End of Year Coah's gifts

[thefellowsmom]

I have been BC President for all of two weeks and I am already in the middle of a political nightmare. Please help!

We are trying to gather money from all the team parents for gifts for the coaches. This is how they have always done it but I have no resources available to me to know how they got everyone to give that much. We have received money from just a few people and I am very concerned that people aren't going to step up and we are not going to get enough. The deadline is friday and to meet the amounts from the last few years we have a LONG way to go.

It seems they have given very generous gifts to the coaches and I have parents coming to me saying that it would be embarrassing if we couldn't do that again and seem to think there is something I should be doing about it. What am I supposed to be doing about it?

I have sent several reminder emails and even gently called the group out in the last one. Do I just give them more time and hope for the best? I just took over and our BC is in shambles and I really need people to get on board, not scare them away with badgering about giving money.

How does your booster club usually handle end of year coach's gifts, or do you do this at all?

UGH! Sigh....

 

[gymnastbeth]

My gym doesn't do coaches gifts, but sometimes it seems the less expensive, more sentimental gifts are the most well-received. Maybe a mug with the team picture on it, filled with the coaches favorite coffee or candy. Or maybe a scrapbook of meet pictures from that year. It sounds like your BC situation is pretty tough financially, but you can definitely still get great presents on a limited budget, if that helps you at all...

 

[Quadqueen]

We don't have a booster club and we don't do official coaches gifts...although most of the girls get the coaches gifts at the holidays. I would handle it like I would as a "room parent" for my kids' classes: take what money you have, buy something with what you've got, and have everyone who contributed sign a card to that effect. That way, those who didn't contribute don't get credit for it. It's harsh, but that's what we've resorted to! I'm tired of parents who don't step up but it appears as if everyone did.

 

[momnipotent]

I think the sentimental gift idea (maybe with a moderate gift card to somewhere like Target, a bookstore or fun grocery store in your area (I'm thinking somewhere like Trader Joe's) is a good one for if donations are not as robust as in previous years. I would wait until Friday though-maybe sending out one more email tonight or tomorrow morning reminding everyone that Friday is the last chance to donate. Everyone honestly seems to do things last minute-I was in charge of preschool Christmas gift donations and our deadline was Wednesday night. I cleaned the folder out on Tuesday morning and took cash out of my account based on an estimate of how much I thought would come in the last two days. I figured $400 and was VERY short-over $1,000 in checks alone came in those two days. Along the same lines, yesterday was the last day for our Kindergarten teacher gifts. I went in 15 minutes before pick-up and 3 families were in there to do cards/donations, plus I saw one mom chasing down the coordinator today. So, don't count anyone out just yet. Also, if in the end donations are much lower than in previous years, remember that it doesn't reflect poorly on you and if anyone mentions how embarassing it is that the amount is so much lower this year, tell them (with effusive gratitude and enthusiasm) "Thank you SO much for volunteering to be the one to collect coach's gits next year! I am so happy that you stepped up to help out and I'm sure our end of the year gifts will go much better with you in charge next year!" Then smile really big and walk away. They will leave you alone.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Thanks momnipitant, I needed to laugh today. I'm sure it will work out and I did find quite a few donations in the folder when I checked tonight so I hope it will all come together.

And thank you everyone for your advice.

Taking deep breaths now

 

[Natasha]

Our parents are always last minute!!! I was panicking a few weeks ago as I had reserved a banquet hall with a minimum commitment of 200 for our banquet. 2 days before the deadline we only had 140 signed up...by the deadline night we had 256!

As far as gifts, we do a Christmas gift and then just something little at the end of the year. This year all the parents and gymnasts wrote personal notes/thank you cards/pictures for the coaches. They brought them to the banquet and we put each coach's in a large decorated manila envelope. The coaches loved it.

 

[SignHere]

I can't help you this year but I do know emails get ignored. For future reference, you Re better off designating one or two people (or better yet, one parent per level if the levels practice at different times) as a liaison "mom". This person is responsible for these sorts of tasks and can actually call people on the phone or speak to them in person. We had a specific amount(10) per family designated to be divided up between all the coaches (for instance, we have 4 different coaches that work with the girls).

 

[Danica76]

I feel your frustration! I was the BC treasurer until yesterday, actually, and was in charge of collecting the money for coach's gifts. For Christmas gifts everybody donated a monetary amount - trying to get everyone to actually do it (and on time) was a different story. You can only do the best you can with what you have. I know our coaches are happy to be acknowledged for their hard work. We ended up getting them gift certs to a local spa for massage, mani/pedi, or whatever services they wanted to spend it on (they are all female, so this worked well). For the banquet this year, we were able to use funds from the BC general account, as we ended the season with a substantial surplus from monies we fundraised. We got the HC a "31 gifts" tote bag in the gym colors with her initial on it (she also judges, so she really liked this) and made a few dollars profit since we had done a 31 fundraiser. We got the other coaches gift cards to a local restaurant so that they could enjoy a meal with their families/significant other. We also got the HC a clear/acrylic paint can type holder from a local craft store and filled it with notes/cards/pictures written by the gymnasts. She really loved this, so I agree with the sentimental gifts being meaningful and going over well.

Good for you for stepping up and taking such a big position on the BC. From my experience and from our BC set up, the Pres. and Treasurer positions are the most work and the most thankless jobs. My only advice to you is to delegate as much work as you can to the other officers. Our Pres. ended up doing SO many things that could have been spread around and she was constantly running around like crazy. The idea of having a "team mom" liaison for each level is also a great one. Do whatever you have to do to make it easier on yourself. Remember that you are only one person and that there are other people there that need to be/should be willing to help. It is also my experience that the parents who complain the most, do the least

Good luck and hope all goes well!