After four months, three appearances before the Student Senate and a wide-ranging fundraising effort, the American Advertising Federation Ad Club has the money it needs to attend a regional competition in April.
Last year, the group missed the entire budgeting process and was left with no funding for the 2007-08year. The previous year’s budget was more than $10,000. This year’s Programs Finance Committee gave the group a budget of less than $4,000 for the 2008-09 year as a consequence of having been defunded.
In October, representatives from the club appeared twice before the Senate to request their entire annual budget from Senate surplus funds.
Senators rejected their requests and club members were left to find other funding avenues. Since then, they raised $275 and gathered an estimated $1,300 worth of donations of items from local businesses, which they plan to raffle off in a drawing next month.
Sen. Billy Hatch said the University’s general counsel has said that student groups may not hold public raffles because they are considered gambling. But Senate Vice President Patrick Boye, who represents journalism students and has worked closely with the group, said calling the event a drawing and taking a few other measures to differentiate it from a raffle would make it legal.
Club representative Sabrina De Martini and Boye said that with the $1,300 of donated items and the $275, the group has raised more than half of the $3,000 they requested.
Ten senators voted to give Ad Club the funds; four abstained from the vote.
De Martini said all of the money will be used by the end of next week to register for a regional advertising competition. The group has been working on an advertising campaign for America Online.
DeMartini said she does not know if Ad Club will need to go back to Senate for more surplus funds this year should the group progress in the national competition. She said the group plans to continue fundraising to cover this year’s expenses.
Boye said he expects the group will raise at least $1,300 in the drawing.
“They’re obviously not in a good situation,” he said of the group’s finances. “But it’s not their fault and it’s not (the Senate’s) fault and they’ve done a very good job.”
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