Applicant Guidance and Criteria

1. What is Cascade?

The Cascade Grants Programme offers current students a unique opportunity to access up to £10,000 in funding, empowering them to bring their visionary projects to life and enhance their overall student experience while making a positive impact on their community. These projects, whether academic, pastoral, or extracurricular in nature, are catalysts that directly contribute to the betterment of the student experience, creating a ripple effect that spreads benefits throughout the entire student community.

Cascade was established in 2007 with the generous donations received from alumni and friends of the university. Since its inception, the programme has gifted over £1 million to more than 120 projects, providing invaluable support to student-led initiatives such as Community First Responders, Litter of Light, Global Buddy Scheme, and Foodprint, among others. This history of remarkable support highlights the commitment to empowering students and fostering positive change within the university community.

The Cascade Grants Programme is delivered jointly by the University of Nottingham Students' Union (UoNSU) and University of Nottingham Campaign & Alumni Relations Office (CARO). It is funded thanks to donations from alumni and friends of the University and as such has a limited pot available each year. Only the highest scoring applications will be funded and around half the applications are rejected.

2. Project Overview

2.1. Themes 

Cascade projects may be academic, pastoral or extracurricular, but they must directly enhance the student experience. 

To ensure projects support the strategic vision to be a University without borders, all projects should align to at least one of the Cascade Grants Programme themes:  

• Connecting campuses & communities  

• Creativity & innovation  
• Enhancing teaching & learning experiences  
• Environmental sustainability  
• Global citizenship  
• Healthy bodies and minds   
• Students’ Union Values 

2.2. Project Criteria

Cascade projects encompass academic, pastoral, or extracurricular endeavours and have a common purpose: to directly enhance the student experience and amplify the positive impact created by the student community. 

1. Projects must fulfil at least one of the following criteria: 

1. Benefit the wider student community and/or 

2. Facilitate student engagement with other communities, including alumni, and/or 

3. Provide significant advantages to a specific group of students. Projects that promote activities benefiting a larger number of students will be regarded more favourably than those exclusively benefiting a smaller group.  

2. Projects will score more highly if they have the following characteristics:  

1. Projects that have a basis in the curriculum (i.e., use skills and knowledge gained from studies, and applying this to the ‘real world’) and/or  

2. Projects that have a clearly defined personal development benefit for those involved and/or  

3. Projects that have a positive impact on a community other than the students running the project. This could be another group of students or an external community (anywhere from the very local to the international).   

3. Projects should strive to maximise the utilisation of Cascade funding, ensuring optimal value for money and meeting donor expectations regarding the funding of transformative student projects.  

4. If the overall budget is more than the amount requested, applications must demonstrate the availability of additional funding or activities to secure this funding.  

5. The maximum value of a single grant awarded by the Cascade Grants Programme will be £10,000. However, in exceptional cases, a grant of up to £25,000 may be made available, particularly for projects that benefit a significantly large number of students.  

6. The Cascade project lead must be a current full member of the Students' Union throughout the duration of the project. 

7. Approved Cascade project leads must agree to the Cascade Grant Agreement – Terms & Conditions before any funding is disbursed. 

8. The Project should align with a value of the Students’ Union: Equitable. Empowering. Brave. Responsible. Collaborative. 

2.3. Exclusions

Projects with the following characteristics will not be accepted for review:  

1. Projects that only provide benefit to one student. 
2. Projects that do not directly enhance the student experience.  
3. Any project requesting research funding.  
4. Any project covering staff costs unless the work of that staff member is focused entirely on supporting the student experience and the funding is intended as seed corn or for a trial period.  Established posts will not be supported.  
5. Projects where funding would normally be expected to come from the University, the Students’ Union, or external sources.  
6. Projects that exclusively support alumni will not normally be considered.  
7. Projects where the vast majority of the grant will be used to fund travel for the project leads will not normally be considered.  
8. Projects that include systematic, high-risk processing of personal data (e.g., projects that involve the processing of biometric or genetic data, or large-scale use of special category or criminal convictions data) 

For UoN Sports clubs, £30,000 has been ring fenced each year so that clubs do not have to compete with the wider University for Cascade funding. This is run as a separate programme and details can be found at CBTRC Cascade.

3. Assessment

3.1. Panel Assessment 

Projects will be reviewed by a panel of donors, who will assess projects against the following assessment criteria:  

• Alignment with selected Cascade theme  

• Application of teaching, learning & skills  
• Positive impact on another community  
• Consideration of equality, diversity & inclusion  
• Innovation in approach, and project ambition  
• Clear personal development benefits for the project leads  

• Value for money  
• SU Value 

Panel members should score each criteria between 0 and 5, where 0 shows ‘very weak consideration of criteria’, and 5 shows ‘very strong consideration of criteria’. Scores and comments should be recorded on the Cascade Panel Scorecard (sent to each member with the links to the application forms for review).  

Further information about the application questions and criteria are noted below:  

3.2. Guidance on Repeat Projects  

Projects or students that have been awarded Cascade funding in previous academic years are eligible for repeat funding. Consideration by the panel should be given in particular to the following criteria:  

• Innovation and ambition in approach – this will be more difficult to demonstrate if there are similarities to a previously-funded project  
• Clear personal development benefits – this will be more difficult to demonstrate if the applicant has previously received Cascade funding.  

4. Application

4.1. Submission details

1. Applications will only be accepted through the online form provided (Unless special adjustment requests are made clear to us before the deadline by contacting the below email). You can review the complete form in pdf format before submitting the online form here: Cascade Application Form.
2. Your application should include a completed Cascade Budget Template with the appropriate naming convention of: Cascade Budget Template – PROJECT NAME, emailed to studentgroups@uonsu.com. This should include any quotes for any item of over £500.
3. Cascade application deadlines can be found on the Cascade web pages both from the Students’ Union and the University of Nottingham.
4. By submitting your application, you give consent for the Students’ Union to process your application (e.g. by sharing this with colleagues, the University of Nottingham and trusted supporters of the University).

If you have any further queries or require more information regarding the submission of an application, please email studentgroups@uonsu.com

4.2. Application Review

Your application will be reviewed by a panel consisting of Students’ Union Staff, Student Officer team and the Activities executive committee. There is an aim to get two members from each of these areas, requiring at least four members having gathered for the panel. This panel will aim to meet and make decisions within 15 working days of the application window closing date but this can be delayed if a quorum cannot be reached.

5. Role Profiles

5.1. Project Lead Activities 

Key project lead activities are listed below, based on the “before”, “during” and “after” stages of a Cascade project. 

Before Project Delivery (Application) 

• Complete the application and budget spreadsheet
• Identify a staff sponsor to support the project
• (For successful projects) Sign the Cascade Grant Agreement, to agree to the project lead responsibilities.

During Project Delivery 

• Deliver the project activities, in line with the requirements outlined in the Cascade Grant Agreement
• Provide relevant information to the Staff Sponsor, Student Groups Finance Coordinator, including update reports (e.g. around project progress, budget, data processing, project milestones)
• Share related media (e.g. photos, videos, blogs etc.) with Student Groups Finance Coordinator
• Notify your Staff Sponsor and the Student Groups Finance Coordinator of any significant changes to your project scope or timelines.

After Project Delivery 

• Provide a final report, to feedback to donors and to capture your reflections on your project.
• Share related media (e.g., photos, videos, blogs etc.) with the Student Groups Finance Coordinator
• Calculate your final budget and notify the Student Groups Finance Coordinator of any underspend of project budget.

5.2. Staff Sponsor Activities

Key staff sponsor activities are listed below, based on the “before”, “during” and “after” stages of a Cascade project.

Before Project Delivery (Application) 

• Review the application and budget, and provide a short supporting statement
• Assist with monitoring the budget.  
• Sign the grant agreement, to agree to the staff sponsor responsibilities (listed below)

During Project Delivery 

• Provide ad hoc support and guidance for the project leads
• Monitor the project, raising any risks or concerns with the project leads and the Student Groups Finance Coordinator:

• Reputational / ethical
• Safety
• Financial
• Data processing
• Project scope

• (If the project is funded in multiple stages), Agree and approve project milestones, to release further budget.  
• Monitor changes to the project scope, and notify the student groups finance coordinator of any significant alterations.  

After Project Delivery 

• Review the project’s final report, and provide a supporting statement
• Notify the student groups finance coordinator of any underspend of project budget.

5.3. Staff Sponsor Responsibilities

To ensure that projects are carried out in a responsible manner, the staff sponsor should be a permanent member of staff, and has overall accountability for the project’s finances and activities.

To avoid disempowering student project leads, the staff sponsor responsibilities should focus on the monitoring of risks relating to the University’s reputation, safety concerns, financial responsibility, the processing of personal data and the delivery of the project. Where projects remain within appropriate limits, staff sponsors can simply provide budget approval and light-touch project support.

Examples of the categories of risks and concerns which staff sponsors should consider are listed below:

• Reputation and ethical risks  
  Could any of the project activities be interpreted as problematic or unethical?
  
• Safety concerns  
  Could any of the project activities be risky or unsafe? Have adequate checks and measures been put in place or carried out to ensure both project lead and project participant safety?
  
• Financial risk  
  Is all spending (proposed and actual) in line with the Student Unions processes. I.e. going through invoice to the student groups finance coordinator or expense365 to be approved by the finance coordinator

• Data processing and regulations
  Are the project leads processing personal data? If so, are they doing this in line with data protection principles? (e.g. using O365 to restrict access to personal data, being clear with participants about what their names / email addresses / photographs etc. will be used for)
  Is the project using or collecting any sensitive personal data? (i.e. special category data, such as race, sexual orientation, marital status). If so, have project leads captured explicit consent to use this information?

• Changes to project scope / delivery risks
  Have the project activities changed from those stated in the application? Are there related delivery risks (e.g. changes to project timescales, lack of availability of key resources, changes to the project team etc.)? Any significant changes to the scope of the project should be raised with the student groups finance coordinator. If changes are significant, it may be necessary to arrange a secondary review of an updated project proposal.  

6. FAQs

1. Can the project run for over an academic year?
   Yes, there are no set time limits for the length of Cascade projects. Multi-year projects are still asked to submit project updates at key milestones, and project funding may be staggered to coincide with the milestones.

2. What’s the role of the staff sponsor?

The staff sponsor should be a permanent member of University or SU staff, who is on hand to support you to deliver your project. While responsibility the project sits with the project lead, the staff sponsor will support you with factors such as safety, risk, financial responsibility and data processing. They also provide budget approval for your project spend.

3. Can projects have more than one student lead?

Yes, projects can have multiple project leads. Please make this clear in your application form. We recommend for organisation purposes that you have no more than 5 project leads.

4. How are applications reviewed? What are the panel looking for, and what do they find useful?

See ‘Project Review Process’ and ‘Project Criteria’ above.

5. What if I don’t know the final costings for your project?
   It’s important to prepare an accurate budget for your project, so that you receive the necessary amount of funding. However, it’s fine to use estimates if you don’t have the final confirmation of costs.  For all purchases of over £500, you should obtain quotes, and submit these along with your application form. Quotes could either be formal estimates, or screenshots or links to online items.

6. What happens if we change our mind?

Once approved, any changes to your project should be discussed with the Staff Sponsor and the Cascade Administrator. Small changes are unlikely to require a formal process, but if there are significant changes to your project it may be necessary to consult with the adjudication panel or your project application may need to be updated or reassessed.

7. Do you have any example application forms, or links to previous projects?

Yes, you can refer to these Cascade case studies to see what previous projects have achieved.

8. My question doesn’t appear here!

If you’ve got any other questions, please email studentgroups@uonsu.com and we’ll be happy to offer further advice and guidance.