committee’s (ExComm) Financial Co-Coordinators at (financial@dwighthall.org). The Co-Coordinators on ExComm for 2024 are Catalina Mahe (catalina.mahe@yale.edu) and Xin Lu (xin.lu@yale.edu). 

Application

Each member group can apply for up to $1,500 total each semester. If necessary, member groups may apply in a separate application for an increased funding cap. If you are interested in this option, please email financial@dwighthall.org indicating your interest and we will follow up with further action.

This semester we are running on a two-round application process through ‘Actions’ submitted on the C&C application. For Round 1, please submit all activities/events that have already happened or are expected to happen from August 28 to November 11 as ‘Actions’ that you would want to be considered for funding.  These actions should be submitted on the C&C application (within the Record) before the deadline of  September 30th, 11:59pm. We will get back to you with a decision about your Round 1 award by October 7th, 11:59pm.  

Each group’s current Record (Fall 2024) can be found here: https://dwighthall.org/record/

For events happening after November 11 through the end of the semester, there will be a Round 2 of applications. This two-round system is to allow for more flexibility in event funding because we understand that it’s difficult to plan out all of your events for the entire semester in September. We will follow up more details about this timeline in October. 

Recurring Actions: If your group has activities/events that happen on a recurring basis throughout the semester (weekly, biweekly), please submit these as one action on your C&C application for the semester. Our decision will cover funding for the entire semester, NOT just the Round 1 timeline (August 28 – November 11.) This is to help minimize redundancy. 

Fall 2024 Timeline 

• 9/12: Record Opens with C&C Funding Application
• Round 1 (Aug 28 – Nov 11):
  • 9/20 @ 4PM : Info Session – Dwight Hall Common Room 
  • 9/23 @ 8PM : Info Session – Dwight Hall Common Room 
  • 9/26 @ 7-9PM : Office Hours – Bass Cafe
  • 9/28 @ 3-5PM : Office Hours – Zoom
  • 9/30 @ 11:59PM: C&C Applications Deadline 
  • 9/30 @ 11:59PM: Retroactive Reimbursements Request Deadline
  • 10/7 @ 11:59PM: C&C Decisions Returned
  • 10/14 @ 11:59PM: C&C Appeal Deadline
  • 11/18 @ 11:59PM: Last Deadline for Receipts 
• Round 2  (Nov 11 – End of Semester)

Round 2 Funding Information

• 11/6 @ 8-9:30PM: Optional Office Hours (Zoom)
• 11/7 @ 8-9:30PM: Optional Office Hours (Zoom)
• 11/11 @ 11:59PM: Funding Applications Due
• 11/15: Funding Decisions Released
• 11/19 @ 11:59PM: Appeals Due
• 11/21: Appeal Decisions Released
• 12/9 @ 11:59PM: Last Deadline for Receipts

Instructions: To apply for Round 2 funding, please access your Record here and simply add new actions that will happen from November 11 to the End of Semester. Once you have submitted your new actions, please email us at financial@dwighthall.org notifying us that you updated your Record. Additionally, please attend our optional office hours on Zoom if you have any questions.

Summary of Funding Round 1

• We received $65,418.90 worth of funding requests for Round 1. For context, for the entire Fall semester of 2023, we only received $47,405.58 of requests. Thus, there was a 38% jump in requests. Given our yearly budget of $40,000 (split up between $20,000 per semester), this proved to be an extremely competitive application cycle. 
• We processed 147 separate actions so shoutout for planning so many activities for this semester! You are all making such a big effort and impact. 
• 11/18 @ 11:59PM: Last Deadline for Receipts (Round 1)

Eligibility

Your group is eligible for funding if you:

1. Are a full or provisional member of Dwight Hall;
2. Have submitted your organization’s information to the yearly Record and Review;
3. Have attended the most recent Cabinet meeting;
4. Agree to list Dwight Hall as a sponsor in your materials.
5. (NEW) One representative attends one information session / office hours 

Continuing our policy from last semester, a representative from each member group is required to attend at least one information session OR office hour slot for the group to be eligible for funding. We will be keeping attendance. These are the following dates: 

• 9/20 @ 4PM : Info Session – Dwight Hall Common Room 
• 9/23 @ 8PM : Info Session – Dwight Hall Common Room 
• 9/26 @ 7-9PM : Office Hours – Bass Cafe
• 9/28 @ 3-5PM : Office Hours – Zoom

In the information session, we’ll be running through a mock application, and in office hours we’ll help with any questions you may have and can assist you in filling out any information. If you are not able to attend any of the given 4 sessions, let us know and we’ll schedule a time to individually review your application with you. We want to make sure that you each have the adequate information and preparation to submit the best application and maximize your funding. We’re here to help!

Alternative Funding Sources:

We are committed to making sure that you have access to all of the necessary resources to carry out your member group activities. Since the C&C Fund often can’t cover full requests, we are providing a guide to alternative funding sources that could be relevant to your events/projects. The guide can be found here: Funding Sources/Alternatives Dwight Hall. We also have a template for member group budgeting that could be helpful as you plan for this semester! The template can be found here: DH Member Group Budget Template 2024.xlsx

We want to serve as a resource to fill out these applications so if you have any questions about which you may be eligible for or are searching for other options, please reach out to us! We are more than happy to meet to discuss further. 

FAQ

How does Dwight Hall decide which groups get funding?

Your application is reviewed by a combination of the Financial Coordinator, the Membership Coordinators, and one of the two Dwight Hall Co-Coordinators. The team may approve an application but award a smaller amount than requested or deny individual items. Groups may appeal their funding decisions to the entire Dwight Hall Executive Committee. Applications are considered using these questions:

• What is the impact of the group on the campus and/or community, and how does it enroll Yale students in this impact?
• How important are the expenditures to the group’s mission?
• Has the group pursued opportunities to reduce expenses?
• How accurately has the group judged its needs in the past? Has it taken the money it was allocated?
• What other sources of funding does the group have?
• How will the group contribute to Dwight Hall fundraising (i.e. Phonathon, writing press releases, etc.)?

What doesn’t Dwight Hall fund?

• Bank fees
• 8.5×11 printing
• On-campus space rentals unless they are for a conference
• International travel
• Fundraisers or objects to sell/auction to raise funds (loans are included)
• Alcohol
• Unnecessary decorations for events
• Table rentals
• Group merchandise/apparel
• Medicine or prescriptions
• Purchases not made directly by the member group
• Member group association fees with larger national or international organizations.
• Repeated supply purchases when they can be avoided (i.e. 20 new textbooks every semester when copies can be made from 1 textbook for multiple semesters)

Please note that the above restrictions can be waived on a per-case basis to uphold the Community Compact, the public health of students and the community, or given a reasonable explanation by the member group.

What is the process for being reimbursed?

After you have received your funding decision, you will know what your award will cover and can make purchases accordingly. Groups must spend money for their activities up front and Dwight Hall will reimburse money on a rolling basis. 

As soon as you have made a purchase, you can submit your receipt(s) for reimbursement by filling out the attached Reimbursement Request Form. Groups will fill out the form with line items, money spent per line item, and total spent as well as attach all receipts from the semester. Please email pictures of the relevant receipts and the request form to financial@dwighthall.org as a Word document. You will receive your reimbursement within 2-3 weeks. Note that any spending that does not correspond to a receipt will not be funded. 

You must submit your receipts for reimbursement within FOUR WEEKS of the purchase date. For expenditures at the end of the semester, the final deadline for all receipt submission is Friday, December 13th at 11:59pm. The total of these purchases must fall within the allocated award. If otherwise, we will only fund up to the award granted. We also cannot, under any circumstances, fund late receipt submissions unless approved by the Financial Coordinators before your receipt deadline. If you think you’ll need an extension, please reach out sooner rather than later. 

In some cases where a group is unable to pay for an activity due to high costs, Dwight Hall may be able to pay the provider directly, circumventing the reimbursement process. In order to do this, groups must reach out to the Financial Coordinator with an invoice.

Retroactive Reimbursements: If you are a group that has already held an event or will hold an event before September 30th that needs funding, you should submit the event in your C&C funding application alongside your regular requests. We are only considering retroactive reimbursements for events up to September 30 to account for events that already happened before the C&C funding decisions are released. As a reminder, retroactive reimbursements are not guaranteed.

If we are able to reimburse your retroactive request, you will receive an email notifying you of the reimbursement amount by October 7th, and requesting the submission of receipts for your purchases.