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What Are Your Committee Chairs Accomplishing?

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Committee chairs are some of the most influential leaders in a booster club. They are literally on the front lines, interfacing with parents and students. In many ways, your booster club’s success relies on your committee chairs. Once you select the right people for these roles, empower them to serve and give them your full support.

When I became the Blackman Band Boosters’ president, I was immediately faced with a predicament that led to one of the greatest success stories during my tenure. Over the prior couple of years, our Truck & Equipment Committee had dwindled to only two adult volunteers – parents of graduating seniors – and a hand full of students. The adult volunteers pulled our two equipment trailers to football games and events.

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Seven Reasons for Booster Leaders to Use the Cloud

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In his book, Creativity, Inc., Pixar Animation Studios president Ed Catmull shares a challenge of epic proportion – someone accidentally deleted every work-in-process file that comprised Toy Story 2. In an instant, 90% of the film was gone! Two years of his team’s work was lost. To make matters worse, the company’s backup system – their virtual safety net – also failed.

The Pixar team rose to the challenge and overcame this random, tragic event. They released Toy Story 2 on time, and it instantly became a major box office success. You’ll never imagine how they restored the lost data, but here’s a hint – you’ll find the answer in chapter eight.

Catmull and his leadership team learned several valuable lessons through this crisis, many of which extend beyond the scope of data storage and backup. But this example poses questions for every booster leader – Where do you store your data? Is it secure? Do you have a reliable system in place to protect it from loss?

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Six Ways for Booster Leaders to Use Twitter

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Clear and timely communication is vital to a booster club’s success. We must effectively distribute information so students will be on time, prepared and ready for practices and events. We must also keep parents aware of their responsibilities so they’ll meet due dates for fundraisers and show up when help is needed. On a broader scale, we need to let extended families know what’s going on in the organization.

Parents of teenagers are in one of the busiest seasons of life. Today’s parents receive more messages and information than any prior generation. Booster clubs are literally in competition with other media outlets and organizations for a parent’s attention. So what can you do to ensure your message is heard?

Rotary FullI’m excited to be the Smyrna Rotary Club’s featured speaker on November 20th! I’ll share how you can make a difference in the lives of students, instructors, and school administrators.

Date: November 20, 2014
Time: Noon ~ 1:00 p.m.
Event: Rotary Club Luncheon
Topic: Boosters 101: The Need to Lead
Sponsor: Rotary Club of Smyrna, Tennessee
Venue: Smyrna Town Center
(615) 459-4444
Location: 100 Sam Ridley Parkway East
Smyrna, Tennessee 37167
Public: Public
More Info: Click here for more information.

I will speak on my new book, The Booster Leader: 35 Leadership Essentials for a Thriving Booster Organization.

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When Should a Booster Club Borrow Money?

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Throughout the life of every booster club, there will be times of major expense. During periods of growth within your student program, you may have to expand your facilities or purchase new equipment. To simply maintain operations, you’ll have to replace uniforms and equipment as they reach the end of their useful lives.

These big ticket items usually exceed the funds you have available in your annual budget. With such a daunting task ahead, you may be tempted to pursue a loan. You may even have a parent within the organization who is willing to loan you the money at a competitive interest rate.

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.Proverbs 22:7 (NIV)

So the question is, “when should a booster club borrow money?” Here’s the short answer: never. I have serious reservations about a booster club borrowing money, and many local school boards do too – they prohibit it altogether. Let’s look at three reasons a booster club should never borrow money.

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Four Reasons Not to Accept Cash

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One of the greatest challenges a booster organization could ever face is theft by a volunteer. Last week, I shared 5 Proven Ways to Insulate Your Booster Club from Embezzlement. In addition to these, prudent booster clubs do not accept cash. If your school system does not already prohibit you from accepting cash, institute this policy on your own.

Institute a “No Cash” Policy

Cash is the least secure method for a booster organization to conduct its financial transactions. Here are four risks that cash presents to an organization:

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5 Proven Ways to Insulate Your Booster Club from Embezzlement

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This week in my home state, a story broke of a band booster treasurer who embezzled nearly $34,000 from her organization. Over a period of twenty-one months, she issued herself unauthorized booster club checks and used the funds for her own personal benefit. The sad truth is that this is not an isolated incident. Booster club embezzlement is a crime that is widespread among organizations from coast to coast.

How Can a Booster Organization Insulate Itself from Embezzlement?

The best way to prevent theft and fraud is to make it difficult to commit theft and fraud. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, as simple as it sounds, this is where many booster organizations fail. They do not build proper checks and balances into their operating procedures.

Transparency is the foundation of a booster organization’s financial integrity. Therefore, separate financial roles and reporting among two or more people. Auditors refer to this as separation of duties.

Here are five best practices to help booster organizations separate financial duties:

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Are You a Hoarder, a Delegator, or a Collaborator?

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When you accept a volunteer role in a booster organization, you are stepping into a position of leadership. Whether you serve as president, a committee chair, or a general volunteer, you lead others by your influence. Everyone has a leadership style – their own way of influencing others.

Sometimes we are blind to our own leadership style. We just don’t take the time to see ourselves as others see us. Often, it’s not intentional. We mean well. After all, we are passionate about the student program and we want the very best for our students. What we fail to realize, though, is that other parents are on the same journey that we are. They also want to play an active role in the students’ lives.

Let’s take a look at three leadership styles. Are you a hoarder, a delegator, or a collaborator?

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Are You Doing This to Make a Sale?

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Do your booster parents cringe at the thought of selling goods for a fundraiser? Had they rather make a donation than sell their recommended quota? Have YOU ever had these thoughts yourself?

Through the years, the sales profession has gotten a bad name. When we think of sales, we often conjure up images of the used car salesman in an ill fitting plaid jacket. Puffing on his cheap cigar, we’ve all heard his manipulative sales pitch, pressing us to buy something we don’t want.

Many of us have that perception of sales, but we have the opportunity to change that perception within our organization. Rather than manipulating people to buy things they don’t want, we have the opportunity to influence and guide people to buy things they already want. The truth is, many people are more than willing to support student organizations. Therefore, we must prepare our students and parents to win at sales.

It’s hard to be nervous when your heart’s on service.Rory Vaden
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The Secret to Abundant Fundraising

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Ask any coach or instructor what they need the most from their booster organization and they’ll likely tell you funding. It’s a fact – student programs simply cannot operate without sufficient funding. Funding is the fuel that powers student programs.

As booster leaders, our success is measured by the amount of funding we bring in to the student program. But how can we be sure that we’ll achieve our fundraising goals? What is it that drives abundant fundraising?

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.Henry Ford