High School Booster Clubs And Fundraising

[SparkleSpankies]

Hey Everyone! I am going into my 5th year at the HS I coach at, and when I started we had very active boosters, they did a lot of fundraisers and consistently had large rollover season to season. About 3 years ago, the parents started to "fight" with each other, less and less would help with the Boosters. I intervened one year, gave a number of ideas, people were responsive, however, I was getting stuck in the middle of parent wars, so I was asked by the AD to step back. Something to keep in mind, ZERO of our competition costs are paid by school.

We run a competition, have concessions at basketball, and do the 50/50 at Football. In addition we have binders about youth clinics (used to run 2-3 a year), designer bag raffles, basket bingo, car washes, and other various items, small and large to help athletes with both individual expenses and team expenses, that have not been acted on this past season.

I was told yesterday we are starting at a deficit for 2016-2107, my only reaction was this is not my fault, I asked about dates for clinics and if we were going to do our designer raffles. In addition, we used to do a resturant night a month which isn't a lot of money, but that is easy. To start w/ a deficit is a HUGE issue and we shouldn't have it. I am constantly questioning why things aren't planned and why we are in this hole. Also, I stayed under my projected costs for the year, so there should be at least a little left over (I think they used it for the banquet which is fine).

Does anyone have issues w/ Booster Programs and parents not wanting to help? Does anyone have ways to try and get everyone to understand no fundraising, no competition?

Thanks!

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Hey Everyone! I am going into my 5th year at the HS I coach at, and when I started we had very active boosters, they did a lot of fundraisers and consistently had large rollover season to season. About 3 years ago, the parents started to "fight" with each other, less and less would help with the Boosters. I intervened one year, gave a number of ideas, people were responsive, however, I was getting stuck in the middle of parent wars, so I was asked by the AD to step back. Something to keep in mind, ZERO of our competition costs are paid by school.

We run a competition, have concessions at basketball, and do the 50/50 at Football. In addition we have binders about youth clinics (used to run 2-3 a year), designer bag raffles, basket bingo, car washes, and other various items, small and large to help athletes with both individual expenses and team expenses, that have not been acted on this past season.

I was told yesterday we are starting at a deficit for 2016-2107, my only reaction was this is not my fault, I asked about dates for clinics and if we were going to do our designer raffles. In addition, we used to do a resturant night a month which isn't a lot of money, but that is easy. To start w/ a deficit is a HUGE issue and we shouldn't have it. I am constantly questioning why things aren't planned and why we are in this hole. Also, I stayed under my projected costs for the year, so there should be at least a little left over (I think they used it for the banquet which is fine).

Does anyone have issues w/ Booster Programs and parents not wanting to help? Does anyone have ways to try and get everyone to understand no fundraising, no competition?

Thanks!

I do not have a booster club. We are budgeted a modest amount of money each year from the school-wide athletic booster club, and then I determine which two major fundraisers we are going to do, so my perspective will be a little different than yours.

I think you made one major mistake. You didn't keep your thumb on it. I know the AD asked you to step back, but the basic concept is that in this country the only people who can write checks without first earning the money is Congress. We have varying participation from family to family in the fundraising aspects. People get fundraising burn-out real fast. I would suggest finding one or two big-time fundraisers, and then sticking with those. Last year we raised $2000 selling ads on T-shirts to go to nationals. This year, I am planning to expand that to include several t-shirts for different purposes with an increased cost. Last year we raised $1500 with our cheer clinic. This year, I am planning to expand that by charging a little bit more for a two-day camp and partnering with a local youth football league for promotional purposes. If you can produce a quality product year-over-year, and your fundraisers are consistent year-over-year; people will learn what to expect from you. At that point, fundraising will almost take care of itself, but you HAVE to keep your thumb on it.

 

[ARajamin]

I know at our school (I started the booster club this year because they didn't have one before I got there) we wrote it into the rules of the club that the coach or advisor (coach gets preference) gets a voting seat on the booster board. I enjoy being involved and I'm a little bit of a control freak so I want to know where we're at financially at all times... It seems to be working. I do not have a lot of parent involvement with cheer or the boosters but my girls are very involved in fundraisers (low income area) so it's ok. We literally just have enough parents to fill our board and that's it.

I would send out a letter (followed up with an identical email) that you are organizing two or three large fundraisers (you're going to have to take it on if you want the $) that are mandatory (make them something the girls don't have to directly sell but have to do instead (i.e. car washes) and that those will go to pay for competition ONLY. Anyone who doesn't participate doesn't compete (ACLU says you have to treat them all the same however you CAN sit a girl out of the competition aspect if she refuses to participate in mandatory cheer events). In the letter tell them how much competition fee's are (give them an exact breakdown of each competition you have planned) and tell them you will only do whatever events these fundraisers can support financially... no$ no competition. Be straight forward with them.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

I know at our school (I started the booster club this year because they didn't have one before I got there) we wrote it into the rules of the club that the coach or advisor (coach gets preference) gets a voting seat on the booster board. I enjoy being involved and I'm a little bit of a control freak so I want to know where we're at financially at all times... It seems to be working. I do not have a lot of parent involvement with cheer or the boosters but my girls are very involved in fundraisers (low income area) so it's ok. We literally just have enough parents to fill our board and that's it.

I would send out a letter (followed up with an identical email) that you are organizing two or three large fundraisers (you're going to have to take it on if you want the $) that are mandatory (make them something the girls don't have to directly sell but have to do instead (i.e. car washes) and that those will go to pay for competition ONLY. Anyone who doesn't participate doesn't compete (ACLU says you have to treat them all the same however you CAN sit a girl out of the competition aspect if she refuses to participate in mandatory cheer events). In the letter tell them how much competition fee's are (give them an exact breakdown of each competition you have planned) and tell them you will only do whatever events these fundraisers can support financially... no$ no competition. Be straight forward with them.

That's the problem, I was told by the athletic department to stay out of it b/c the boosters were created for me to coach and not worry about money. I tried to be a part of it 3 years ago when the arguments started and it was extremely difficult, and I mentioned and the AD had me step out.

I can explain to the parents we need everyone to help and explain why, but that is as far as I can go. It's really a hard situation, and we are very unique due to the separation of boosters and myself. In addition, no fundraisers are MANDATORY for kids technically, which is so backward, I know. We try to separate individual vs team and we say individual isn't mandatory but team everyone should be a part of. That is the other problem, the booster moms tend to be the ones who have the $$ and can write checks, so they forget that there are a handful of kids who need to have ways to reduce their own costs (camp/gear/tumbing) by possibly selling something.

I guess more or less I am asking is who has had the issues above b/c I know out district has pretty interesting bylaws w/ boosters/coach involvement. In addition, I can't deny a kid a spot on a team b/c they can't afford it, school has fund for families in need and in addition, the boosters are "supposed" to have extra funds to use for situations as such that the kids would be able to earn.

When I sit down with the boosters, I am going to have to put a foot down and say if you want your girls to continue being successful, you know the costs, if you want to go to nationals, I recommend those costs being handles and a solid plan and money in the account to show we are financially stable to do so. I will offer my services for the clinics, I practically run the entire competition minus front of the house, and I did run the designer bag raffle and corp sponsors in the past, but I am struggling w/ this group.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

That's the problem, I was told by the athletic department to stay out of it b/c the boosters were created for me to coach and not worry about money. I tried to be a part of it 3 years ago when the arguments started and it was extremely difficult, and I mentioned and the AD had me step out.

I can explain to the parents we need everyone to help and explain why, but that is as far as I can go. It's really a hard situation, and we are very unique due to the separation of boosters and myself. In addition, no fundraisers are MANDATORY for kids technically, which is so backward, I know. We try to separate individual vs team and we say individual isn't mandatory but team everyone should be a part of. That is the other problem, the booster moms tend to be the ones who have the $$ and can write checks, so they forget that there are a handful of kids who need to have ways to reduce their own costs (camp/gear/tumbing) by possibly selling something.

I guess more or less I am asking is who has had the issues above b/c I know out district has pretty interesting bylaws w/ boosters/coach involvement. In addition, I can't deny a kid a spot on a team b/c they can't afford it, school has fund for families in need and in addition, the boosters are "supposed" to have extra funds to use for situations as such that the kids would be able to earn.

When I sit down with the boosters, I am going to have to put a foot down and say if you want your girls to continue being successful, you know the costs, if you want to go to nationals, I recommend those costs being handles and a solid plan and money in the account to show we are financially stable to do so. I will offer my services for the clinics, I practically run the entire competition minus front of the house, and I did run the designer bag raffle and corp sponsors in the past, but I am struggling w/ this group.

You need to go to your athletic director and (calmly...as I tend to peel paint off the walls when I have these issues) explain to him/her that their "suggested minimalistic approach to my role in fundraising and finances has resulted in a negative balance and put me in an untenable situation as a coach."

It is the AD's fault you are having problems.

Don't trust anybody, especially parents, with money. Don't trust your assistants. Don't trust kids. Don't trust parents. Don't trust the bookkeeper at the school. You have to have a consistent paper trail. The next argument you are going to hear is that you're in a negative balance because you are pilfering money out of the cheer fund.

You have to correct this situation. It's not easy, but it's correctable.

 

[tojofasho]

That's the problem, I was told by the athletic department to stay out of it b/c the boosters were created for me to coach and not worry about money. I tried to be a part of it 3 years ago when the arguments started and it was extremely difficult, and I mentioned and the AD had me step out.

I can explain to the parents we need everyone to help and explain why, but that is as far as I can go. It's really a hard situation, and we are very unique due to the separation of boosters and myself. In addition, no fundraisers are MANDATORY for kids technically, which is so backward, I know. We try to separate individual vs team and we say individual isn't mandatory but team everyone should be a part of. That is the other problem, the booster moms tend to be the ones who have the $$ and can write checks, so they forget that there are a handful of kids who need to have ways to reduce their own costs (camp/gear/tumbing) by possibly selling something.

I guess more or less I am asking is who has had the issues above b/c I know out district has pretty interesting bylaws w/ boosters/coach involvement. In addition, I can't deny a kid a spot on a team b/c they can't afford it, school has fund for families in need and in addition, the boosters are "supposed" to have extra funds to use for situations as such that the kids would be able to earn.

When I sit down with the boosters, I am going to have to put a foot down and say if you want your girls to continue being successful, you know the costs, if you want to go to nationals, I recommend those costs being handles and a solid plan and money in the account to show we are financially stable to do so. I will offer my services for the clinics, I practically run the entire competition minus front of the house, and I did run the designer bag raffle and corp sponsors in the past, but I am struggling w/ this group.

I've been coaching High School for two years now, but it seems the policies at my school may be different than yours? I'm unsure, but this past year we had the parents keep absolutely none of the money in a Booster account. Every single dollar the team made was deposited into our school's bookstore under Spiritline, and the funds were used at the discretion of the coach (me). A lot of parents had issues with it at first, and some still do honestly, but as long as you keep a cost spreadsheet of where all the money goes, how much it costs total, how much it costs per girl, etc. I believe putting all the funds into a school account and controlling them yourself is generally the best bet. I had a ton of moms at the end of the season come up to me and demand a breakdown of where all the money they paid/fundraised went, and it was easy to show them all the costs because it all went through the same place.

In addition, the best thing I did for the program was during individual fundraisers (selling items, getting sponsorships, etc.), doing an 80/20 split. The kids get 80% of whatever they raise deposited directly into their account, and 20% goes towards team funds, such as crash poster materials, competition signs, new school-owned uniforms, competition costs, etc. And then for team fundraisers (carwash, crash poster night, etc.), everything goes directly towards those team funds. Last year the total we spent was around $35,000, or $1000 per girl, so we had to do a lot of fundraising to do it (we're Title I and the school gives us literally $0 to start with). Being the person in charge of all of the funds made life so much easier when it came down to it. Yes, the moms resent it, especially initially. But at the end of the day, it's a lot easier than just hoping the Booster moms make the right decision with all of the money.

Then again, I like this kind of stuff because I took finance classes in college and teach math now, sooooo maybe I'm crazy for enjoying keeping tabs on all the money.

But anyway, do you have a bookstore account at your school? Or something similar? Or does everything have to go through booster? Because if it doesn't, I'd highly recommend just having the moms deposit all fundraised funds into that school account in the future and making all purchases through the school, as long as the process for doing so through your school isn't terrible.

Here's my money-keeping spreadsheets and the cost breakdown I gave to parents at the end; it's a lot of work, but I'm super invested and controlling on where the money goes, so it's kind of nice to be able to make all the decisions myself.

I kind of rambled here...sorry!

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

X

I've been coaching High School for two years now, but it seems the policies at my school may be different than yours? I'm unsure, but this past year we had the parents keep absolutely none of the money in a Booster account. Every single dollar the team made was deposited into our school's bookstore under Spiritline, and the funds were used at the discretion of the coach (me). A lot of parents had issues with it at first, and some still do honestly, but as long as you keep a cost spreadsheet of where all the money goes, how much it costs total, how much it costs per girl, etc. I believe putting all the funds into a school account and controlling them yourself is generally the best bet. I had a ton of moms at the end of the season come up to me and demand a breakdown of where all the money they paid/fundraised went, and it was easy to show them all the costs because it all went through the same place.

In addition, the best thing I did for the program was during individual fundraisers (selling items, getting sponsorships, etc.), doing an 80/20 split. The kids get 80% of whatever they raise deposited directly into their account, and 20% goes towards team funds, such as crash poster materials, competition signs, new school-owned uniforms, competition costs, etc. And then for team fundraisers (carwash, crash poster night, etc.), everything goes directly towards those team funds. Last year the total we spent was around $35,000, or $1000 per girl, so we had to do a lot of fundraising to do it (we're Title I and the school gives us literally $0 to start with). Being the person in charge of all of the funds made life so much easier when it came down to it. Yes, the moms resent it, especially initially. But at the end of the day, it's a lot easier than just hoping the Booster moms make the right decision with all of the money.

Then again, I like this kind of stuff because I took finance classes in college and teach math now, sooooo maybe I'm crazy for enjoying keeping tabs on all the money.

But anyway, do you have a bookstore account at your school? Or something similar? Or does everything have to go through booster? Because if it doesn't, I'd highly recommend just having the moms deposit all fundraised funds into that school account in the future and making all purchases through the school, as long as the process for doing so through your school isn't terrible.

Here's my money-keeping spreadsheets and the cost breakdown I gave to parents at the end; it's a lot of work, but I'm super invested and controlling on where the money goes, so it's kind of nice to be able to make all the decisions myself.

I kind of rambled here...sorry!

Be careful giving students a direct benefit to fundraiser money. I do not know the tax structure or laws in your state, but if your school system benefits from tax dollars and qualifies as a non-profit organization, fundraiser monies cannot directly benefit a student. That's an IRS mandate. I'm not a CPA, but I would check on that policy.

 

[tojofasho]

X


Be careful giving students a direct benefit to fundraiser money. I do not know the tax structure or laws in your state, but if your school system benefits from tax dollars and qualifies as a non-profit organization, fundraiser monies cannot directly benefit a student. That's an IRS mandate. I'm not a CPA, but I would check on that policy.

Yeah fundraisers done through organizations for tax credit (food nights, sponsor donations, etc.) go in a separate, district account, and that account can only be spent on the team funds. It's kind of annoying but yeah, sorry for not making that clear! We definitely follow that rule too. Most of our tax fundraisers went to Nationals transportation, which is why that's not in this breakdown :/

 

[AScheer]

Our school system doesn't allow booster clubs. Too many instances of parents stealing money, so they just did away with all of them. I was hired after this ruling, so I have no personal experience in a booster club. I'm too controlling to not know where every penny is, so I don't imagine I would like one even if I could have one. I also could not handle letting parents decide what is purchased, where and when.

We also aren't allowed to physically go in the red. Our bookkeepers and computer systems won't allow it nor will our administration sign off on forms if the money isn't 100% there upfront. Even if I'm turning in the money at that moment, I can't even submit the purchase request form until that money has cleared the bank. I'm not sure how an account is allowed to go in the red, it's just not part of our reality so I don't understand. I did come in with a balance of $50 though and I thought that was tough, so I feel for you trying to over come this.

As for fundraising... that I can speak on. We get absolutely $0 from the school, it is 100% self funded. We hold close to 20 fundraisers a year. At the pre-tryout meeting I let everyone know that varsity does a lot of fundraising and it is mandatory. If they choose to tryout for varsity, I stress that everyone must participate to be on the team. I think that helps a lot. We still do have a group of parents that do the majority of the work, but all do participate in some capacity over the course of the season. I oversee each one, and depending on how big it is, I may be more or less involved. Every fundraiser has a parent (or 2) lead. They're responsible for the main work and are my point person. Everything comes to me for approval or opinion, and the lead parent is the go between. This way I know everything just in case, but don't have to be in the daily grind of it. On an average season, we probably raise around $40,000. Some years have been more and some less.

I try to avoid selling things, no one likes that and I hate the ordering/delivery/sorting process. If it is a selling fundraiser, then I set an individual goal that they have to meet and I offer a buyout option. I figure what the amount of profit each girl would bring in from selling and that is my buyout price. Our biggest selling fundraiser buyout is $75. This way if a family doesn't want to sell it's not hurting the team and I'm not forcing them to.

My biggest advice is to make it known prior to season, then remind them all year long that fundraising is mandatory and a team effort. Let them know how much the competition fees are (as well as music, props, travel etc) and let them know where the account stands so they can see if they are on track. Give them an expectation and goal for each fundraiser. If you meet those goals and plan correctly on your end then financially it should work. Get rid of the extra fluff if you have to (warm-ups, hoodies, etc) My biggest suggestion is NOTHING gets spent without your approval and signature from now on. I know the AD told you to back out, but it's your program and you're the boss. No one is allowed to spend money, order anything, etc without the bosses permission. You need to know every single thing that is happening on the financial side or you're not able to successfully handle the coaching side.

 

[AScheer]

Don't trust anybody, especially parents, with money. Don't trust your assistants. Don't trust kids. Don't trust parents. Don't trust the bookkeeper at the school. You have to have a consistent paper trail. The next argument you are going to hear is that you're in a negative balance because you are pilfering money out of the cheer fund.

This x1000!


Paper trail and document everything! I have a binder full of every copy of paper that involves finances turned into the bookkeeper. I keep my own log of money in addition to the online account and I balance the books every month to make sure it is matching. It's annoying sometimes that 4 people have to sign every form and 2 people have to sign every check, but at the end of the day it's because no one can be trusted when it comes to money. Heck even 3 people have to go into the locked vault together, to put money into the locked cabinets, because 2 people can't be trusted. Cover your own booty!

 

[AScheer]

X


Be careful giving students a direct benefit to fundraiser money. I do not know the tax structure or laws in your state, but if your school system benefits from tax dollars and qualifies as a non-profit organization, fundraiser monies cannot directly benefit a student. That's an IRS mandate. I'm not a CPA, but I would check on that policy.

Sorry to post so many times, but this as well.

We aren't allowed to have individual accounts, or apply fundraiser money to a specific child. If we do then it is considered income and then you have to pay income tax on each child. Big no no in our state. If Baileys grandma sends in a $500 check it goes to the team as a whole, not just Bailey. We've had people pitch fits over this, but this is a tax thing and I don't care how much they complain. I try to explain that it is still benefiting Bailey but that seems to fall on deaf ears. Now if Baileys grandma gave a check to Baileys mom, and then Baileys mom turns it in when a payment is due, that will count as Baileys payment. We don't care whose check makes the payments as long as they're good. Still all deposited into the team account, but it's a round about way of grandma trying to help mom out.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

I've been coaching High School for two years now, but it seems the policies at my school may be different than yours? I'm unsure, but this past year we had the parents keep absolutely none of the money in a Booster account. Every single dollar the team made was deposited into our school's bookstore under Spiritline, and the funds were used at the discretion of the coach (me). A lot of parents had issues with it at first, and some still do honestly, but as long as you keep a cost spreadsheet of where all the money goes, how much it costs total, how much it costs per girl, etc. I believe putting all the funds into a school account and controlling them yourself is generally the best bet. I had a ton of moms at the end of the season come up to me and demand a breakdown of where all the money they paid/fundraised went, and it was easy to show them all the costs because it all went through the same place.

In addition, the best thing I did for the program was during individual fundraisers (selling items, getting sponsorships, etc.), doing an 80/20 split. The kids get 80% of whatever they raise deposited directly into their account, and 20% goes towards team funds, such as crash poster materials, competition signs, new school-owned uniforms, competition costs, etc. And then for team fundraisers (carwash, crash poster night, etc.), everything goes directly towards those team funds. Last year the total we spent was around $35,000, or $1000 per girl, so we had to do a lot of fundraising to do it (we're Title I and the school gives us literally $0 to start with). Being the person in charge of all of the funds made life so much easier when it came down to it. Yes, the moms resent it, especially initially. But at the end of the day, it's a lot easier than just hoping the Booster moms make the right decision with all of the money.

Then again, I like this kind of stuff because I took finance classes in college and teach math now, sooooo maybe I'm crazy for enjoying keeping tabs on all the money.

But anyway, do you have a bookstore account at your school? Or something similar? Or does everything have to go through booster? Because if it doesn't, I'd highly recommend just having the moms deposit all fundraised funds into that school account in the future and making all purchases through the school, as long as the process for doing so through your school isn't terrible.

Here's my money-keeping spreadsheets and the cost breakdown I gave to parents at the end; it's a lot of work, but I'm super invested and controlling on where the money goes, so it's kind of nice to be able to make all the decisions myself.

I kind of rambled here...sorry!

We can't use school accounts or we need PO's, hence the boosters, HOWEVER, I like the split out of the competitions. I also know they keep a detailed quick books with individual costs so that isn't the issue. I think it is more how do I convince out of 30+ parents to help and the 3 booster parents that they need to offer fundraising and not put it on me!

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Our school system doesn't allow booster clubs. Too many instances of parents stealing money, so they just did away with all of them. I was hired after this ruling, so I have no personal experience in a booster club. I'm too controlling to not know where every penny is, so I don't imagine I would like one even if I could have one. I also could not handle letting parents decide what is purchased, where and when.

We also aren't allowed to physically go in the red. Our bookkeepers and computer systems won't allow it nor will our administration sign off on forms if the money isn't 100% there upfront. Even if I'm turning in the money at that moment, I can't even submit the purchase request form until that money has cleared the bank. I'm not sure how an account is allowed to go in the red, it's just not part of our reality so I don't understand. I did come in with a balance of $50 though and I thought that was tough, so I feel for you trying to over come this.

As for fundraising... that I can speak on. We get absolutely $0 from the school, it is 100% self funded. We hold close to 20 fundraisers a year. At the pre-tryout meeting I let everyone know that varsity does a lot of fundraising and it is mandatory. If they choose to tryout for varsity, I stress that everyone must participate to be on the team. I think that helps a lot. We still do have a group of parents that do the majority of the work, but all do participate in some capacity over the course of the season. I oversee each one, and depending on how big it is, I may be more or less involved. Every fundraiser has a parent (or 2) lead. They're responsible for the main work and are my point person. Everything comes to me for approval or opinion, and the lead parent is the go between. This way I know everything just in case, but don't have to be in the daily grind of it. On an average season, we probably raise around $40,000. Some years have been more and some less.

I try to avoid selling things, no one likes that and I hate the ordering/delivery/sorting process. If it is a selling fundraiser, then I set an individual goal that they have to meet and I offer a buyout option. I figure what the amount of profit each girl would bring in from selling and that is my buyout price. Our biggest selling fundraiser buyout is $75. This way if a family doesn't want to sell it's not hurting the team and I'm not forcing them to.

My biggest advice is to make it known prior to season, then remind them all year long that fundraising is mandatory and a team effort. Let them know how much the competition fees are (as well as music, props, travel etc) and let them know where the account stands so they can see if they are on track. Give them an expectation and goal for each fundraiser. If you meet those goals and plan correctly on your end then financially it should work. Get rid of the extra fluff if you have to (warm-ups, hoodies, etc) My biggest suggestion is NOTHING gets spent without your approval and signature from now on. I know the AD told you to back out, but it's your program and you're the boss. No one is allowed to spend money, order anything, etc without the bosses permission. You need to know every single thing that is happening on the financial side or you're not able to successfully handle the coaching side.

This sounds like our structure except with boosters, I just am not understanding why they exist if they can't do simple things! I will have a VERY long talk with them. I really appreciate this though b/c I think you see it how I see it and you also have a similar structure.

We rarely have issues w/ kids being able to pay their bills, they always work it out... but when I say UCA is coming in for a Varsity and JV stunt camp, I have budgeted $x for all of this plus routine clean up, choreo, music, etc... I stay well under and I'm getting we have no money, I find that a MAJOR issue. I will be presenting my proposed amounts and what I wrote check requests for to back myself up when I meet with them and say this is on you.

 

[Official OWECheer]

@CheerItFullOut this sounds like your domain.

Her program was thousands in debt before she took it over.

 

[CheerItFullOut]

We have 4 rules:
1. You don't pay for something, you don't get it... That's called "Stealing"... Unless you "check something out." Then I'm on kids to hand stuff back in like a mother who hates your new home decor. Pay to play. And if you can't and you don't check something out because you were convinced you were going to "buy" that uni and we dropped your order... I won't stop you from cheering, but you'll be cheering in red and gold shorts and a tee while everyone else is in their cute uniforms. You had the chance to "check out"...I'm not going to order extras because you #mightchange your mind.
2. We never do any fundraisers that require payment upfront. Nothing high risk. We pre sale everything.
3. If we do any events... Everything gets donated. I don't care if someone's uncle owns a play dough factory... We will find a way to make it work to our advantage... Every kid needs to find two people who can get two things donated. Water, spaghetti sauce, desert, the venue... Whatever.
4. I simply don't spend on what I don't need, and if there's extra, great... Let's save it. fundraise all day long ... And don't spend because you see a nice chunk sitting in the account. while we may have nationals or mats in mind... Always think beyond that.