Common Mistakes that Booster Club Presidents Make
When running a booster club, it can be difficult to manage all facets of the organization. Running a high school booster club is almost like running a small business. The president of the club is responsible for managing events, organizing fundraisers, and ensuring that the organization operates efficiently and effectively. In addition to this the president has his/her own day job and wants to be around to cheer on his/her child as well! So what are the most frequent mistakes that booster club presidents make? If you manage a booster club, these are the things to avoid!
Keep the Goal in Mind
The goal of your booster club is to support the students in their sports or fine arts activities. If you can keep this goal in mind, many of the everyday questions and problems that come up can be put into perspective and managed more easily. Make sure this goal is communicated to your membership and guides your decision-making about what the booster club should do during your tenure.
Not Communicating Enough
Under-communication is one of the most common booster club president mistakes. If you don’t communicate with your club regularly and often, you lose the attention of your club members and volunteers because they don’t feel that they are a part of the club. They start to feel disconnected. Your booster club members have many responsibilities in addition to the club. These responsibilities may include a full-time job, raising a family, and day-to-day household tasks. Make sure to try to make them feel welcome and needed and that they know what is happening in the booster club and with the student activity that the club supports. If your club’s parents feel connected to the club and the students, they are more likely to devote time and energy and money to the club and to support your mission.
If you don’t ensure that club members are aware of upcoming events and fundraisers, they are less likely to engage. Setting up a regular communication schedule can greatly improve the success and activity of your booster club!
Events Aren’t Fun
Nothing is worse than spending your free time with people who aren’t enjoying themselves. Make sure that fundraisers and events are lighthearted and enjoyable. Ensure that your volunteers feel valued for the time they spend helping the booster club thrive. The true sign of booster club success is when members and volunteers regularly interact and willingly volunteer their time and services. If events are pleasant for volunteers, they will feel connected, they will begin to form friendships with the other parents, and they will want to come back again and again.
Lack of Organization
If an event or fundraiser isn’t efficiently organized, volunteers are less likely to come back. No one wants to waste time not knowing what their responsibilities are. They need to feel that their services are valued and appreciated. A good way to overcome poor organization is to set up a list of responsibilities for each volunteer at a fundraiser. Each task should have simple standard operating procedures that are passed down from old volunteer to new volunteer. If tasks do not have standard operating procedures, ask the latest volunteer to write down what it takes to do their job. Use those notes to formulate the SOPs. With this helpful information in hand, new volunteers will understand what they are expected to do, which helps ensure the event's overall success.
Have a Schedule
For the entire school year, have a schedule that gives booster members a heads up on when fundraisers, game days, tournaments, travel events, etc. will be held. Getting your volunteers abreast of what is happening with the club is the first step in boosting engagement and boosting the number of members who can volunteer. If they can’t plan ahead for when the event will be, they probably won’t be able to help out!
For individual events have a set schedule for events that everyone can see. It is demoralizing and discouraging for volunteers to show up at an event and kind of feel lost, wandering around not knowing where they are needed. Make sure each volunteer knows where, when, and how long they are needed in which volunteer station. Let them see that others are also filling their own roles and helping out, too, so they are not alone.
Stay Positive!
One of the worst mistakes you can make as president is to berate or browbeat or shame your members into participating in volunteering or fundraising. This is sure to backfire with very low engagement and low participation. If you have a positive attitude and you communicate that positive attitude to your members, they will be more likely to engage, and their engagement will lead others to engage: a positive, snowballing effect that is more likely to lead your club to success.
