Group Funding

Academic Event Fund | Community Outreach Fund | Discretionary Funding |  Empowerment Fund  | Student Group Event Funding | Lending Vehicle

Funding guidelines

Funding Presentation Template

Group/event funding applications are consolidated in a single rolling universal application. If you receive an award, you will receive an award email listing your total funding amount. The various funds of GAPSA Finance are detailed below to provide more information about what each fund values in an application.

The notification dates for the application are:

Lending Vehicle

The Lending Vehicle is a limited pre-approved loan program for compliant student groups to help accelerate cash-flow early in the school year for programming and recruitment.

• G12: borrow up to 50% of prior year GAP investment; must be participating in GAP; secured by this year's GAPSA contribution and any carryover; outstanding balances are due by conclusion of fiscal year.

• IDEAL Affinity Groups: borrow the greater of $1,000 or up to 50% of prior year Empowerment Fund base grant; must be participating in Empowerment Fund; secured by this year's Empowerment Fund awards and any carryover.

• Others: borrow up to 50% of prior year revenue; must have received GAPSA funding in the previous year; secured by current year's GAPSA awards and any carryover.

For any questions, please contact gapsa.funds@gapsa.upenn.edu.

GAPSA offers a number of services such as Eventbrite Premium and Canva Premium to student groups who get grants from GAPSA and enroll for GFAC. Please reach out to gapsa.finance@gapsa.upenn.edu to learn more about them.

Academic Event Fund

The Academic Event Fund sponsors events that are primarily academic in nature.  Some examples of academic events are workshops, conferences, academic discussions, and gallery/exhibit tours.

Community Outreach Fund

The community outreach fund is a pilot fund aimed to support the West Philadelphia community. Some examples of community outreach events are fundraisers, and volunteering events.

Discretionary Funding

The discretionary fund supports social enterprises and large-scale events that benefit the entire graduate student population at Penn.

Empowerment Fund

The Empowerment Fund is exclusive to campus-wide affinity groups affiliated with the IDEAL Student Council. See this chart for more information about funding levels.

Student Group Event Fund

Student Group Event Fund is open to all graduate student groups to host a variety of events and programs throughout the year.

Group Funding beyond GAPSA

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center administers funds designed to assist Penn student groups and individuals in sponsoring on-campus events, especially those fostering collaboration among LGBTQ+ groups.

The Trustees' Council of Penn Women grant is available to individuals or organization that promote women's issues, the quality of undergraduate and graduate life for women, the institutional advancement of women, or the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of women.