Achieving School Recognition

As a leader, the first thing you should check is whether your group is recognized by your school. Recognition generally confers important benefits such as participation in the activities fair, a budget, and permission to operate. At this point, you will encounter one of two scenarios:

1. You are recognized. Congratulations! Identify the requirements to retain that recognition (attendance at council meetings, submission dates for budget, sign-up dates for the activities fair), and ensure you meet those requirements. Feel free to move on to the next section.

2. You are not recognized. Your first priority is to conduct all the activities necessary to receive recognition. Read on.

Assess Requirements

There are two sets of requirements to consider.

First, what are the official requirements from your student activities council that you have to fulfill in order to receive recognition? Generally, this involves proving a certain level of interest and requesting a budget. Follow these requirements to the letter, and if you have any questions, reach out to a representative on the council.

Second, what current unmet need does your group address that would bring value to the student body?

CS2 (CFA): When I co-founded CFA, we strove to differentiate ourselves from other existing organizations. There were other student consulting groups on campus that covered a variety of fields from specific business interest groups to NGOs. In addition, the university had a small business development center that supported budding entrepreneurs. As an organization that focused on social impact small business consulting, we needed to come up with a value proposition that differentiated us from the competition.

After doing research, we found that consulting groups on campus fell into two categories.

1. Groups dedicated to teaching about the industry and bringing in thought leaders.

2. Groups that performed services for actual clients.

CFA fell into the second arena. There were two other consulting groups that also served clients: Social Impact Consulting and the Small Business Development Center. By narrowing our scope to focus on local small business, as defined as annual revenue under $100,000, we differentiated ourselves from the social impact consulting group that focused on NGOs. Our classification also differentiated us from the Small Business Development Center which focused on clients making $1M or more a year (“small business” being a relative term). By finding the unmet need and clarifying our activities, we were able to successfully attract individuals who were interested in our specific mission. 

Planning/Testing

 When seeking recognition from an activities council, you will generally have to provide the following:

1. A constitution or mission statement that shows that your organization serves a niche interest not currently covered by existing groups.
2. A list of members (preferably from different years in school).
3. A list proving that you’ve conducted activities.
4. A list of expenses, otherwise known as your requested budget.

Execute

In order to attract members, you’ll need a platform for communication (Facebook, group text chats, etc. work fine for starting purposes), and you’ll need to hold events. In order to hold events, it’s can be useful to secure funding. However, the most vital activity at this point is documentation. An excel document that tracks members, activities, and potential spending will assist with compiling the parts for your application. I’ve provided some examples below:

Member Tracker