Community Development Fund

Updated August 2026

The Community Development Fund (CDF) is money allocated by the Required Student Fee Review Committee to support student organizations whose programs, events, or projects promote community and/or intercultural education at KU. 

• “Community. Community shall be the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include abilities or disabilities, age, citizenship, cognitive style, culture, economic status, education, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic background, languages spoken, marital or partnered status, national origin, physical appearance, race, and religious perspective. The Community Development Fund Board may recognize additional aspects of community.” (§ 07-02-06 a).
• “Intercultural Education. Intercultural education shall be any form of education or teaching that incorporates the histories, texts, values, beliefs, or perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds.” (§ 07-02-06 b).

Over $30,000 was allocated in FY 2026. CDF is administered by the Community Development Fund Board, a body made up of students elected by Student Councils and students appointed by the Student Engagement Center, chaired by the Vice Chair of the Community Affairs Council. Below is a meeting schedule and submission deadline. 

Funding Requirements

• Eligible organizations must:
  • Be recognized by the University and registered with the Student Engagement Center;
  • Have events or projects that promote community and/or intercultural education, as defined above (§ 07-02-06);
  • Abide by policies required of funded organizations in § 07-02-12 and § 05-01-07.
• Maximum funding. “No student organization shall receive more than $10,000 in funding from the Student Senate,” in a given year, including Line-Item Funding, Wednesday-Night Funding, and Community Development Funding together. This maximum may be exceeded with a two-thirds vote of the Community Development Fund Board (§ 05-01-04).
• Food. “An organization seeking Community Development Funding for purchases of food must reasonably justify that the food follows a cultural tradition or is related to an event's purpose of promoting diversity or intercultural education.” An organization that represents students who do not share a cultural culinary tradition may receive no more than $500 per semester in Community Development Funding for food (§ 07-02-11).
• Duration of allocations. “An allocation of Community Development Funding shall be effective from the date when the application for Community Development Funding is granted, to the end of the project, event, or series of events which is supported by the allocation. After this time, plus ten days, the outstanding portions of the allocation shall be considered expired and be returned to the Student Senate.” All allocations of Community Development Funding must expire at the end of the University fiscal year in which they were made (§ 07-02-16).
• Prohibited Uses. “Community Development Funding may not be used for any of the purposes provided:”
  • Partisan Activities
  • Alcohol
  • Academic Projects
  • Career Advancement
  • Honorariums for University Faculty
  • Commercial Promotions
  • Recruiting Students
  • Maintaining Affiliations
  • Granting Scholarships
  • Fundraising for Other Groups
  • Duplication of Services (§ 07-02-10).

How to Apply

Apply for Community Development Funding 

Your application must be tied to a specific project, event, or series of events, and must include your organization's full budget for that project, event, or series of events. If you have questions before applying, reach out to the Fund Development Director at senatefunddev@ku.edu. The Fund Development Director reviews all applications and will notify your organization of any potential conflicts with CDF rules or issues fulfilling your submitted budget. An application may be rejected if it would be infeasible to fulfill given its timing. 

If accepted, your organization will be invited to present your request at the Community Development Fund Board's next meeting, where the Board will hear from you and then vote to grant or deny your application by majority vote. For assistance preparing your presentation, see our presentation guide. 

Meeting documents and final decisions can be found on the Student Senate Teams workspace.

Meetings and Deadlines 2026-2027

Questions?

Reach out to the Fund Development Director at senatefunddev@ku.edu with any questions about eligibility or application.