Start a Booster Club and Pump up the Sporting Spirit!
Recreation and healthy competition are an important part of the school experience for many students. A booster club can help to promote an extracurricular passion for sports!
When it comes to being a young person, high school is an important part of life. However, it’s easy to forget that there’s more to being a student than the classroom and homework! In fact, many young people like to play sports in their downtime. In addition to being a fun leisure activity, they can help to build confidence and reduce stress levels. And organizations like booster clubs can make being part of a successful sports team possible!
What Is the Purpose of a Booster Club?
A booster club is the kind of organization that has everything to do with supporting the extracurricular activities of students! Most clubs are created for fundraising and to get donations for the many school-related sports teams. As they exist beyond school administration, they are mostly made up of parents of students. Alumni and other sports fans also often function as boosters. More and more, educational budgets are an issue for supporting many school-related activities. The high school is responsible for the gym and paying the coach, but booster clubs can provide money for everything else. This can include everything from new equipment and supplies to travel expenses and uniforms.
How Does a Booster Club Work?
It might seem unofficial, but there are many booster club guidelines that should be followed. Booster clubs are considered a charitable organization, which means they must have 501(c)3 status. When you consider starting a club for fundraising, set up certain rules for the boosters. While booster club members should volunteer for events, they also should act appropriately towards teachers, athletes, and their parents. Members should also avoid using their position to make decisions related to athletics.
Once membership has been decided, it’s customary to establish booster club bylaws and a budget. Whatever expenditures there are, it’s very important that there is transparency related to fundraising and transactions involving the booster club committee. There have been many scandals in the past involving the misuse of funds. As a result, openness is important in maintaining the club's non-profit status and showing accountability.
How Do Booster Clubs Raise Money?
Having the available funds for sports teams is the key to kids enjoying their extracurricular activities! Fortunately, there are many booster club ideas for fundraising for student activities. While membership fees and raffles are great ideas, there are a few options for thinking outside the box.
- Plan a Fun Run– Schedule a 5 or 10 K run for the local community. You can charge entry fees and get businesses to provide prizes for winners of the run!
- Organize a Kids' Camp– Consider putting together a camp for athletes in the sport you’re trying to support! It will make money and you may find a few future recruits.
- Serve Up Support– Get support from a local restaurant by having them donate the proceeds from the day’s sales to the club. For added team building, you may even want the students to work as servers!
- Classic Carnival– Plan a mini-carnival with a few of everyone’s favorite events. Whether you have a bouncy castle or dunk tank, you can make a lot of money from the fun!
- A Raffle to Remember– Raffles usually have items people want, but make one with plenty of amusing offerings like public singing and performances. People can pay to see something funny or to remove themselves from the list!
Booster clubs are an important part of raising money for school athletic programs. Fortunately, there are a lot of fun ways to support students and fans that love sports! Do you have experience being part of a club? If you have any great booster club spirit ideas, share them in our comments! Whether it’s football, soccer, or gymnastics, starting a booster club is a great idea for making athletic passion possible for kids!
