LCS fundraising hurt by Senate bylaw

Changes in student activities rules passed last year have made the Leonard Carmichael Society's semiformal a less profitable affair.

The event, held last weekend, earned LCS $1,000 less than last year because new rules prohibit an organization from charging admission to an event funded with student activity money. Instead, organizers could only suggest that attendees make a donation.

"It's inherently difficult to raise money that's just suggested on a college campus," LCS president Lisa Fishlin said.

LCS suggested that students donate $12, $3 less than the admission price it used to charge. Organizers hoped that by asking for less, more people would be inclined to attend, but only 440 people attended, the same number as last year.

Most students donated between nothing and $20. "They could come in and pay nothing, or could pay more or less," Kokaram said. "There was definitely a range."

The rule change also prompted LCS to change the way it promoted the event.

Because students were not required to donate, LCS members sold tickets in the campus center and the dining halls rather than using the InfoBooth in the campus center. LCS leadership made the change because they thought that while "the person in the ticket booth wouldn't be invested in the cause," students involved with LCS could convince students to donate by explaining where the money went, Kokaram said.

LCS also changed its advertising strategy. In addition to increasing the overall number of ads it ran, LCS's advertising was built around a new focus on informing students about why students' donations were so important to the event's beneficiary, the Medford Headstart program.

The new bylaw states that "any organization which does not budget income for an event may not sell tickets or charge money in exchange for admission to the event."

When the Senate was considering the bylaw last year, LCS argued against it and suggested that since its semiformal was such an established tradition, exempting it from the bylaw would be reasonable.

Then-Senate Treasurer Ben Lee said that an exception was possible, but no provision was ever made.

The bylaw's backers argued that since event costs were funded by the student activities fee, requiring students to pay more money would be "double charging."

"It's not right that students pay for something they have already paid for by the student activities fee," Senate treasurer Josh Belkin said.

The $6,675 cost of the semi-formal -- including advertising, buses, food, and location expenses -- are paid for with student activities funding, Belkin said. In previous years, all money earned from ticket sales went directly to charity.

"We don't want to seem like we're cracking down on LCS, we are simply trying to allocate money fairly among student groups," Belkin said. He said he would not be surprised if LCS earned less money this year.

Despite the goals of the bylaw, LCS officers feel it unfairly limits their ability to raise money. "While we understand the reasoning behind it, we feel like there should be easier ways for students to donate to charity," Fishlin said.