Decision Guidelines

  • $2,000 per group per semester cap
    • If your organization has a compelling need, dPS may choose to extend your funding cap for the semester
    • Refer to the “Funding Cap” section below for more information
  • Prioritized groups
    • Groups engaged in sustained, ethical service – activities involving meaningful, repeated interactions with community members and partners
    • Groups which have executive members who have attended the Foundations of Engagement training
      • If groups are not able to attend the Foundations of Engagement training, they may instead seek a private consultation with Duke Civic Engagement (DCE) and dPS
  • Financial prudence is required
    • Unnecessary, superficial expenses are unlikely to be funded
  • Items would preferably be purchased from ethical sources
    • If possible, buy goods from local businesses, small businesses, Black-owned businesses, etc.
    • If possible, purchase environmentally friendly, reusable resources
  • Soft caps for food (may be expanded if necessary)
    • $3 per person for snacks for an event
    • $3 per person for pizza
    • $3 per person for breakfast
    • $7 per person for lunch
    • $10 for per person for dinner
    • $3 per person for dessert
  • Transportation guidelines
    • Service location should be more than 1 mile from campus (not walkable)
    • Exemptions may be granted for the aforementioned guidelines because of medical needs, problems with public transportation, or other specific circumstances
    • Students are expected to carpool as much as possible
    • Students are expected to use public/university transportation when possible
      • dPS is unlikely to fund transportation requests to locations reliably accessed by the Bull City Connector, Duke buses, and similar transit options
    • dPS will use a reimbursement model for Uber and Lyft rides
      • Currently, dPS does not have the capacity to directly purchase Uber and Lyft rides for students
      • Instead, dPS will transfer money to the club, which the club could then use to reimburse the specific students who paid for the rides
      • Reimbursements may take 6-12 weeks to process
      • dPS will also fund UCAE-approved car/bus rentals
        • Groups must coordinate with UCAE and handle their own logistics – dPS can only transfer funds and offer advice
        • Groups can submit a P-card request to UCAE to rent vehicles through the Enterprise on Hillsborough Road
        • Groups may also charter a bus through UCAE
        • Vehicle rental/chartering may be a long and difficult process – please contact UCAE several weeks in advance of the event
    • Funding Cap (Starting Spring 2022):
      • $2,000 per service organization per semester hard cap
      • If your organization has a compelling need, dPS may choose to extend your funding cap for the semester
        • Your organization Treasurer and/or President must schedule a 45-minute meeting with dPS to discuss the funding need and general club finances
        • After this meeting, dPS will decide whether to extend the funding cap, or keep it at the baseline
      • While reevaluating the funding cap, dPS will consider factors including but not limited to:
        • How essential the additional funding is to club activities
        • Amount of money left in the club fund code
        • Availability of alternative funding sources
        • Attempts to fundraise/obtain external grants
        • Current dPS budget