Hello, I’m Dan Caldwell, author of The Booster Leader: 35 Leadership Essentials for a Thriving Booster Organization. My goal is to equip you, the parent volunteer, to lead a thriving booster organization. When you are equipped with the right resources and tools, you can provide exceptional extracurricular opportunities for the students you serve.

I believe the success of any organization is a direct reflection of its leadership. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the essentials of booster leadership and how implementing them can transform an organization from mediocre to thriving.

So, what does it mean to thrive? Here’s Webster’s definition:

Three Benefits of a Thriving Booster Organization

Let’s apply this definition to a booster organization. Here are three benefits of a thriving booster organization:

1. Continuous parent participation. Volunteer labor is key to an organization’s success. There just aren’t enough teachers, coaches, and staff members to fill all the needs of an extracurricular program, and they shouldn’t have to. Their expertise should be applied to leading and instructing students. A thriving booster organization continuously engages new parent volunteers and sustains operations from year to year.
2. Full and complete funding. You may have thought that funding would be at the top of the list, since it is the most tangible sign of support for a student program. However, you’ll never be able to achieve your fundraising goals without engaged and motivated parents, students, and instructors. A thriving booster organization establishes an annual fundraising plan and carries out the plan to ensure that every financial need is met.
3. A strong reputation within the school and community. Nothing instills confidence in your program’s students better than community and fan support. For the student, being a member of a respected program can contribute to higher self-esteem. A thriving booster organization operates with integrity and intentionally promotes the student program in the school and community.

These three benefits give you a high level summary of a thriving booster organization. After nearly twenty years leading student support organizations, I have found the most important element of an organization’s success is effective leadership. As you may imagine, booster leadership can be complex and challenging at times. With this blog, we’ll simplify the complexities and tackle the challenges head-on, and I’ll equip you to lead with confidence. You too will be able to lead a thriving booster organization.

Question: What is the biggest challenge you are facing as a booster leader? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

¹ “Thrive.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thrive>.