WAG Booster Club Question

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Hi guys. I have a booster club question I'm hoping someone on here can answer. In light of the new court ruling pertaining to booster clubs, how does your gym/booster club handle parents who refuse to participate?

Our gym requires parents to work at least 1 session of each meet we host (currently, we host 2--one compulsory and one optional). They don't inflict any sort of penalty for parents who refuse to help make the meets successful and up until this season, the 'penalty' had come from the booster club (we would allocate any profit made on the meet via a point system; the more sessions one worked, the more money they would have credited to their gym account). However, it appears this new court ruling will disallow that (in other words, all profit has to be distributed evenly across the team, even if one set of parents worked every session and another set didn't lift a finger).

I hope there is a way to handle these freeloader parents (perhaps through the gym instead of the booster club?) because I don't want to see my daughter's gym host an unsuccessful meet simply because too few parents cared enough to get involved.
 
wow...Not sure how to handle that, but at my DD's gym, the child would get their warm ups, and the meet backpack "free" through the booster club ONLY if the parents worked during home meet while their child was not competing. Maybe you could suggest that to your gym? My gym is pretty good about that though is because I cannot get off work both days of the meet, so I will work on one day, but ill drag my brother up and my husband works too if hes not at work. Last year I made my brother work on the one day me and my hubby both had to work and couldnt be there. Still got the stuff cuz he is family. DD also gets a job like walking the gymnasts during march in, or something like that.
 
That's typically what is expected at our gym as well. DD loves to be a squad leader, and the parents who do volunteer generally have a good time. However, it is always the same group of parents volunteering. When the optionals girls' parents are approached about working compulsory meets, they say they've already paid their dues and its time for others to pitch in (in theory, they're right, but we have a hard time getting the other parents involved). The parents of the younger girls don't care about getting involved (to be a squad leader, which is the coveted position for the team girls, HC sets the minimum age at 8; if they're younger than that, they have a hard time sitting still during the rotation).

However, now that the booster club cannot impose a penalty, everyone is going to share equally in the profits of the meet, even if they did nothing to contribute to its success. I don't mind pitching in and helping as I don't want the gym to look like it doesn't know what it's doing (and our host meets are extremely popular because they're usually the last qualifier before district championships), but I foresee parents getting burned out because no one else wants to put forth the effort since they're going to get the same benefit, whether they do anything or not to get it.
 
I wish we could run the booster club in an opt in rather than all team parents are automatically members. We have about half of our parents who are very financially well off and don't have any need or desire to fund raise. So they don't. But because of the rules, their child still gets an equal cut. If we could limit the pay out to just people who want to be in the booster club for its intended purpose, then those parents wouldn't have to be nagged and resented and the workers wouldn't have to feel taken advantage of.
 
I wish we could run the booster club in an opt in rather than all team parents are automatically members. We have about half of our parents who are very financially well off and don't have any need or desire to fund raise. So they don't. But because of the rules, their child still gets an equal cut. If we could limit the pay out to just people who want to be in the booster club for its intended purpose, then those parents wouldn't have to be nagged and resented and the workers wouldn't have to feel taken advantage of.
What about having subgroups based on percentage of the monthly (or quarterly) amount due... like those who fundraise 0-5% of their amount, etc. Then take all the money from each subgroup and divide it amongst that group. The other discussion about booster clubs had one on there that did it in 10% increments. It is more fair that way... and you could do 5% increments all the way up or have the first group be 0-2%, then 3-5%, then 6-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, 31-40%, 41-50%, 51-60%, 61-75%, 76-85%, 86-95%, and 96-105%... and any fundraiser money over 105% is carried forward to the next payment period.
It actually seems a lot more fair this way.
 
To my knowledge, this ruling just clarifies the law already in place. Cb's just chose to ignore the rules, or didn't learn them in the first place. There are many topics about this on chalk bucket.

It only pertains to bc's seeking tax exempt status. For-profits can set up a tiered systems.
 
To my knowledge, this ruling just clarifies the law already in place. Cb's just chose to ignore the rules, or didn't learn them in the first place. There are many topics about this on chalk bucket.

It only pertains to bc's seeking tax exempt status. For-profits can set up a tiered systems.
Tiered systems are still allowed because the money is not being earmarked to a specific gymnast. They consider each of the % groups as a sub-team... perfectly legal... and divides the money raised by each sub-team amongst the members of the sub-team.
 
Tiered systems are still allowed because the money is not being earmarked to a specific gymnast. They consider each of the % groups as a sub-team... perfectly legal... and divides the money raised by each sub-team amongst the members of the sub-team.
sorry, poor choice of words on my part. I meant that for profits can divide funds based on the amount of time each family participates in fundraisers (as in the point system noted in OP), where as tax-exempt ones cannot.
 
sorry, poor choice of words on my part. I meant that for profits can divide funds based on the amount of time each family participates in fundraisers (as in the point system noted in OP), where as tax-exempt ones cannot.
But couldn't the point system be used to apply it to the accounts before the sub-group allocations (if they were doing the sub-group thing... which they currently are NOT)... like applying any other fundraiser funds pre-distribution?

I am sorry, but I REALLY, REALLY like the idea of sub-groups so the families that bust their humps to raise money don't have to (there is a word on the tip of my tongue, but I can't think of it right now - not support or supplement or sustain, but something along those lines) the families that don't do anything.
 
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Our bc is optional to participate and we still have a few parents that do not participate in fundraisers yet still reap the benefits. Some have talked about releasing our tax-exempt status, but I am not comfortable with this and will choose to not participate next year if this happens. We are very active members in our bc and definitely pull our weight. IMO, the freeloaders just come with the territory and it beats having to pay income taxes.
 
Our bc is optional to participate and we still have a few parents that do not participate in fundraisers yet still reap the benefits. Some have talked about releasing our tax-exempt status, but I am not comfortable with this and will choose to not participate next year if this happens. We are very active members in our bc and definitely pull our weight. IMO, the freeloaders just come with the territory and it beats having to pay income taxes.
So yours would be a good one to go with the "sub-groups" idea. Since these other parents aren't active, they wouldn't care or notice if it is added into the bylaws... and it would then benefit those who actually participate more than those who don't.
 
Subsidize?
Eureka!! I knew it started with "su" I just think too fast for my own good sometimes :) And i knew it was related to government and child care and a lot of other things... I even tried looking in the thesaurus, but apparently, i didn't look at the right "support" (I just found it in definition 5 of support, lol).
 
I have a feeling a lot of booster clubs do things that would jeopardize their tax exempt status, because I think that is where a lot of these rules come from, right?

Unfortunately, our is probably one of them. From posts I've seen here over the past year, I'm sure we aren't doing things properly.

I've tried to find a clear list of rules somewhere, but haven't been successful. Even looking at the tax code wasn't clear to me.

Does anyone have a valid source they can cite? I'd love to take it to my bc so we can operate within the rules for non-profits. I believe we are a 501c3 corp.
 
Hi guys. I have a booster club question I'm hoping someone on here can answer. In light of the new court ruling pertaining to booster clubs, how does your gym/booster club handle parents who refuse to participate?

Our gym requires parents to work at least 1 session of each meet we host (currently, we host 2--one compulsory and one optional). They don't inflict any sort of penalty for parents who refuse to help make the meets successful and up until this season, the 'penalty' had come from the booster club (we would allocate any profit made on the meet via a point system; the more sessions one worked, the more money they would have credited to their gym account). However, it appears this new court ruling will disallow that (in other words, all profit has to be distributed evenly across the team, even if one set of parents worked every session and another set didn't lift a finger).

I hope there is a way to handle these freeloader parents (perhaps through the gym instead of the booster club?) because I don't want to see my daughter's gym host an unsuccessful meet simply because too few parents cared enough to get involved.

those that refuse to be 'all in' are dismissed from our team program. all info pertaining to this is published and then signed by the parent.
 
Maybe I don't know enough about corporate taxes and tax law, but I wonder if there is an advantage in a booster club having tax exempt status. I can't see the necessity in the case of soliciting donations from John Q Public. Really, I can't remember stashing away receipts I've received from the kids who sell me cookies, cookie dough, or other over priced treasures. Sure, I'll stash away a receipt for a larger amount, but those donations are substantial enough that any single one will total my entire cookie and trinket budget for the year.

Tax exempt status wouldn't affect my decision to "donate" in my role as a business owner if there's a quid pro quo that can be tied to the cost of doing business. So if a sports organization asks me to sponsor a gym meet and displays a banner recognizing my support of their function, it seems to me that would be a form of advertising and a legitimate business expense. I get a kick out of people who think business owners jump at the chance to have another tax deduction, because it seems to me that every time I pay a bill, purchase supplies or advertising, it's tax deductible.

The exceptions I can think of are huge donations that come from a large foundation whose charter requires they support worthy causes with tax exempt status, and those from private benefactors such as Suzie's grandparents, who support every child's dream to finally learn that darn kip....... It's rumored her last efforts are "almost there" and her mom's having another meeting with the coach on Tuesday......

Could it be the benefits of being a non profit are lost on all those people who wish to be left alone and would rather pay in advance for their child's expense. Could a for profit business be established to raise funds and disperse them to to whomever they pleased and end the tax year with little more than cobwebs in the bank, and very little tax consequence.
 
Could it be the benefits of being a non profit are lost on all those people who wish to be left alone and would rather pay in advance for their child's expense. Could a for profit business be established to raise funds and disperse them to to whomever they pleased and end the tax year with little more than cobwebs in the bank, and very little tax consequence.
if you disburse directly to the parents, they technically incur the tax liability. If the total to each family is small, it's not an issue but for bc that hosts meets and have lots of big money fundraisers, this may be a problem.
 
if you disburse directly to the parents, they technically incur the tax liability. If the total to each family is small, it's not an issue but for bc that hosts meets and have lots of big money fundraisers, this may be a problem.

My thought was to give the money to each child's parents, but anything that works would be better than listening to everyone complaining about being required to raise funds and help at meets when they'd rather just pay out of pocket.

I'd love to see anything that allows those who do the lion's share of the work to be rewarded for their time.
 
My thought was to give the money to each child's parents, but anything that works would be better than listening to everyone complaining about being required to raise funds and help at meets when they'd rather just pay out of pocket.

I'd love to see anything that allows those who do the lion's share of the work to be rewarded for their time.
I know some gyms that allow the parents to "opt out" of the fundraising... by "buying out" their portion. At the one gym who's BC bylaws I read, for $500 extra a year... payable at the beginning, you don't have to do any fundraising, but still get your share of the fundraised money (that includes your $500 "donation").
 
I doubt it's legal when a nonprofit requires a financial commitment from a specific person to enable that person to benefit from their non-profit status. It amounts to an individual converting income that's subject to tax into income that's become a donations and therefor a ta deduction. If that's allowed then all I have to do is get a hold of b/c that would receive all of my wages as a donation and then return 95% of that income. They make 5% and I save a bundle on taxes........

See you at Club Fed:confused:o_O:eek::eek:
 

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