For many children who grow up in impoverished or at-risk communities, school offers few spaces for healing the pain of racism and sexism. Many students, myself included, spent years of our lives in varying levels of pain inside the education system, but received little assistance in recovering from issues that affected us inside and outside our schools. In this context, extracurricular and after school programs are extremely important spaces for students to heal. I want to tell you my … [Read more...]
posted on March 20, 2014 by
Fire Up Supporters With a New Mascot
Big head bobbing and kilt a-flutter, Hank the Highlander made his debut in January at a New Jersey high school, the first mascot to grace the court in Governor Livingston High history. The much-anticipated mascot was purchased by the Highlander Booster Club after much careful research, some creative brainstorming, and some good old fashioned democracy. Booster Club executive board members, parents, teachers, students, and school administrators worked together to design the costume, and students … [Read more...]
posted on March 13, 2014 by
YouTube for Booster Clubs
YouTube makes sharing video easy. Creating a YouTube account for your club, you can help showcase the work of participants, benefactors, and volunteers. Filming, editing, and posting videos takes time and energy but there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit -- simple videos that booster clubs can make. What’s great about YouTube is what’s great about online video in general. Ditto for what’s not so great. PROs Easy to digest. Videos grab attention in a way that an 800 word blog post with … [Read more...]
posted on March 10, 2014 by
Club Recruiting: We want you!
It’s that time again: as we head toward summer, volunteer recruiting will top the agendas of most booster clubs. If your school doesn’t already have a club of its own, it’s the perfect time to start one! Rounding up officers can be a challenge, but there’ s no shortage of resources out there for fledgling clubs. Get the word out by contacting your local newspapers, broadcasting and radio stations. A brief, straightforward announcement like this one from the Shelter Island Booster Club packs a … [Read more...]
posted on March 4, 2014 by
Innovation in Fundraising: Overhead, Risk, and Pancakes
Booster clubs I speak with tell me that they have to raise more money than ever before. More than ever, school districts depend on booster clubs to fill the ever-growing gap between after-school budgets and actual student need. How can booster clubs radically increase revenues? Does reducing overhead mean more money for programs? When does fundraising clash with a club’s mission? Experts address these questions in very different ways. In this post I borrow points from Dan Pallotta’s TED talk … [Read more...]
posted on March 3, 2014 by
Sunscreen for Supporters: Encouraging generosity with voluntary donations
When it comes to fresh fundraisers, pay-what-you-will donation drives can be an exciting twist on classic events. Voluntary donation fundraising can be a great way to update old and tired fundraisers, or utilize new opportunities. We’ve discussed the science behind the model’s success — donors feel proud to choose donating of their own accord, as opposed to purchasing goods in exchange for their support, and tend to be more generous in their giving. Booster clubs have applied this thinking to … [Read more...]
posted on February 27, 2014 by
LinkedIn for Booster Clubs?
LinkedIn is a professional networking site. For some, it’s just a place to post a detailed resume. For others, it’s a forum for discussion, especially related to job searching, business practices, and industry news. For booster clubs, LinkedIn offers a number of opportunities. It’s a good space to recruit for volunteers, and has a few lively discussion groups focused on booster clubs themselves. (We’ve been following discussions on AMP, the Association of Music Parents, as well as the Sports … [Read more...]
posted on February 24, 2014 by
Hitting the Road: Buying a van
Booster clubs can make a number of significant contributions to athletic and extracurricular programs — between uniforms and facility renovations, the needs of student are many, and in many cases the responsibility has fallen on booster clubs to meet them. But all the new supplies in the world won’t do a team any good if they can’t get to their games. In South Dakota, the Sturgis school district booster club “Saw a need and they acted,” contributing $42,000 to the purchase of a new 15-passenger … [Read more...]
posted on February 20, 2014 by
Facebook for Booster Clubs
In many ways, Facebook is a lot like Google: an agglomeration of distinct social media services offered under the same big name. Facebook rebranded tools like websites, forums, blogs, and Twitter, incorporating them into one massive site. The end result is some slightly confusing vocabulary. The Internet, With a Different Name Both Pages and Groups can be used as a platform to share basic information, documents, and photos. They also act as web forums; a place for supporters to … [Read more...]
posted on February 18, 2014 by
5 Things You Should Know About Mobile Concession Stands
These days, a snack at the ballgame is a whole lot more than peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Concession stands are stepping up their game, serving fresh, hot meals, and making a bundle in doing so. In Ohio, the Lowellville Rockets Booster Club relies on the money they make from serving up wedding soup and stuffed pepper sandwiches to buy uniforms for all of the school’s athletic teams — their concession stand is so profitable it’s “really the only fundraiser [they] do,” according to club volunteers. … [Read more...]
