Student Group Funding

Student groups, clubs and societies are an integral component of university life that aims to support students by connecting them with other like minded students and facilitating meaningful interactions that affect happiness, satisfaction and mental health. To start and run a club typically requires some level of financial support, the majority of that being typically received by the university or student led bodies in the form of a % of tuition fees paid by domestic and international students studying at the university. We surveyed almost 2,500 clubs and found that, apart from revenue from membership and ticketing sales, only 9% of student groups don’t depend exclusively on university funding to operate. This exposes a practical roadmap for the 91% who can learn to explore other forms of funding, especially in the wake of COVID.

The Big COVID Impact:

In the wake of the covid pandemic, amongst other sectors, the tertiary education sector was hit quite hard with many international students unable to study on campus and terminating their studies, and others continuing their studies from their home countries. This had a severe impact on the level of student funding available, especially in Australia where SSAF funding was slashed by almost 57% at most major campuses.

Internally at QPay, we saw a massive overall reduction in the number of physical events due to cancellations, insufficient funding for student groups and the prevalence of online events, resulting from the various government lockdowns and social distance guidelines. The impact on student events was felt till late 2021 with an estimated 2,304 event cancellations throughout 2020 – 2021 (We processed a ton of ticket refunds!). On the bright side, with the explosion of Zoom and video streaming services such as Netflix, there was a large influx of online events as more and more students were feeling the effects of isolation and wanted more than ever to connect to their peers. This was a great low cost option for club execs to keep their club active and their members engaged throughout the lockdown(s).

Alternative for student executives:

With the effects of a major worldwide epidemic still reeling, club/society/union executives don’t necessarily have to rely solely on university funding to run/host great events, considering that the university sector will take time to recover economically and return back to a pre-covid normal status.

Many businesses and corporations fight tooth and nail to bring their product and service to students, with many utilising social media channels and allocating big ad budgets. While this may be effective, social media is already a crowded marketplace and your student group can take advantage of this!