Activities subsidy & Housing

What is the Activity subsidy and Housing?

The UG strives to facilitate its students not only with education and research, but also through participation in extracurricular activities and active participation within an organisation. Therefore, certain organisations can apply for Activity Grants and/or Housing with the CUOS. The Activity Grants and Housing are granted directly by CUOS, on behalf of the Executive Board of the University.
Activity Grants and Housing are granted for the period of 1 year. They have a combined application procedure. It is possible to apply for only Activity Grants or only Housing. The grant has a supplementary character, and as such cannot be granted if the organization is able to provide the necessary funds on its own.

Deadline: 31st of January, 23:59

Does my organisation qualify?

Excluded organisations:

The following types of organisations do not qualify for Activity Grants or Housing:

General student associations (Gezelligheidsverenigingen)
Sports associations
Study or faculty-related organisations
Cultural organisations can apply for an Activity Grant at Usva. Although CUOS is responsible for the payment of the grant, the Usva Activity Grant has its own regulations and is not the same as the CUOS Activity Grant. The criteria on this page do not apply. More information can be found at the Usva website.

What are the general requirements and how is an application assessed?

To be eligible for Activity Grants and/or Housing, your organisation:

must have a legal personality and full legal competence, and work on a non-profit basis;
must have Articles of Association that state its objectives, activities and non-profit basis;
must have Articles of Association that state that it represents the student body of the UG and/or the Hanze UAS, that the executive board consists of students or scholarship students, and that it is open to all students enrolled at the UG and/or Hanze UAS;
must draw up a budget, annual report and annual accounts every year;
must exist for a minimum of two years;
must contribute to a positive image of the UG and/or Hanze UAS and of Groningen as a student city; and
must comply with the agreements made in the Introduction Period Regulations from the Adviescommissie Introductietijden (ACI).

If your organisation complies with all the criteria above, you can apply for Activity Grants or Housing.

Activities subsidy

For the activity subsidy, there are some extra requirements. Your organisation must:

meet the definition of a cluster. Within this cluster, the CUOS decides if you are eligible for a grant on the basis of its quality characteristics. The clusters and quality characteristics can be found under 'Regulations'.
have a clear and consistent financial policy;
demonstrate that it spends its funds effectively;
have a certain degree of continuity in the activities organized, as evidenced by one or more annually recurring activities.

When assessing applications for Activity subsidies, the CUOS takes into account:

whether the range and scope of activities for students is in accordance with the organization’s objectives;
the quality and uniqueness of these activities;
the turnout of students to and the frequency of the activity;
the actual need for support in relation to the organization’s existing financial resources;
the contribution the activity makes to the image of the UG and Groningen as a student city.

Housing

Conditions

The CUOS is currently in charge of one UG building at the Pelsterstraat 23 and a few offices at the Ambulatiorium (Grote Rozenstraat 38). To qualify for office space in these buildings, an organisation should firstly comply with the general conditions above. Moreover, the organisation should require the space, and have a certain degree of continuity in its activities, as evidenced by one or more yearly recurring activities.

Assessment criteria

When assessing an application, the CUOS considers the organisation’s workload and space requirements. It also takes into account the actual need for support in relation to the organisation’s existing material resources. To ensure continuity, the CUOS will only make changes to the allocated housing of organisations under special circumstances. Nevertheless, a housed organisation has to reapply every year.

Application procedure

Activity Grants and Housing must be requested every year using Form B. Next to this form, CUOS needs supplementary documents as proof. Please refer to the checklist in Form B and the explanation below. The supplementary documents must be named according to the checklist!

Please note that as of 2019, cultural organisations must apply for Activity Grants at Usva.

Applications must be sent to cuos.aanvraag rug.nl before the 1st of February. Please only send in pdf or excel files!

Compulsory documents for Activites subsidy & Housing

1. Form B

2. Articles of Association

3. Extract Chamber of Commerce

4. Most recent year budget

5. Financial year reports for the last 2 years (including explanations, balances ad income statement)

6. Secretarial year reports for the last 2 years (including an activities overview conform Form D)

7. Plan for the activities (of the current or upcoming financial year, for which the subsidy is requested)

8. List of members (conform Form L)

How to fill in the individual documents:

Form B

This form should be filled in completely, as far as applicable. Filename: “0. Application form B [name organization]”.

Form B - Application form

Most recent certified Articles of Association

Art. 8 of the CUOS Regulations stipulates the requirements which your articles of organisation (statuten) must meet. The statuten should be certified (gewaarmerkt) through the signature and/or stamp of the notary. Filename: “1. Statutes [name organization]”

Extract Chamber of Commerce

To prove that your organisation has full legal personality, you hand in a KvK Extract (“uittreksel”). This can be requested at the KvK. An “uittreksel” is not the same as an “overzicht van wijzigingen”. All current board members should be registered with the KvK. Filename: “2. Extract KvK [name organization]”

Most recent year budget

To check your organization’s financial status, you hand in the most recent year budget of your association. Filename: “3. Budget [year] [name organization]”

Financial year reports for the last 2 years

The year reports should be approved by the Algemene Ledenvergadering (associations) or Raad van Toezicht (stichtingen). The reports should contain at least a profit-and-loss account (with a clarification) and balance sheet (with a clarification). Make sure the balance sheets are well readable. Filename: “4. Financial year report [year] [name organization]”. When handing in multiple documents, use 4.1, 4.2, etc.

Secretarial year reports for the last 2 years

The year reports should be approved by the Algemene Ledenvergadering (associations) or Raad van Toezicht (stichtingen). The reports are meant to provide an overview of the past association’s years. A personal evaluation by the Secretary does not suffice. The year reports should contain an activity overview of all activities, with titles, dates, explanations, and an indication of the number of participants. If the year reports do not contain an activity overview, use Form D. Filename: “5. Secretraial year report [year] [name organization]”. When handing in multiple documents, use 5.1, 5.2, etc.

Form J - Secretarial year report

Activity plan / policy plan for the current or coming financial year for which support is requested

This plan elaborates on the activities for which you request an activity grant or housing, and should contain your organization’s policy. This document provides an insight in the organization’s coming year, so do not be too concise. Filename: “6. Plan [name organization]”

Form D - Activities overview

Up-to-date Members registration

The list of members should be provided in Excel format, conform form L. It will be checked, so make sure it is up to date. Filename: “7. Membership list [name organization]”

Form L - Membership list

Extra documents, only necessary for the Housing application

1. Overview of the amount of board members etc.

2. Overview of responsibility for the activities

An overview of the number of board members, existing committees, project groups, University council fractions, etc., including the names of current members and an indication of the workload in hours per week

Filename: “7. Active members [name organization]”

Overview of the parties/board/committee/project group responsible for the realisation of the organized and planned activities. Only necessary if not mentioned in the year reports and activity/policy plan

Filename: “8. Organising entities [name organization]”

Overview document names:

0. Form B [name organization]
1. Statutes [name organization]
2. Extract CoC [name organization]
3. Annual budget [year] [name organization]
4. Financial year report [year] [name organization]
5. Secretarial year report [year] [name organization]
6. Plan [name organization]
7. Membership list [name organization].xlsx
8. Active members [name organization]
9. Organising entities [name organization]

Justification

Within two months after the end of your organization’s financial year, you must provide the CUOS with a secretarial and financial year report, consisting of at least:

- a justification of the way the grant was spent;

- a list and explanation of the organized activities;

- a global overview of the amount of participants in the activities, with an indication of the amount of UG students, Hanze UAS students and other participants.

The justification can be sent together with the application for the next year.