Endowment Fund Applications
- Kristen S
This page will outline how you can apply for endowment funds and what to keep in mind as you go through this process.
Introduction to Endowment Funds
Endowment Funds are funds set up by various internal organizations in the University, which is then distributed amongst other student clubs, initiatives and projects.
These funds are essentially the only thing that allow us to purchase anything - we have no spending money due to our account’s debt but since these funds are not income that is injected into our account with the exception of Dean’s. We can use an earned funding from any of these sources to purchase manufacturing and testing materials as well as other items needed by our team.
We have seen higher success rates in acquiring funding from MEF, WEEF, Dean’s Funding and EngSoc in that order.
We have applied to the Accounting and Finance Endowment Fun (AFEF) as well as the Arts Endowment Fund (AEF) but they have rejected us multiple times citing that we as well as the proposed asks are not of great enough value for their faculties.
Process of Applying for each fund
Fund Name | WEEF | EngSoc | MEF | Dean’s Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Occurrence | Every term | Every term | Every term | Every Fall term |
Maximum we’ve received in one term | $6950 | $900 | $15,000 | $7500 |
Amount we usually applied for (NOTE: may depend on rumors about the fund’s term budget) | $5000 - $8,000 | $1,000 | $18,000 - $20,000 | $7,500 |
Partial Funding (i.e. will you accept less than what you have requested and how much?) | N/A | N/A | $10k, $12k | N/A |
What we’ve typically applied for funding for | Electrical components + tools | Tools | Mechanical raw materials, tools, manufacturing services | None - goes towards our team account |
Application Structure | Long answer questions Presentation | Long answer questions 10-minute video | Long answer questions Presentation | Long answer questions |
Process of Applying for Endowment Funds
Find questions on the MEF, WEEF and EngSoc websites (applications are forms on these sites)
Copy and paste the questions into a google doc and save it under Sponsorship > Internal Applications > [fund name]> [term]
Fill out the general questions about the team, current budget and sponsorship allocated, and recognition for the fund
Work with the subteam leads to determine 5 categories of items for MEF and WEEF for items to obtain (i.e. layup consumables $8,000, PCB Components $5,000, etc.) (NOTE: Subteam leads may forget or de-prioritize this - you may need to chase after them quite a bit to get as much information as you can)
After submitting the application, keep an eye out for emails from the fund as they may have further questions
Since there’s no presentation for EngSoc, they typically send additional questions through email
WEEF/MEF Presentation + EngSoc Video (continuation of the above)
Once the application is complete, prepare a 2-3 minute PPT presentation - you may be asked to send this in advance. Try to keep it under 3 minutes to leave room for questions
PPT structure for WEEF/MEF and Video structure for EngSoc
Intro to team
Intro to project
Our contributions to UW (e.g. highlight Eng Faculty contributions and number of members from the faculty)
Proposal Breakdown - typically a table with the amount of funding we’re asking for
Thank you + Q/A
Keep an eye on your email for presentation slots - sign up ASAP and make sure you select a time where one of the technical leads for the subteams you’ve applied on behalf of, are able to make it (i.e. if you apply for mechanical funding, have one of the mech leads present
After presentations, keep an eye on your emails for any additional questions (EngSoc typically sends additional questions and the others may send some after presentations)
Dean’s Funding
While the application itself is the simplest, it is very important to put depth and thought into the answers - you want to make sure you highlight the importance of Midnight Sun to the Faculty of Engineering.
Resources
The following applications are examples of past proposals we have submitted + decks for presentations. You can look through the comments history in MEF W21 and WEEF W21 to see how tasks were laid out to divide the work amongst multiple people.