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Electing New Booster Club Leadership

Within your booster club Bylaws, you will find a well-detailed structure for new officer elections and how booster club leadership is selected. If you don’t have this information within your Bylaws already, it should be added as soon as possible. The election of officers / booster club leadership in a booster club occurs based on the timelines set by your Bylaws.

Typically, elections are held towards the end of the school year.

  • imageThis is so that transitioning booster club leadership is smoother.
  • imageIt gives new officers a few months to adjust to their newly appointed roles before the start of school.
  • imageThis can start the club on a great foot during the next club season.

Officers can be elected into positions with 2 different methods.

  • imageSimple majority vote
  • imageSecret ballot

The booster club Bylaws should outline the approved plans as well as the term length for the officers. Most districts ask that no one stays in the same position for more than 2 consecutive years.

However, if no one else is available to fill the job, a booster club can vote to extend the length by adding a third term. This would extend the time needed before transitioning booster club leadership.

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Appointing New Board Members

Booster club board members are chosen through appointment and election. Following with Roberts Rules of Order, nominations for board members can be accepted from the floor. But at no point should someone be placed into the office without agreement from the members.

Some other rules for appointing new board members are:

  • imageOnly active members in good standing within the booster club, are allowed to hold office.
  • imageBooster clubs must have at least 3 officers.
  • imageThe President and Treasurer are 2 required positions.

Other important positions include:

The President of the booster club:

  • imagePerforms their duties as outlined by the clubs Bylaws
  • imageLeads the meetings
  • imageResolves membership issues
  • imageMeets with the treasurer about finances on the regular
  • imageMeets with the campus administration regarding the booster clubs activities.

The Vice-President

  • imageSteps in and acts as President during their absence.
  • imageFollows duties as outlined by booster club Bylaws
  • imagePerforms any administrative functions as delegated by the President

Treasurer

  • imageResponsible for the financial records of the booster club
  • imageFiles the taxes on time to avoid penalties
  • imageManages all of the money associated with the booster club
  • imagePrepares the booster clubs budget
  • imageDeposits funds and issues receipts for all incoming cash
  • imagePrepare and share financial reports with the club at regular meetings
  • imagePerforms other duties as outlined by the booster club Bylaws.

Secretary

  • imageResponsible for taking the minutes of the meeting and keeping an accurate record
  • imageKeeps current membership lists
  • imageTakes attendance at the regular meetings for accurate minutes reporting
  • imageKeeps regular correspondence with the members of the booster club using a newsletter or similar
  • imagePerform other duties as outlined by the booster club Bylaws.

Transitioning booster club leadership to the right people is essential for maintaining booster club success. You want to elect someone that wants to do the job, and that has the skills to do it successfully.

You can view more aboutbooster club officers and their responsibilities here.

While not always the best route, sometimes it’s the most cost-effective. A lot of people want to help support their schools and booster clubs but don’t have the time to drive out to a car wash or gala; they may not even want a candy bar.

So an easy fundraiser that cuts straight to the chase is- accepting donations.

There are a ton of different platforms that you can use to accept donations for your nonprofit. Some of these include:

  • imageAccepting cash or check directly
    • It’s common for people to give money during a sales fundraiser and request that they don’t get the product being sold.
  • image PayPal
    • Paypal offers two different ways that you can get money donated to your booster club.
    • Texting and the Internet. Both take a small percentage.
    • Donator does not need a PayPal account to use.
  • image Fundly
    • A website that lets you raise money for groups and individuals
    • Free to launch campaign but they take almost 5% of the profit and another 3% per transaction
  • image QGiv
    • A website that gives customizable donation pages
    • Charges a fee and a flat rate for transactions
  • image @Pay
    • Offers website and mobile donation pages
    • Offers text to give option with their premium package

Depending on your booster club fundraising needs, you may find that providing a donation option may increase your booster club revenue.

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Removing Ineffective Booster Club Leadership

As unpleasant as it may be, there may come a time when your booster club is forced to remove someone from office and replace booster club leadership. It will create tension between members and affect relationships. Removing people from the office is almost always done as an involuntary action.

Some reasons to remove somebody from office include:

  • imageLack of participation
  • imageAbuse
  • imageNegligence
  • imageCriminal actions

The booster club Bylaws should outline the proper process for removing someone from a leadership position, and how to transfer booster club leadership.

The process itself should be challenging to do to help prevent it from being abused. There should also be unanimous consent of the other members in the group.

Usually, conflict can be healthy when it handled with maturity and professionalism. But when a situation arises to a level that requires the action of removal from a leadership position, the typical process is as follows:

  • imageBring the matter up as an agenda item in a meeting
  • imageDiscuss the situation
  • image

    Following Robert’s Rules of Order a motion must be made and a vote taken to remove the individual

Removing somebody from office should be used as a last resort after all attempts to fix the issues have failed.

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Adding New Board Seats

There are two good reasons why a booster club may need to appoint board members.

  • imageVacancy
  • imageExpansion

Vacancy

Bylaws typically give a timeframe for how many times a person can consecutively hold office or term length. At the end of this, the transitioning booster club leadership to a new member must be done. The new member must be elected to fill the role while the person currently in office steps down.

Another vacancy related issue could be that a person moves away, dies, or quite mid-term. When a vacant job like this happens, the booster club will likely try to fill in that void by electing a new person to hold the position. This would be done at a special meeting and done through the standard procedure. Nominating and voting them into office.

‘It’s up to the members to decide if these newly elected officers are merely there to finish the current term, or if they get to serve full time.To keep it fair and consistent, ‘it’s a good idea to add these stipulations to the booster clubs Bylaws. That way, there is a point of reference during any reoccurrence.

Expansion

As your booster club membership grows and expands, you may find that having a small board of officers to run things may not be as effective as it once was. Expanding your office seats to accommodate other tasks can help to alleviate some of the workloads from other members.

If your Bylaws state a limit on how many directors there can be, make sure not to exceed that unless an amendment to the Bylaws is made.

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What are the Bylaws?

Bylaws are the book of instructions defining how the group will govern itself.

Contents of Bylaws typically include:

  • imageThe nonprofit group’s name, location, and date of founding
  • imageTerms of use agreement for things like logo, trademark, etc.
  • imageElection procedures
  • imageStandard meeting procedures
  • imageThe rules and responsibilities of elected officers
  • imageAmendment procedures

With there being so many different documents involved with a booster club, it’s a good idea to do an official audit of accounts before they migrate of booster club leadership and the transfer of materials.

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List of Documents To Transition

When you replace the booster club leadership with the newly elected officials, relevant documents are involved in transitioning booster club leadership from one person to another.

Some of these documents passed down during the transitioning of booster club members might include:

  • imageBylaws
  • imageMeeting Minutes

    • Official written account of what happened at formal meetings, including any decisions made or actions taken.
  • imageMemorandum of sponsors

    • Companies and individuals who often help with finances and supplies for the booster club.
  • imageNonprofit Articles of Incorporation

    • Is a legal document filed with the Secretary Of State to create your nonprofit corporation
  • imageMembership roster

    • A list of booster club members and contact information
  • imageFinancial Information

    • Bank account info, any CD’s and bonds, financial history, accounting management software, and login info.
  • imageAny other state or federal documents

    • Legal documents for your nonprofit
  • imageAny other documents that are important to the booster club
  • imagePapers that are group-specific, district, state or national boost club level

Note:

keeping your corporate records book in the school’s office can help you always to know where to find it.

How to transition the paperwork between board members

The booster club Bylaws will state who is to receive which set of documents. Usually, financial documents are passed between Treasurers, minutes between Secretaries and the other documents are split between the President and the school’s officials.

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Maintaining Booster Club Continuity During Leadership Handoff

Keeping past presidents around to help mentor the new President is a great way to transition booster club leadership. The same can be said for the other elected officers as well.

  • imageA short 3-month mentorship can help them to adjust to their new roles
    • Answering questions and answers
    • Double-check that things are running smoothly

The past board member’s first-hand experience and knowledge can help to avoid costly mistakes and keep the club from experiencing any issues while transitioning booster club leadership. This also helps to keep the booster club a success.

Sometimes, a job can come with too many responsibilities for a single person to handle. In these cases,handing off leadershipcan really help. Delegation is a great asset to booster club membership because it not only helps to release stress on some members, but it also gives non-board member booster club volunteers a chance to participate at a higher level.