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  • 1.  Booster Groups

    Posted 12-28-2017 13:21
    Hello! I'm a new director and I have inherited a Booster Program for my department, but it's not been very well maintained the past couple of years and I'm kind of lost at how to get it back in shape. For starters, we know we have tax exemption status but I have no idea who to contact to get paperwork so that we can accept donations. Then I also have no idea how to get them money (we sell concessions but that's all there is right now). So any idea? Advice?

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    Joseph Ellison
    Theatre Director
    Rio Rico AZ
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  • 2.  RE: Booster Groups

    Posted 12-29-2017 09:06
    Let one of your boosters play detective to find out who filed the tax exempt paperwork...and who files the non-profit tax form required each year.  Do you have your tax exempt number?  That's all donors will need to take advantage of your tax exempt status (those who can continue to go the deductions route...).  Google School Booster Club to find organizations who've done all this before, and can ease the way for you.

    Does your booster group have a PayPal account?  It will have to be in the name (yours?) of an individual but it can be set up so the tax form they send you uses the Booster EIN instead of your SSN...very important lest you have to pay the taxes on thousands of dollars they might take in from, for example, a summer drama camp!

    Do you (or they) have a website? If so, setting up a PayPal button on it, to take in donations, is very easy. Just remember that PayPal keeps the money until you request that it be transferred to the associated (booster) bank account.  And do find a way to monitor all booster transactions; every so often, embezzlement does occur !!  :(

    Set up a Google account in which you keep all the relevant account information and other stuff that may change from year (or director) to year as your parent leadership changes. Switching authorized names on a booster bank account can be particularly tricky for some reason.

    And be sure you're not running afoul of your school's financial guidelines with any of this.  Some booster groups are much more closely tied to their school's regulations than they think they are..........

    My last suggestion is to have your boosters focus on "putting bums in seats" (focus on publicity, and the fundraising takes care of itself) and making your life easier (running errands, helping to chaperone, assist with tech that your kids can't, etc.).

    Good luck!!

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    Douglas Rome
    Director of Theatre Arts
    Fairfax County Public Schools
    Burke VA
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Booster Groups

    Posted 12-29-2017 10:56
    In Ohio, where I am located, the secretary of state office maintains records on 501(c)3 organizations like our parent booster group. Check with them by looking on their website.

    If your group has been inactive for three years it may have lost its charter with the state and will need to be renewed -- which is not a big deal.

    Non-profit organizations are required to register with the IRS, too, and file an annual financial statement -- which is an online "note card", as long as your budget is under $25,000.00 as far as I recall.

    If your organization has not been filing with the IRS annually, you might be best served to start over and create a new organization with a new name. Either way, seek out the advice of a parent or friend who is an attorney who specializes in this sort of thing.

    If your organization does not already have a a constitution and by-laws, you should create some right away. Work collaboratively with your active parent volunteers to put it together. They will never be more willing to work with you as they are when you are first forming the organization.

    Booster groups are a blessing and a curse, They require regular work but I appreciate having the organization in place to provide both volunteer and financial support.

    --
    Mark A. Zimmerman
    Theatre Director,

    Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone High School
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    330-761-3275

    FirestoneTheatre.com




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Booster Groups

    Posted 12-30-2017 23:10
    Our booster clubs sells flowers and “kisses” (Hershey kisses in a baggie where people fill out a message and they get sent back to kids). They also do a gift card board that they sell tickets for all three show nights. They also set up a car wash in the fall and the spring. I never thought it would raise a lot but they made close to $500 in September! Good luck!

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    Carolyn Little
    High School English Teacher
    Toms River Board of Education
    Beachwood NJ
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Booster Groups

    Posted 01-03-2018 00:01
    Douglas nails it in terms of a step-by-step checklist of things to get started on. 

    A couple of other things:

    1. Who's in charge of the Booster? Are you allowed to be? Who holds the purse? Do you need to get permission to spend money, or can you go rampaging through The Theatre Bookstore and get reimbursed later? In some schools, the troupe director/theatre teacher cannot be the Booster account holder/manager. There is a whole-cloth organization online that can help with all kinds of questions, and I can't remember their name, but do the Google search for Parent school booster organization and that should get you the result you need. Fair warning: It will require a fair amount of essential, legal small print to read! 

    2. Fund-raising: The best thing we ever did and most reliable source of continuous income was bus-ramp selling. I or a couple of trusted students would take out a sizable cooler (could hold about 100 cans of pop), plus several boxes of chips that could be rested on the carry handle that extended outward, and go out to the bus ramp after school and sell chips/soda/non-melting candies to students waiting/rushing for the bus. We pulled in between a minimum of $700 - 1000 a week, less what you pay out in stock (about 30-40% of that). With that money we were able to do all sorts of things. It is a little bit of an effort, and you have to have a supportive administration, and for good measure we would also run around afterwards with a trash bin and a litter grabber to clean up, but well worth it.

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor

    Etobicoke ON
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Booster Groups

    Posted 01-05-2018 09:22
    Our tax exempt letter is issued to the entire district, and the letter was obtained from our school accountant who manages all accounts. They should also be able to address other questions about the account, such as if all expenses and donations are submitted to them, or if the Boosters is its own nonprofit and has its own account.

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    Amy Sando
    Minden NV
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    Original Message


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