High School Athletic Booster Clubs

Is anyone willing to share how the athletic booster club operates at their school? How is the money allocated to the different sports? Does each sport submit requests to the club for funds or equipment at some point during the year or is everything channeled through the AD? How and when are the board members selected and how long do they serve? Do the individual teams fund raise? Who has the final say on what money is spent on.

One last thing, what has proven to be the most successful means of raising funds for the athletic programs?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond. :xyzthumbs

 

Booster Clubs

Homer3: PM me and I will tell what I know about Booster Clubs!

 

Generally in CMS, there are school wide booster organizations whose funds are administered and disbursed by the school AD. In the case of on HS I know of, representation by a sport's parents at the booster club meetings was critical if a sport was to receive its "fair share" of dollars raised. The larger the sports revenue raising, the larger it's take. In the case I am familiar with, the AD was even handed and if a sport raised money, he made sure it received an equitable amount for its specific needs. But in the end it was the AD's call.

It is not permissible within CMS for any booster club to financially support and coach or staff member. Every head coach is limited to the max $1500 or so stipend, assistant coaches get even less. No coach in CMS is getting rich and in the end they probably work for 25 cents an hour, before tax.

It is my understanding that CMS has reduced its financial support of athletics in general - increasing the burden on students' parents and booster clubs. This trend continues to pressure and remove opportunity from schools that are economically disadvantaged.

Within CMS, concessions (any sports) and signage sales are very reliable. S Meck has a powerful corporate sponsorhip program. BBQ used to be huge at EMeck, but CMS stopped the kids from delivering and the last time they tried was a big bust. Bands have done fruit sales as well as the timeless and indestructible fruit cakes. Raffles are mixed. 50/50's have been used. Cell tower leases. Working at the Pathers stadium or Lowes MS. All are huge amounts of work and when you net it out, volunteer usually net a dollar an hour!

 

Great post ... highntight is one of our resident experts around here and I want him to chime in.

All of your facts are accurate concerning Charlotte-Mecklenburg...

Now throw in the fact that the school system expects to need an additional 51 new SCHOOLS to be built in the county ... and finally, look at the situation at Ballantyne They haven't even finished the buildings but that football field with it's new artificial turf is ready for action !!!!!!

"Of all the things I've lost over the years, I miss my mind the most."

 

At East Chapel Hill, our sources of funds were fund raisers (the largest amount), concessions at the events, and booster club dues. Each member could designate a percentage of their dues (20%, if I recall correctly) to a specific sport or sports. The booster club runs concessions at all events and those profits go into the general booster club fund. Most of the individual teams do their own fund raising as well.

The booster club funds are divided into 3 buckets, the exact percentage varied year to year, but close to 1/3 each:
One bucket went unrestricted to the athletic department
One bucket accumulated in a "long-term-big-project-fund" intended to be spent every few years (expensive things like bleachers, weight room improvements, etc. that would benefit multiple sports).
One bucket available for requests that were made by parents/coaches of a specific sport. We tried to spread this around between sports, and favored "hard" items like practice equipment, goals, batting cage, tarps, as opposed to "help us pay for a trip to a tournament" or shiny new uniforms. These requests were made at the monthly meeting. We would consider requests less than $500 at any meeting, larger requests three times each year (so we could compare, prioritize, and ensure we didn't spend everything at the beginning of the year). The allocation was by vote of those at the meeting.

Board members are elected each year, typically they wound up serving two years since it was hard to get people to serve.

Best fund raiser? A golf tournament is by far the best dollars raised per hours required. Unfortunately, everybody seems to be catching on to that and it seems like every organization is doing them, so there's competition. As part of the tournament we have done a silent auction which is also a lot of money for a small amount of time. We'd auction dinners at local restaurants, plane tickets, rounds of golf at local golf course, wekend at somebody's beach condo, one hour of tax advice from an accountant, other donated stuff from local businesses, etc.

-jda

 

Booster Clubs

POPS: Per your request, The need for a strong Athletic Booster Club is very important in the Mecklenburg County School System. This is because of all the budget problems and current management trends towards pay for play! CMS currently allocates about $4,000 to high schools for sports related programs each year. The schools must survive on thier gate receipts and fund raising. The school system also wants to control the purchases of the schools by centrally bidding out purchases to the lowest bidder. A well managed and active Booster Club gives the school more flexibility in its purchases and allows it to keep its fund raising dollars where they are raised. It is important for the Booster Club to be tax exempt and have a strong management team of volunteers. You should also develop a realistic budget each year and work from there.I have found AD's and coaches to be very supportive of Booster Clubs as long as they undersatnd how they can make their jobs easier and more effective. A good working relationship with the AD and coaches is possible if your truely get an idea of how difficult their jobs are and why! The real purpose of the Booster Club should be to help enrich the student's educational experience through its support of athletics programs!

 

Thanks for the answer HighnTight ...

In many schools, there is a Booster Club in name only. They act as a fund-raising organization and/or a pool of volunteers but aren't active otherwise.

In inactive or poorly led Booster Club can increase the burden on the AD and the team coaches. We've been fortunate this past year to have HighnTight as the president of our local organization.

Read between the lines. The incorporation of the Booster Club as a tax exempt organization, with a careful and thoughtful budget will also create something that is lacking in other schools, a version of institutional control. The overall sports program will benefit, not just the most popular team or the team with the biggest gates.

We've been lucky having him lead our school. Others can learn quite a bit from him.

 

Booster Clubs

POPS: The check is in the mail , thanks!