The recently-imposed soft cap placed on student group funding by the ASSU Senate Appropriations Committee has left many student groups questioning how they will meet their needs. Some are now scrambling to come up with new ways to deal with the now finite general fee resources provided by the ASSU.

The ASSU imposed a $40 limit on the funding per Stanford undergraduate participating in a student group. This cap complements the already existent hard cap of $6,000, the maximum total amount of funding allocated to an undergraduate student group per year.

But how exactly will the soft cap affect various groups on campus?

“For the student groups which now have to face the soft cap, it largely depends on their condition,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Faris Ali Mohiuddin.

For example, while there are several groups on campus that spend large amounts of money putting on events, many of them have a high participation rate, and the soft cap only affects them moderately, if at all. In essence, they can continue doing what they were doing before.

However, there are many groups that had a significant amount of funding they expected to get, before the soft cap was imposed, that now may not qualify for the funds. The new restrictions now force them to think longer and harder about the events they hold throughout the year. Because the soft cap is good throughout the duration of the school year, groups must now think on a more long-term basis.

This may be difficult for some small to medium-sized groups, however, who still rely on large budgets. Examples include outdoor groups that have big capital expenses such as gear and equipment, or small performance groups that rely on funding to cover facility and costume expenses.

“Financial officers have to think harder about what they are requesting and when they are requesting it,” Mohiuddin said. “The groups have to think about their values and about what events are most important to them in terms of the costs.”

Mohiuddin also offered some tips for how to deal with the funding cuts. For example, collaborating with other groups could allow student organizations to put on better events that smaller groups would not be able to pull off by themselves, he said. Moreover, with the additional number of students participating, this combined group would receive more funding.

In fact, the Senate already encourages this type of collaboration. The executive branch has created a grant that awards money specifically to collaborating groups.

“There is a lot of redundancy in student groups, which are pursuing the same end,” Mohiuddin said. “That’s inefficient because they should combine to put on better events, but there is no incentive to do this.” However, this new funding policy clearly provides incentive, he said.

Another solution is to cut expenses. Groups won’t necessarily have to cancel events, but rather, find ways to reduce the costs of putting them on, he added. Shopping around for the best prices could greatly reduce expenses; additionally, the ASSU publicizes where the lowest rates can be found.

A further option that student groups could pursue is seeking out alternate sources of funding. The Stanford Fund, for example, is extremely underutilized, Mohiuddin. Groups could also seek funding through individual University departments.

Finally, student groups should brainstorm ways to take in revenue. Performance groups, for example, could charge admission fees that would, in turn, go toward their overall expenses. Mohiuddin also suggested that volunteer groups put up some of the money themselves, perhaps by collecting dues from members. Not only would this cut costs, but it would also attract more committed members who feel more attached and invested in the groups.

Because the general fee goes toward funding undergraduate student groups, some argue that if it were raised, then funding could be raised as well. However, Mohiuddin maintains that it is highly unlikely that people will even have the opportunity to vote for an increase large enough to compensate for the funding cuts in the upcoming spring elections.