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Our Club Has Been Using Charms and Has Student Accounts — Why Is This a Bad Idea?

Our Club Has Been Using Charms and Has Student Accounts — Why Is This a Bad Idea?

There’s a lot to like about Charms Office Assistant. This program has been a music program stalwart and can help schools and boosters communicate with students, manage assessment data, and collect payments.

We get the appeal of using Charms to support your band’s billing activities — the system is already in place, and you can collect payments from students and parents all in one platform. However, Charms wasn’t really designed for booster clubs. It was really designed to be used by the school or music director.

Most booster clubs are non-profits. The activities and best practices are different. For instance, non-profits can not fundraise for the benefit of one person. They must fundraise for the group as a whole. Also, fees can not be mandatory in a non-profit. You can certainly say “100% participation is highly encouraged,” but you can not require anyone to pay to participate.

By replacing Charms with a purpose-built booster solution, your club can:

Set Up Automated Payment Plans

A booster geared system gives you the ability to set up automated payment plans.

You can effortlessly set up recurring payments and users can upload their payment information for automated billing. 

Setting up automated payments is also more convenient for supporters, as they’ll no longer have to manually pay bills via Charms. 

Make All Payments Voluntary

By transitioning to a voluntary payment system and not carrying “student account balances” your booster club will be in compliance with non-profit laws and best practices.  

Reduce or Eliminate Pay by Check or Cash

A booster club management tool will allow you to go cashless.  This can eliminate or greatly reduce the handling of checks and cash, which also reduces the opportunity for theft, fraud and loss in your booster club.  

Also, manually keeping track of accounts and payments takes an enormous amount of time. By using an automated system, you can streamline the activities of your booster club Treasurer and help reduce their workload. This makes for happier volunteers!

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Whenever someone donates to your club, you must ensure that you send them a clear receipt so they can take advantage of their tax deduction. These receipts are your club’s way of saying, “Thanks for being on the team,” and they’re essential for keeping records organized. Providing a timely and well-documented receipt also makes your club appear professional and organized. In turn, you’ll be able to more easily build trust with donors and encourage them to give again in the future. After all, donors need to be confident that you’re acknowledging and managing their contributions properly. On that note, here are a few tips to help you create compliant receipts:
Booster Club Best Practices
Booster Club Rules
You certainly wouldn’t sign up for a sports league without knowing the rules of the game, so why would you attempt to run a booster club without a clear set of guidelines? In a booster club, the rules take the form of bylaws, which are policies and procedures that are vital in keeping everyone on the same page, helping to avoid misunderstandings, and ensuring that each member understands their part in supporting the club’s mission. In some cases, these bylaws will spell out who can and can’t be members, as well as who is eligible to serve on the board. Some states even have standardized playbooks that you need to follow. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) in Texas, for instance, has a playbook of its own, covering specific bylaws for booster clubs that support school programs. In any case, here are some tips for ensuring everyone in your booster club plays by the rules so you can have a productive year:
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