We are totally excited for the Winter Olympics. From the pageantry of the opening ceremony to the awe of the ski jumps, it’s gonna be really fun. (Also, women will compete in ski jumping this year, which is awesome.) Still, we can’t help but notice the context of the competition. There’s a lot going on outside the Olympic Village, and sometimes it’s not pretty. Fans of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi might feel like they are seeing more politics than sports on TV this year. For starters, the … [Read more...]
posted on November 12, 2013 by
How to Cut A Budget Beforehand
Austerity Budgets What would your club do if a major revenue stream dried up, or if schools drastically cut your extracurricular funding? We see governments do this all the time: shutdown, sequestration, and austerity plans. Nonprofits and charities have had to face serious austerity budgets as well. After the economy collapsed in 2008, many charities had to decide which programs, staff, and other sectors to cut. Many weren't prepared. Booster clubs are very different than most … [Read more...]
posted on August 26, 2013 by
Booster Club Officers
Chairperson? Officer? Here are booster club board member responsibilities. In this post, I take a look at the most basic and most specialized booster club officer positions. Maybe you are starting a booster club and you’re asking yourself “how many officers do I need?” Maybe you are joining a booster club, and you’re asking yourself “what do all of those titles mean?” Think of the booster club officer positions less as people and more as collections of responsibilities and skill-sets. They need … [Read more...]
posted on August 6, 2013 by
Mission to Metrics 5: Band Boosters’ Moral & Financial Support
Pulaski’s neat rows of musical performers make me think of the massive logistical effort needed to get them to the Rose Bowl. Seasons of training. Coordination of plane flights. Sacrifices from teachers and volunteers. But that’s just what we see on the surface. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3pKYo5CNeE Behind the successful marching band and their strong booster club stands a solid structure: a meaningful mission and guiding bylaws. Pulaski’s bylaws emphasize cultivating “enthusiastic … [Read more...]
posted on August 5, 2013 by
Mission to Metrics 4: Promote Interest in Academics
Academic booster clubs seek to inspire more than high grades. The booster club I’m profiling in this post is more concerned with promoting interest among their participants than a perfect GPA. Grades aren't even mentioned in their mission statement. As with the other posts in the Mission to Metrics series, I show how booster club officers can develop appropriate metrics to measure the goals outlined in their mission statements. (See the intro post to metrics, and links to the other posts in … [Read more...]
