All associations operating within Aalto University Student Union must annually submit an association notice and, at the same time, associations in the 1st list can apply for an operating grant. The application period and submission of association notices starts on Friday 1 Mar at 12 noon and ends on Sunday 31 Mar at 11.59 pm. At first, there are instructions for submitting the association notice, and then for applying for operating grants. At the end, you will find some tips and the contact details for asking questions.
WHAT ASSOCIATION NOTICE?
Associations operating within AYY must submit an association notice annually. This is essentially our way of making sure that the association continues to meet the requirements set by the Association Regulation. Hence, the most important appendix is the current rules. In accordance with the Association Regulation, an association that fails to submit the association notice in two consecutive years may be removed from the register by decision of the Board.
The association notice consists of tabs to be filled in and the required appendices. As appendices, we require:
– the current rules
– the previous operating year’s annual report
– the current operating year’s operational plan
HOW DO I SUBMIT AN ASSOCIATION NOTICE?
- Have the required appendices ready (rules, annual report and operational plan).
- Log in to the Tahlo system at https://tahlo.ayy.fi/ with your association’s user details. If the user details have gone missing, they can generally be restored to your Board’s email address at https://tahlo.ayy.fi/password_reset/.
- Carefully fill in the tabs General, Board, Facilities and Attachments. Save each tab separately as you fill them in.
- If you do not submit all of the required appendices, the association notice is inadequate. You can request more time to submit the appendices, but a justified and valid reason is required for this. Send a message to jarjestoasiat@ayy.fi, tell us your reasoning and when the appendices will be ready. In any case, late appendices must be delivered to AYY by 31 May 2019.
- Great, you have done it! You have now submitted the required association notice.
- In addition, you can update or create an association profile for your association at /wp-login.php. You can sign in with your association’s user details. Remember to update all language versions! More detailed instructions for updating the profile: /en/associations/services/operating-grants/.
WHAT OPERATING GRANT?
AYY’s operating grants are meant for supporting associations’ ongoing operations. All associations in the 1st list of AYY’s association register are eligible to apply for an operating grant.
The grants are applied for in March, and they are scored using the scoring model of operating grants (pdf). If the association submits the grant application in accordance with the instructions, the association notice required from all associations will also have been submitted in the process.
The operating grant application consists of an application form to be filled in and the required appendices. As appendices, we require:
– the current rules
– the previous operating year’s financial statement (consists of a profit and loss account and a balance sheet)
– the previous operating year’s annual report
– the current operating year’s operational plan
– the current operating year’s budget
In addition, a precondition for receiving a potential operating grant is an up-to-date association profile on the AYY website.
HOW DO I APPLY FOR AN OPERATING GRANT?
- Have the required appendices ready (rules, financial statement, annual report, operational plan and budget).
- Log in to the Tahlo system at https://tahlo.ayy.fi/ with your association’s user details. If the user details have gone missing, they can generally be restored to your Board’s email address at https://tahlo.ayy.fi/password_reset/.
- Carefully fill in the tabs General, Board, Application, Facilities and Attachments. Save each tab separately as you fill them in. You can complete the application piece by piece. If you are a special status association, also fill in the Special Status tab (these have no impact on applying for a grant, but filling them in is a precondition for receiving a grant).
- The Application tab has changed. Please note that the application form is the same for all associations operating within AYY and the tick-box choices do not include all types of the unique operations found among associations. You can give more details on these in the open fields.
- NOTE! Receiving the maximum score does not require weekly activities in each sector.
- If you do not submit all of the required appendices, each missing appendix reduces the amount of the grant. Fines can be avoided by requesting more time to submit the appendices, but a justified and valid reason is required for this. Send a message to jarjestoasiat@ayy.fi, tell us your reasoning and when the appendices will be ready. A potential grant cannot be paid out if the association has not submitted the missing appendices by 31 May 2019.
- Update your association’s association profile at /wp-login.php. You can sign in with your association’s user details. Remember to update all language versions! More detailed instructions for updating the profile: /en/associations/services/operating-grants/.
- Great, you have done it! You have now applied for a grant and submitted the required association notice.
Fill in all information on the application form in accordance with the operations described in your operational plan. If the association is found to have provided false information, it may be denied this year’s grant or the right to apply for a grant in the next application round.
TIPS
A. Advance preparations:
Before filling in Tahlo itself, you can do some things in advance. These are listed here. If the application period is coming to an end, it is advisable to move straight into Tahlo and fill in all tabs carefully as well as add the required appendices as instructed.
B. Reserve time and save in-between!
Please remember to start in good time, as you will need to attach all kinds of documents and should take some time to fill in the forms. The tabs in Tahlo should be saved every time a change is made on them. The information can be updated until the form closes on 31 Mar, so everything does not have to be completed in one go.
C. Application form has been revised
The tab contains more tick-box options than before. This way, there is no need to write everything about the operations in the open fields; these can be used instead to describe the operations not mentioned in the tick-boxes. However, note the exceptions for the items towards the end which require tangible examples in addition to ticking boxes. The revision aims to increase the equality of associations and ease their workload.
D. Keep your Tahlo password safe: the association will need it again next year.
PROBLEMS?
See the answers to the most frequently asked questions here.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
AYY’s Organisation Sector (jarjestoasiat@ayy.fi) will answer all questions regarding the operating grants. You should ask the questions as soon as they pop up. The last of the questions should be sent in on Thursday 28 Mar, so that we will have enough time to answer them on Friday. You can also reach the Organisation Sector by phone at 050 520 9442 (weekdays).
If you come across any issues, spelling mistakes or other weirdness in the system, report these at jarjestoasiat@ayy.fi.
The operating grant applications and association notices will be processed as quickly as possible after the application period has ended. You will be informed of possible delays separately.