SAO launched an online fundraising option for student organizations through Marketplace, allowing them to raise funds for external 501c3 organizations. 

As a reminder, groups are permitted to donate their raised funds to external organizations but UFB funds, derived from the student activities fee, must remain within Brown. Additionally, this method is the only approved way for groups to raise funds online. 

If your organization is looking to fundraise, please note that the organization that you will be donating to needs to have completed the Supplier Registration Form and provided documentation of its 501c3 status. This information must be submitted prior to filling out the form to create your fundraising product on Marketplace. 

Steps to complete the Supplier Registration Form can be found here, and external 501c3 organizations should fill out this form. An updated database will show which organizations have already been approved, and which are currently in the process of approval. 

Once this has been completed, please submit a Marketplace Product form. Your product will be processed by Diane Chouinard before being sent for approval. Once the product has been approved, Diane will notify you that your product is live.

Please note that the complete processing time can take up to ten business days for the product to be enabled. This processing time can be extended due to high volume of product requests. Additionally, there is a 3% processing fee for each donation received through Marketplace to cover credit card processing fees.

If you have any questions, please contact us at saofinances@brown.edu.

Once other funding opportunities have been exhausted, your student group may solicit funds from alumni who were members of your group or parents of current and former members. Alumni and parents can mail checks to the Student Activities Office, Box 1930, Providence, RI 02912 made out to “Brown University” with the organization name in the memo to make a donation. 

Additionally, your group may also utilize a Go-link from the Division of Advancement which allows alumni and parents to donate directly to your group online. To request a link, please fill out and submit the Student Group Fundraising Request Form. 

If you have further questions about fundraising from alumni or parents, please contact sao@brown.edu.

Student organizations may also seek funding from other Brown departments and centers. If another department agrees to provide funding for your organization, please have someone from that department email saofinances@brown.edu with the details of their sponsorship so we can aid in a transfer of funds. If our office is not looped into the communication with the department, your group will not be able to access the funds they give you.