MECSU - RUNNING / STARTING ASOCIETY

This document is to assist those either running or who wish to start a Murray Edwards society and gives rules / helpful tips in doing so. This document should be read alongside the MESCU Societies’ Charter.

WHO CAN START A SOCIETY?

Any student member (undergrad / grad) of Murray Edwards can start a society for college members.

FIRST STEPS

  1. Decide what sort of a society you want to start! Popular ideas are Sport or Interest Societies.
  2. Check with the JCR Treasurer that this Society is not already running.
  3. Set up a Business Current Account in the name of your Society.
  4. Plan and submit a Budget Proposal.
  5. Get some members! This can be done via advertising on the MESCU Board, Facebook MESCU Page or at the College Societies Fair in Fresher’s Week.

SOCIETY BANK ACCOUNTS

  1. Societies wishing to obtain funding from MECSU must have a society bank account. MECSU cannot pay societies’ funds into a member’s personal bank account or reimburse individual members for society expenses.

How to set up a Society Bank Account:

  1. Set up the account at a bank in Cambridge. If you ever have any bank-related issues, it will be a lot easier to deal with the problem at the branch where the account is held. If this is in Cambridge, it will be somewhere that is accessible to you and to future members.
  1. Insist on speaking to a Real Person (not a computer advisory service) before filling in any forms. Tell them that you want a Business Current Account and explain what it is for. All you want to do with it is pay in cheques and write out cheques, whenever you need to, but they will probably try to sell you a fancy version with extra facilities and extra charges attached- don’t be persuaded!

Keeping records

  1. Keep a file for Society finances. Include in the file:
  1. All statements (and other letters/paperwork from the bank). If you correspond with the bank, file copies of the letters you have written as well. Date everything – it also helps to file chronologically.
  1. All society income. There might not be a written document recording the payment - in this case, write your own, and include:
  1. Who the payment is from
  2. What the payment is for
  3. The amount of the payment
  4. The date
  1. All receipts, where society money has been spent. If a member has spent her own money on the society’s behalf and wishes to be reimbursed by the society, she MUST provide the receipt in order to do so. Include:
  1. The receipt itself
  2. Who the payment has been made to (if not obvious)
  3. What the payment was for
  4. The amount of the payment (if not obvious)
  5. The date
  6. The number on the cheque you have written (if you are paying by cheque, or reimbursing somebody)
  7. The claimant’s name (if you are reimbursing a society member)
  1. If there is no receipt, the following are acceptable:
  2. Printouts of ‘order confirmation’ emails for online shopping
  3. Signed affidavits from reliable people (e.g. college staff) that the claim is truthful
  4. Similar proofs that the payment has been made.
  1. Use a cash book to record details of all society income and expenditure. This could be in the form of:
  2. Ruling columns in an exercise book
  3. A ‘proper’ cash book that can be bought from newsagents/stationers.
  4. An excel spreadsheet (though make sure that it is backed up, and gets passed on to future committee members)
  1. An example of how the cash book can be set out is as follows, on a double page spread:

Income / Expenditure
Date / Source / Amount/£ / Date / Cheque no. / Details / Amount/£
01/09/08 / Balance carried forward / 100.00 / 03/10/08 / 100042 / Food for Freshers’ squash / 15.00
01/10/08 / interest / 2.00 / 15/11/08 / 100043 / Printing Society newsletters / 5.00
01/11/08 / interest / 2.00 / 20/11/08 / 100044 / New tennis rackets x3 (@ £20 each) / 60.00
03/11/08 / MECSU funds / 60.00
31/08/09 / Total / 164.00 / 31/08/09 / - / Total / 80.00
Balance carried forward / 164.00 – 80.00
84.00
  1. ‘Balance carried forward’ means the balance in the account at the beginning/end of the year. So ’84.00’ would appear in the first line of ‘Income’ for the next year’s Cash Summary.
  1. Fill in the Cash Summary at the time of the income/expenditure payment. Leaving it for a later date makes it easy to forget or lose track!
  1. When you receive a bank statement, check that the payments in and out of the account are consistent with your records.

Basically: KEEP EVERYTHING. DATE EVERYTHING.

Dealing with Problems

When unexplained things show up on a statement, write to the bank. Avoid phone calls if possible- it is useful to have a printed record of the whole correspondence. The same goes for any disputes over payments made to mail-order companies, ebay sellers etc. If it is urgent, go into the bank and talk to a Real Person rather than writing.

Do I really need to bother with all this stuff?

Yes, you do. It enables MECSU to see how the money it gives to college societies has been spent, and makes it a lot easier for current and future members to keep track of accounts.

If your society makes very few transactions, your records will be quick and easy to complete clearly without necessarily needing to summarise them in a cash book.

Changing Committees

  1. Whenever you change Treasurer or President (whoever is named on the account), you will need a mandate to change the signatories on the society account. To do this, contact the bank in advance and ask them what proof of ID/paperwork to bring. Generally, both the old and new signatories will be required to contribute to completing the mandate.

Budget Proposals

To make a budget proposal:

  1. State how much money you hope to get from the JCR, and give a breakdown of what you plan to spend it on.
  2. You may not be granted the full amount you request – it depends on the total amount of society requests MECSU receives. The MECSU Treasurer may give additional instructions at the time.
  3. Include details of the past year’s accounting records.

Some rules to consider when drafting budget proposals:

  • No JCR funds are to be spent on alcohol whatsoever.
  • No more than £3 per member per year to be spent on food. Up to £2 of this can be used to subsidise a members’ formal / garden party etc. Food-and-drink costs for a Freshers’ Squash (for example) do not come under this ruling, because the food is intended for non-members.
  • Maximum of £10 per Fellow to subsidise a formal with a maximum of 10 Fellows allowed (i.e. £100 per year).
  • Maximum of £10 per Speaker to subsidise a formal with a maximum of 3 Speakers per year (i.e. £30 per year).
  • Maximum of £5 subsidy for sports uniforms – up to 20 people (i.e. a first and second team).
  • Maximum of £2 subsidy for ‘stash’ i.e. society hoodies – up to 30 members.
  • Accommodation and Travel for one Speaker a year – maximum £100.
  • No ‘unreasonable expenditure’, such as expenditure totally unrelated to the aim of the society, funding of unethical activities etc – use your common sense.

The JCR Treasurer will provide a blank proposal form for you to fill in.

Keeping the JCR Informed

Whenever your society committee changes over:

  1. Inform the MECSU Treasurer of the changeover, providing the new President/Treasurer’s name and contact details.
  2. Provide the new Treasurer (or whoever will be in charge of the society’s funds, if there is no ‘Treasurer’) with a copy of the Societies’ Charter. The MECSU Treasurer may require the incoming Treasurer to sign a copy.

SOCIETIES’ CHARTER

The Societies is an official document summarizing all of the above and stipulating the rules of suitable spending of JCR Funds. A copy can be found upon the MECSU website. A representative of each society has to sign a Charter’s Agreement stating that the society will abide by the Societies’ Charter.

The Societies’ charter must be followed by;

  • All Murray Edwards clubs and Societies which receive funding from MECSU (the JCR).
  • All joint societies between Murray Edwards and other colleges which receive funding from the JCR. In the case of such societies, funding will only be given by MECSU if the Murray Edwards side has its own bank account.

It is the responsibility of each society’s treasurer (or president/captain if there is no ‘treasurer’) to ensure that the Charter is adhered to. The MECSU Treasurer will keep records of all societies’ treasurers’ and presidents’ names and details.

Failure to abide by the Charter may lead to MECSU funding being refused or cut in future years.

I really hope this helps – if ever you have any problems or questions, or would like clarification of anything listed here, do not hesitate to get in touch with the current jcr treasurer on: