The Student Government Association dished out nearly $4,000 in organizational aid to eight campus groups during its meeting last week.

Organizations can apply for up to $500 every year from SGA, and many have wasted no time in doing so.

Wade Pierce, administrative vice president and organizational aid board chairman, said there were a lot of groups that seemed to be interested.

Seven of the eight organizations that received funding used the full $500. The WKU chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy needed only $455 for their upcoming Fair Trade event, but they can get the other $45 any time during the school year.

Pierce said he expects the next organizational aid bill to be around $3,000.

“We have gotten a lot of applications for groups interested, so the first few bills should be big,” Pierce said.

Applications for org aid can be found on the SGA website or in the SGA office.

There’s $40,000 set aside this year for org aid, which accounts for 35 percent of the total 2010-2011 SGA budget.

Pierce said they will most likely use the full $40,000 in organizational aid for the year.

“This is the best way for SGA to give back directly to the students, so we will try to use all of the money,” Pierce said.

Org aid is “one of the backbones of SGA,” SGA President Colton Jessie said.

“A lot of organizations depend on the money, and we are happy to help them out,” Jessie said. “These organizations can do so much more with our help.”

Pierce said he liked the diversity of the recently funded groups.

“We had organizations from many departments come to us for help, and that is something we always like to see,” he said.

The International Association of Business Communicators is one of the groups that will receive funding.

Jason Nsafoah, who serves as the SGA representative for IABC, said the money will be a huge contribution for them.

“We have a few conferences we will be attending – one in Nashville this weekend and one in Georgia in a few weeks, and this money will help pay for gas, the hotel and things like that,” he said.

Nsafoah said IABC couldn’t run properly without the money it applies for from SGA every year.

“They are the only organization that will fund us a large sum, and their contribution is huge for what we do,” he said.