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 February 14, 2014 by
30 Things to Tweet your Booster Club
You understand Twitter, you want to make it a part of your booster club's social media strategy, but you're hitting some writers block? Don't dismay, we've got a huge list of things to post. Photos of your participants doing things Rainouts Photos of sponsors and/or their business Playoff schedule Arch rival updates Articles about your club in the local paper or segments on local television Photos of volunteers doing things Updates on alumni (Did they get a music scholarship? … [Read more...]
posted on February 13, 2014 by
Twitter Lingo and Etiquette for Booster Clubs
What the #@”RT? With all of the signs, symbols, and jargon, Twitter can feel like a new language. Luckily, you only have to learn a few terms to effectively manage your Twitter account for a booster club or other small nonprofit. This post is a primer on the most essential ones, and has links to the more advanced stuff. See our previous post on Twitter for Booster Clubs. # (Hashtag) is a keyword that organizes content and codes conversations. On first glance, hashtags are just like blog … [Read more...]
posted on February 12, 2014 by
Twitter for Booster Clubs
You probably know that Twitter is a public texting service that distributes 140-character posts to subscribers*. Twitter has facilitated national protests and broken the 4th wall for Justin Bieber's fans (see the hilarious video at the end of this post). But you don’t have to be a revolutionary or a belieber to benefit from Twitter's speed and openness. Booster clubs whose members own smartphones can take advantage of Twitter’s lightning updates. Booster clubs might gravitate to Twitter for the … [Read more...]
posted on February 6, 2014 by
Social Media Strategy for Booster Clubs
With booster club board members in mind, we recently began reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of social media platforms. As we researched tips and tricks for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and others, we realize that there is some social media strategy that applies to all of them. Our response is this post on audience, account maintenance, administrators, and the age-old question of what to post. However, before we jump into the great things you can do with social media in booster … [Read more...]
posted on February 4, 2014 by
Should Your Booster Club use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc?
So you want to use Social Media for your booster club... You connect through social media networks in your personal life, so why not use those tools for your booster club? Creating an account on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media feed is very easy. Yet maintaining those feeds efficiently for a small nonprofit presents a number of challenges. On the surface, it seems like the hardest part is choosing which platform (Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest) is most suitable for the … [Read more...]
posted on December 31, 2013 by
Everything Booster Clubs Need to Know About the Fiscal Year
What is a fiscal year, in a nutshell? A fiscal year defines the start and end dates for an organization’s accounting. Annual and quarterly reports to donors, as well as tax filings, all flow from the fiscal year. So do budgeting and revenue goals. While the majority of U.S. companies’ fiscal year perfectly overlaps the calendar year (Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st), deviating from those dates is more common than you’d think. For example, check out the fiscal years for these organizations: Feb. 1st … [Read more...]
posted on December 2, 2013 by
Boosterwashing
How Companies and Charities “Colorwash” Ever notice how every major cause today gets a color? Pink for breast cancer, green for the environment, red for AIDS--causes cover the rainbow and beyond. This kind of branding is effective, raising millions of dollars in the name of various organizations. Yet like most branding, the color codes have a great potential for abuse. With no clear standards for what counts as pink, green, or red products, fundraisers inevitably find themselves in conflict … [Read more...]
posted on November 5, 2013 by
Should Your Booster Club Buy Insurance?
It was a booster club’s worst nightmare: A referee at a charity volleyball game injured her ankle when the stand she was sitting on collapsed. The booster club turned to the school district for help, only to be told that the district’s insurance would not cover the referee’s worker’s compensation claim, and that they considered the club financially responsible. The ensuing legal wrangling led to the dissolution of the booster club under threats of a lawsuit. "I'm just a mom, you know," Karen … [Read more...]
posted on October 29, 2013 by
Making Traditions (Whether You Mean To Or Not)
We are the makers of memories! What are your best memories from high school? What stories do you retell when you go to a reunion or get together with your old classmates? Arguably, most booster clubs aim to make great memories, so I think it’s crucial that we try to put a finger on what made our own experiences stick with us over time. Sometimes experiences are memorable because of random events--spontaneous downpours, chance encounters, or the serendipity that sparks both romantic and … [Read more...]
