Parent Booster USA (PBUSA) is the leader in providing information, training, and help to set up and operate booster clubs and PTOs. Founded in 2004 by an attorney skilled in nonprofit and tax law, PBUSA has more than 4,000 member organizations in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, with a 95% annual renewal rate. Who we are
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Parent Booster USA (PBUSA) is the leader in providing information, training, and help to set up and operate booster clubs and PTOs. Founded in 2004 by an attorney skilled in nonprofit and tax law, PBUSA has more than 4,000 member organizations in all 50 states, plus
WE MAKE IT EASY TO START AND RUN A BOOSTER CLUB. Parent Booster USA provides information, training, and help to set up and operate booster clubs and PTOs. Join Now Learn More. Spring forward! It’s time to spring forward with Parent Booster USA! Keep your booster club running smoothly by joining today. Save 15% (nearly $75) on your first year ...
Aug 27, 2019 · The following are a few tips to help your booster club get more parents involved: Make the meetings fun: Hold meetings at a new, fun or trendy spot in town. Include the kids with mixers, formal nights, and other outings. Find something for all personality types to create and build community within the group.
Jan 17, 2012 · Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code allows for tax exemption for organizations organized and operated to foster national or international amateur sports competition so long as no part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. In cases of athletic or other types of parent-run and organized ...
Parent Booster USA’s videos and webinars provide information, education and updates on important topics for school support organization volunteers, school administrators and the public.
Being a school official is challenging, especially today. Managing school or district booster clubs doesn't have to be an additional strain. Our School Officials' Toolkit brings together valuable resources to make your job easier.
Parent Booster USA provides information, training, and help to set up and operate school support organizations (e.g., booster clubs and parent teacher organizations). Organizations that join PBUSA are registered with the IRS as 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organizations under PBUSA’s group ruling. PBUSA’s members do not have to complete Form 1023 or pay the IRS filing fees. Memberships are also available for organizations who already have their own 501 (c) (3) status.
Communicate, communicate, communicate:#N#Set up a web page where parents can get information about the booster club and its activities. Include contact information for officers and board members so it’s easy for parents to reach them. Consider using text messages as a quick way to send out information and reminders. Knowing what’s going on is key for parents to feel involved.#N#Skip the written meeting notes and instead share reports and information electronically. This saves time at meetings to focus on “hot topics,” and ensures that parents who don’t come to the meetings still feel involved. 1 Set up a web page where parents can get information about the booster club and its activities. Include contact information for officers and board members so it’s easy for parents to reach them. Consider using text messages as a quick way to send out information and reminders. Knowing what’s going on is key for parents to feel involved. 2 Skip the written meeting notes and instead share reports and information electronically. This saves time at meetings to focus on “hot topics,” and ensures that parents who don’t come to the meetings still feel involved.
The only organization of its kind in the US, Parent Booster USA is about helping school support organizations (parent teacher organizations, high school booster clubs and other school fundraising groups) handle the state and federal government paperwork required of fundraising groups.
Hold meetings at a new, fun or trendy spot in town. Include the kids with mixers, formal nights, and other outings. Find something for all personality types to create and build community within the group. You might take a poll on places parents might like to go. Doodle poll is great for this (and it’s free). And be sure to provide snacks – a parent on the go can always use some fuel.
Skip the written meeting notes and instead share reports and information electronically. This saves time at meetings to focus on “hot topics,” and ensures that parents who don’t come to the meetings still feel involved.
Sandra Pfau Englund. Founder of Parent Booster USA. Sandra Pfau Englund was a working mom in 2004 when she volunteered for her son’s elementary school PTO. The nonprofit and tax law attorney quickly became mired in trying to organize the group’s finances, tax-exempt status and fundraising compliance.
You may want to alternate between daytime, and evening meetings. When my son was in band, the boosters held their meetings on Monday nights even though evening marching band rehearsal was on Tuesday night. I was reluctant to make the 30-minute drive to the school an extra night of the week. More of us may have gone if, instead, the meeting was held while our students were rehearsing.
According to the United States Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2018, parents were employed in 90.8% of families with children, an increase of 0.6% point from the previous year. Here’s why parents are tapped out, with little time or energy for the booster club: 97.4% of married-couple families with children (K-12) ...
Parent Booster USA's founder, Sandra Pfau Englund, talks about using the budget to ask for "Fair share donations". For help on how to start and run your booster club, become a PBUSA member!
PBUSA's founder, Sandy Englund, and her (now grown) children successfully navigated the homeschooling waters. How did they do it? Learn from homeschooling experts about teaching options, ideas, suggested ways to get started, and how to choose resources that work for your family when there are so many out there. For those who are now homeschooling or having school at home, the tips and resources offered in this webinar may save you time and lessen your stress about this unexpected detour in our daily lives.
In order to ensure that a booster club is operated exclusively for charitable purposes, it should follow a few basic guidelines: (1) participants must be selected based on objective and nondiscriminatory criteria; (2) all selected participants must be allowed to participate in club activities regardless of parent participation in fundraising; (3) cooperative fundraising must only account for a small amount of the clubs activities and students must not exercise control over funds raised for their benefit; and (4) when the club uses a for-profit facility, the clubs activities must not support the for-profit organization.
Cooperative Fundraising. Booster clubs must take care to avoid adopting the work and pay or don’t play method of funding their activities. In this method, there is some sort of point system used where participants are given credits for the amount of time they or their parents spend fundraising; the more fundraising activities you participate in, the more funding you will receive. The IRS views this method as a private benefit and will not grant tax-exempt status to organizations that use it. However, there are certain cases where cooperative fundraising will not preclude a booster club receiving tax-exempt status. Where cooperative fundraising is allowed, it must only account for a small number of the organization’s activities. Additionally, funds may not be given directly to participants, but rather must be applied directly towards the cost of participation. If the participant decides not to participate in the activity for which funds are raised, the funds must revert to a general fund for the use of all participants.
Organizations that support public school programs, however, are subject to an element of public control in that participants are selected based on the objective and nondiscriminatory criteria set by the schools and the funds raised are turned over to the public facility which then exercises discretion over expenditures to benefit all participants or, if the booster club maintains control over the funds, they are limited in the type of expenditures they may make. This public control often negates the elements of private benefit and inurement that can occur in the private arena.
A parent-run booster club must be organized so that it benefits the entire class of athletes or participants and does not benefit certain individuals over others. One way to ensure that this private benefit does not occur is to use the money raised from fundraising events in a manner that benefits the club as a whole. Cooperative Fundraising.
If this occurs, the IRS may take the position that the booster club serves the purpose of promoting private business interests. Also, if the organization purchases any equipment for use at the private facility in which their sponsored teams train, if more than insubstantial in nature, the IRS is likely to conclude that a substantial purpose ...
Where cooperative fundraising is allowed, it must only account for a small number of the organization’s activities. Additionally, funds may not be given directly to participants, but rather must be applied directly towards the cost of participation.
However, there are certain cases where cooperative fundraising will not preclude a booster club receiving tax-exempt status.
All members of a booster club or parent organization’s executive board are legally obligated to be prudent and reasonable in conducting themselves to preserve parent organization or booster club funds and legally protect the organization.
When a booster club or parent organization donates or raises funds for a school site, ASB or the district, it should state the specific purpose for which the funds are being donated on all applicable literature.
The booster club or parent organization must submit a proposed budget and list of proposed fundraising activities to the school site principal or designeeat the beginning of each school year for a determination to be made that there are no fundraising conflicts with other school activities, including ASB.
Booster club IRS documentation helps to make sure that the booster club government guidelines are being followed. IRS booster club guidelines are to remain responsible for all of the financial activities and aspects of the group.
The most important thing about your booster clubs recordkeeping is that it shows the income and expenses of the organization. This means that for an accurate recordkeeping system, you must keep a record of all of the transactions.
Why keep a record of your booster club finances? It’s essential that your booster club keep financial records and books to show that it complies with the IRS Booster Club Guidelines. A great recordkeeping system will help with preparing the proper IRS documents for booster clubs and nonprofits such as Form 990.
Speaking of fairness, one of the more aggravating IRS booster club guidelines is that they have to distribute the funds evenly among students regardless of individual participation. This means that students who don’t participate in any of the work still get to benefit off of the ones who do.
Making sure that no person (s) profit from the booster club. IRS booster club guidelines explicitly state, “none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual.”. This means that no one can receive incentives, monetized or otherwise if it leads to the benefit or advantage for any individual.
Booster club organizations are typically non profit and therefore qualify for tax-exemption. During the initial paperwork for starting the chapter, 501 (c) (3) paperwork is filled out and submitted to the IRS to qualify for the tax-exemption. By doing this, you agree to follow all of the rules and guidelines for a nonprofit.
Federal Booster Club Guidelines state that private organization must file a yearly update with the IRS using Form 990-EZ. The exception to this rule is churches and other government-related organizations. The IRS rules for booster clubs is pretty simple and straightforward. While the paperwork might seem atrocious, ...
Without this exemption, booster clubs could owe 15 ~ 25% of their income in taxes. However, this exemption has significant implications. The IRS requires booster clubs to distribute funds equally to all students, regardless of their individual participation in fundraising activities .
Hire a Certified Public Accountant. I recommend that all booster organizations keep an accountant on retainer.
Booster organizations should take advantage of the tax-exemption offered by the IRS under section 501 (c) (3) . The booster leader’s top financial priority is to operate in full compliance with the guidelines provided by the IRS. I am neither an attorney nor an accountant. However, I have learned these five essentials while leading a booster organization:
The only organization of its kind in the US, Parent Booster USA is about helping school support organizations (parent teacher organizations, high school booster clubs and other school fundraising groups) handle the state and federal government paperwork required of fundraising groups.
Sandra Pfau Englund. Founder of Parent Booster USA. Sandra Pfau Englund was a working mom in 2004 when she volunteered for her son’s elementary school PTO. The nonprofit and tax law attorney quickly became mired in trying to organize the group’s finances, tax-exempt status and fundraising compliance.
According to David Gillig, Senior Vice President of Children's Hospital and Health Center in San Diego, a meeting should be 80% inspiration, learning and fun, and 20% business. Busy parents are more likely to attend if they feel as if they will gain something for themselves, and their kids, out of the meeting. We recommend that you start the meeting with something fun or educational — our parent engagement blog talks more about this.