Equitable distribution of SNA funds???

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

We just started a Student Nurse Association at our school, and we need help. We're a small school, struggling with fundraising ideas mainly because we're so small... but we have found some ways to raise money. Problem is, we've got a large percentage of the student body wanting to take advantage of our funds to go to the NSNA MidYear conference in Daytona (etc) but people aren't participating in RAISING the funds. The few of us who HAVE put in a lot of effort (4-5 of us) foresee issues when it comes time to distribute the funds. We've talked til we're cyanotic (lol) about the need for people to participate in fundraisers if they're going to access the funds, but we don't seem to be having much effect. It's to the point where we ponder the wisdom of continuing the SNA because we've got such low participation. On the other hand, without the SNA it becomes even MORE difficult to raise money, because 4-5 people just don't have the clout that saying "SNA" has... ya know?

So my question here is, how exactly would you draft a resolution or rule in which you delineate the equitable distribution of funds based on participation? Right now we've got a spreadsheet on which each participant is credited for the # of hours they've contributed to fundraising. We have unofficially discussed it and came up with the idea that for every hour of participation you get one "slice of the pie", with the "whole pie" being the amount of money available for distribution. Thus, if 2-3 people have 25 hours and 2-3 people have 5 hours, and the other 35 people have 0 hours but still want their way to conference paid, the 2-3 people who've put the most effort into fundraising would end up splitting the majority of the pot, the 5-hour contributors would split the rest, and the people without hours wouldn't get squat. THAT sounds fair to us... be we anticipate people trying to 'participate' at the last minute and then claim that they've 'participated' and thus everyone who participated at all should share equally in the funding, regardless of how MUCH they participated.

Your experience, advice, and suggestions are appreciated. :p

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

We just started a Student Nurse Association at our school, and we need help. We're a small school, struggling with fundraising ideas mainly because we're so small... but we have found some ways to raise money. Problem is, we've got a large percentage of the student body wanting to take advantage of our funds to go to the NSNA MidYear conference in Daytona (etc) but people aren't participating in RAISING the funds. The few of us who HAVE put in a lot of effort (4-5 of us) foresee issues when it comes time to distribute the funds. We've talked til we're cyanotic (lol) about the need for people to participate in fundraisers if they're going to access the funds, but we don't seem to be having much effect. It's to the point where we ponder the wisdom of continuing the SNA because we've got such low participation. On the other hand, without the SNA it becomes even MORE difficult to raise money, because 4-5 people just don't have the clout that saying "SNA" has... ya know?

So my question here is, how exactly would you draft a resolution or rule in which you delineate the equitable distribution of funds based on participation? Right now we've got a spreadsheet on which each participant is credited for the # of hours they've contributed to fundraising. We have unofficially discussed it and came up with the idea that for every hour of participation you get one "slice of the pie", with the "whole pie" being the amount of money available for distribution. Thus, if 2-3 people have 25 hours and 2-3 people have 5 hours, and the other 35 people have 0 hours but still want their way to conference paid, the 2-3 people who've put the most effort into fundraising would end up splitting the majority of the pot, the 5-hour contributors would split the rest, and the people without hours wouldn't get squat. THAT sounds fair to us... be we anticipate people trying to 'participate' at the last minute and then claim that they've 'participated' and thus everyone who participated at all should share equally in the funding, regardless of how MUCH they participated.

Your experience, advice, and suggestions are appreciated. :p

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Grrr... Just typed a LOOOONG note....and I got booted!! Let's see if I can do it again....

OK, this is a plan that we used for a high school band group, it worked GREAT!!! They would take a major trip every other year and we needed a fair and equitable way to get people to BE involved and earn the $ they needed to make the trip. To give you an idea of the scope of this plan, we usually needed to earn $50-100,000 for each trip....

Fundraising events were planned and some were designated "general fund" events and some were "student fund" events. The General fund events were those events that had been held annually for eons and were needed for the necessary income to keep the club going. You know the kind, the scholarship drive events, the annual poinsetta/daffodil/easter lily sales, the concession stand at the fairgrounds...those type of things. The "student fund" events were the candy sales, car washes, brat sales, etc. Students had the option of NOT participating in the student fund activites (they could just pay CASH out their own pocket for the trip) but everyone HAD to volunteer some amount of time or energy to the general fund events (ie: must sell 2 daffodils---or make your mother buy them!! ;)

OK... so for the student events, only those students that actually PARTICIPATED got the benefit of the profits. For example, a candy sale during noon hour every day for a week. Bob, Joe, Sally, Lucy, and Steve each worked 1 hour....they split the $100 profit and got $20 in their accounts. All money was actually deposited in the general account, but we kept an accounting on paper of who had "earned' what $$ toward their trip.

For the purpose of your SNA, I would make a set of rules NOW regarding trips. For example, to get any type of sponsorship from the club for conventions, these minimum guidelines need to be met.... Attendance at 3 of 5 club meetings each semester (except when excused for attendance at CLASS!), minimum participation of "X" in 2 general fund functions each semester, etc, etc...depending on what your group is involved in..... Another rule might be, Must have been an "active member" (by meeting the preceding guidelines) in the current semester (for 1st & 2nd semester students), current plus 1 of 3 semesters (for 3rd semester students) and current plus 2 of 4 semesters (for 4th semester students). This will be another way to ensure "continuous" involvement, not just the "oh, the big, fun, Daytona-during-spring-break trip is coming up"...let's go to the next meeting so we'll get a free ride-type of involvement.

When a person met their goal $ (the amount needed to go on the trip) they could work toward a friend's account. Otherwise, all excess $ for them was directed into the general fund. Upon graduation, if they had leftover $ in their account, they could designate it to a buddy/sibling/whomever...but the money was NEVER "given" to the student. If they didn't designate it to someone.... it defaulted back to the general fund.

If you have any questions or want clarification, please PM me. This plan worked out SOOOO well for us. The "workers" got "rewarded"...and NO ONE could complain when they had to shell out big bucks to go on the trip.

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Grrr... Just typed a LOOOONG note....and I got booted!! Let's see if I can do it again....

OK, this is a plan that we used for a high school band group, it worked GREAT!!! They would take a major trip every other year and we needed a fair and equitable way to get people to BE involved and earn the $ they needed to make the trip. To give you an idea of the scope of this plan, we usually needed to earn $50-100,000 for each trip....

Fundraising events were planned and some were designated "general fund" events and some were "student fund" events. The General fund events were those events that had been held annually for eons and were needed for the necessary income to keep the club going. You know the kind, the scholarship drive events, the annual poinsetta/daffodil/easter lily sales, the concession stand at the fairgrounds...those type of things. The "student fund" events were the candy sales, car washes, brat sales, etc. Students had the option of NOT participating in the student fund activites (they could just pay CASH out their own pocket for the trip) but everyone HAD to volunteer some amount of time or energy to the general fund events (ie: must sell 2 daffodils---or make your mother buy them!! ;)

OK... so for the student events, only those students that actually PARTICIPATED got the benefit of the profits. For example, a candy sale during noon hour every day for a week. Bob, Joe, Sally, Lucy, and Steve each worked 1 hour....they split the $100 profit and got $20 in their accounts. All money was actually deposited in the general account, but we kept an accounting on paper of who had "earned' what $$ toward their trip.

For the purpose of your SNA, I would make a set of rules NOW regarding trips. For example, to get any type of sponsorship from the club for conventions, these minimum guidelines need to be met.... Attendance at 3 of 5 club meetings each semester (except when excused for attendance at CLASS!), minimum participation of "X" in 2 general fund functions each semester, etc, etc...depending on what your group is involved in..... Another rule might be, Must have been an "active member" (by meeting the preceding guidelines) in the current semester (for 1st & 2nd semester students), current plus 1 of 3 semesters (for 3rd semester students) and current plus 2 of 4 semesters (for 4th semester students). This will be another way to ensure "continuous" involvement, not just the "oh, the big, fun, Daytona-during-spring-break trip is coming up"...let's go to the next meeting so we'll get a free ride-type of involvement.

When a person met their goal $ (the amount needed to go on the trip) they could work toward a friend's account. Otherwise, all excess $ for them was directed into the general fund. Upon graduation, if they had leftover $ in their account, they could designate it to a buddy/sibling/whomever...but the money was NEVER "given" to the student. If they didn't designate it to someone.... it defaulted back to the general fund.

If you have any questions or want clarification, please PM me. This plan worked out SOOOO well for us. The "workers" got "rewarded"...and NO ONE could complain when they had to shell out big bucks to go on the trip.

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Specializes in L&D.

My program gives us extra credit for volunteer hours. If you are an SNA member you receive 1% point to your final grade in the class for every 2 hours you volunteer. If you're a deligate it's 1% point for every 1 1/2 hours, if your on the board it's 1% point for every hour. This is only for theory though and you have to be passing with a 73% , you can't use the hours to pass the class, and you can only get 10 points max. I know it gives ME an extra reason to volunteer. :coollook:

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Specializes in L&D.

My program gives us extra credit for volunteer hours. If you are an SNA member you receive 1% point to your final grade in the class for every 2 hours you volunteer. If you're a deligate it's 1% point for every 1 1/2 hours, if your on the board it's 1% point for every hour. This is only for theory though and you have to be passing with a 73% , you can't use the hours to pass the class, and you can only get 10 points max. I know it gives ME an extra reason to volunteer. :coollook:

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

These are awesome ideas... anyone else? Thank you!

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

These are awesome ideas... anyone else? Thank you!

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