Does your squadron have a Booster Club?

[MajorM]

FWIW, I have noticed of late in the philanthropy world is a much greater emphasis on localized giving and a greater sophistication amongst funders to determine locality through the 501c3 letter. This would be one weakness to a national only strategy.

For example I'm looking at a grant opportunity from a regional utility right now.  In talking with their grant staff CAP's national number makes the squadron ineligible for a grant.  But our local non-profit is eligible due to its stated 501c3 mission and location.

[Eclipse]

I would like someone to provide a simple example of a reason to have one of these clubs.

In the example above, you're circumventing both the CAP policy of negotiating with large entities at the squadron level,
and likely the intent of the grant in terms of the intended recipients.

People trying to use a booster club to game the system are asking for serious trouble.

[Devil Doc]

Im not in my booster club, not apart in the activities. I just think thats how mine works. Legal aspects to me, always takes the fun out of things, sue happy people nowadays. Booster Clubs can Raise funds without restrictions like the CAP Squadron, which could be one reason why Boosters Clubs are prevailant.

[Eclipse]

Im not in my booster club, not apart in the activities. I just think thats how mine works. Legal aspects to me, always takes the fun out of things, sue happy people nowadays. Booster Clubs can Raise funds without restrictions like the CAP Squadron, which could be one reason why Boosters Clubs are prevailant.

For clarity - booster clubs and >not< "prevalent" in CAP.  I don't know where we'd find that data, but to my knowledge there aren't any in my wing, nor maybe even the region.

In this case it has nothing to do with "sue happy people", we're talking about CAP regs and tax laws administered by the IRS.  Things you don't mess with if you value your membership, financial security, and potentially freedom.  The last thing anyone with any sense would do is risk big fines from the IRS just to shield a few bucks from "being taken by wing".  Talk about a waste of time, but then again, we still have units who have petty cash accounts, uniform shops, and other things that break the finance regs, not to mention far too many who can't seem to be able to submit a proper
check request or F108  but are somehow able to complain about $20 worth of unreimbursed gas for their entire CAP career.

Booster clubs are also not free of restrictions, there are a fair number of rules in regards to the "who" and the "how". 

As a commander, the last thing I would want is people with whom I have zero control or authority raising funds in my, or CAP's name.  There's nothing a
booster club can ask for or do, that CAP should be involved in, that the unit can't do directly.

One of my units was considering a booster club because they had a blue-sky idea about having big-ticket fund raising dinners that served alcohol (apparently rich people paying $150-300 a plate for dinner don't like the idea of a cash bar).   Anyway, the bottom line was that the donor audience
didn't exist, and there was no practical way to host these parties without direct involvement of unit staff and the commander.

It was pointless from every direction.

Further, this idea that some deep-pocket donor is going to write a big check to "Jim's SAR Booster Club", is also silly.  They vet donations like everyone else, and aren't likely to write blind checks.  Nor does this change CAP's rules about accepting donations, which have dollar limits and restrict who can
receive property.

So a "5-figure" donation will still have to be accepted and processed into Wing banker, negating the advantage.  Anything bought by the club for CAP use would still have to be received formally by the Wing CC, negating the  idea, and if people want to just pay for cadet scholarships, or buy stuff for the unit, they can, without the background noise of a booster club.

Just write a check and move on, without the tax deduction.

This whole idea grew out of paranoid members who don't understand the process thinking they can skirt the system and "hide" money and property.

It simply isn't worth the effort.

[Flying Pig]

I would agree with Eclipse.  I dont think there are really a lot of booster clubs in CAP.  I speak from the experience of the one I briefly dealt with. 

The money they raise in the name of CAP drains the fund raising sources for the unit as a whole.  Next thing you know, the Squadron will be setting up a fireworks booth as a squadron activity for the 4th of July, and your parent booster club with a big CAP emblem will be setting theirs up right next to you.  You almost indirectly end up competing against yourself!!!   As Ive said, and others have said.  CAP can solicit donations.  They do it all the time.  Rotary, VFW and other local clubs have donated to cadet programs, provided activity scholarships, etc etc.  All they have every asked for is that the recipient cadet return after the activity and talk about what they were able to do.  We have sold fire works and other things.  hey parents, instead of your booster club, help us directly.  Again, its the sports parents mindset that usually comes in to play.  Yes, not all are that way, but the majority are.  The President of the CAP booster almost ends up being the de-facto Sq Commander.

In reality, what types of fund raising can a parent booster club do that CAP members cant?  What I find is that booster clubs are doing the same types of fund raising. They just want to make sure the money is ONLY spent on a specific area of CAP, usually its for cadets.  Do the same fund raising legitimately in the name of CAP.  A separate entity doesn't need to be a part of it. 

Some of these larger organizations who want to donate to CAP arent interested in CAP, they want to be able to say they helped THEIR community.  Not taking into account that the local cadet squadron probably cant use a 20' communications trailer.

The booster all boiled down to one thing.  People didnt want to have to ask the Sq for permission to spend money.  Oh believe me.....They would still ask the Sq first, trying to get the Sq to foot the bill. If it was denied, they had the attitude of "I didnt need you anyway... Ill just go to the booster club and get what I want.... so there.... "  It was like being a kid.  If Dad says "no" then Ill just ask mom after you leave for work. 

[Devil Doc]

Good Points, Like i said, i dont run it, so dont know it works
.
http://www.ncwg.cap.gov/UserFiles/File/PAO/Carolina_WingSpan/March_2012.pdf

Page 14 is an example of what our booster club does.

[Eclipse]

OK - forgive me, but that's not what that money was donated for, and a great example of why booster clubs don't work.
Just because the money goes to another good cause, or make everyone feel good doesn't mean it's appropriate.

"The booster club held a BBQ chicken fundraiser to assist the squadron with travel expenses for their upcoming field trip to Washington DC and The Naval Academy."

That money was donated to support the CAP unit, not some other organization, any more then a unit, which is a 501(c)3 itself
should be donating to other charities. 

It also raises the point about that booster club deciding to give the money they've raised in the unit's name to some organization which
is against the core values, or some other cause the unit members don't agree with or might bring discredit to CAP.

Also, look how the article reads, which clearly shows no one knows where the line is:

"With the help of the Iredell Composite Squadron Booster Club, the squadron was able to present a check for $500 to a local
veteran group called Welcome Home Veteran, WWW.WelcomeHomeVeteran.org. The booster club held a BBQ chicken
fundraiser to assist the squadron with travel expenses for their upcoming field trip to Washington DC and The Naval Academy. Richard's Coffee Shop in Mooresville, which is a non-profit living military museum hosted the fundraiser. As part of our community service, the booster club donated a portion of our proceeds to the organization. Cadets and senior officers helped make our first fundraiser of the year a success by boxing and delivering over 500 BBQ chicken plates."

Who's "our", because the "our" in this case, legally, is the booster club, not CAP or the unit, since no one in the unit should have had a say in how that money was spent.  Clearly the unit, or at least the author, views that money as "theirs", to do with as it will, which is not how it's supposed to work.

There is also no reason that fundraiser could not have been done directly at the unit, without the booster club, though I will grant that some states
and local jurisdictions have complicated / expensive rules about serving food.

[NIN]

<snip>
but then again, we still have units who have petty cash accounts, uniform shops, and other things that break the finance regs, not to mention far too many who can't seem to be able to submit a proper check request or F108  but are somehow able to complain about $20 worth of unreimbursed gas for their entire CAP career.

Emphasis mine.

OT question, Bob. Forgive me, since I've been out of the loop for 4 years and not paying attention to the evolution of wing banker (beyond what I implemented in 2008 as a commander) and the finance regs. Are you talking about like the unit supply box, or something more (like a pseudo-Hock Shop)?

My old unit, before wing banker (and, I suppose, after, but I don't think we ever thought about changing it) had a small cash box in logistics for making change for uniform supply purchases from the supply box.   

So cadets would get extra chevrons, ribbons, ribbon bars, etc, and might fork over $4-5 for them

By policy, the cash box never had more than $25 in it, and the money did not get used for ANYTHING but paying for insignia.  So it could not be used as a "petty cash" or "slush fund."  I think my logistics officer even did receipts for cash (its been awhile, I don't quite remember).  When there was more than $25 in the box, she put the extra cash in an envelope and it went to the finance officer for deposit (in the bank, prior to WBP, and in the Wing Banker "bank" after) as "materials sold" or some such.

Is that not allowed anymore?

[Eclipse]

They aren't prohibited as such, but within the bounds of the WBP I don't see how they are workable logistically.

I suppose if a unit wanted to spend funds and keep things on hand that a member could then buy via a check to the unit, that's one thing, but now that units can't make their own deposits, you have to convert all cash into a check or money order and then send it to wing.  A fair PITA.  That would mean that a cadet needing mosquito wings hands $3 to SM Finance, and he's got to then write a personal check of his own to wing, or run to the bank and make a deposit, also putting himself in the position of accepting and receiving funds and depositing them in a personal account. Never a good idea.

I also don't see any way to allow for a quantity of money to be kept on hand for change or when something is bought.
As soon as it's received it has to be tracked and sent to wing, and wings aren't allowed to accept cash.

It's not worth the hassle, especially in this Internet age when people can just get the stuff direct.

[Woodsy]

So by that line of thinking,  an honor-system "donation box" to put a couple quarters in when you take a drink out of the fridge is also a no-go?  I've seen that done at most units that have a fridge...  The money is usually taken straight from the box to the store to restock.

I guess it could be said that's not really squadron funds, but just member funds pooled to keep the fridge stocked. 

[Eclipse]

So by that line of thinking,  an honor-system "donation box" to put a couple quarters in when you take a drink out of the fridge is also a no-go?  I've seen that done at most units that have a fridge...  The money is usually taken straight from the box to the store to restock.

I guess it could be said that's not really squadron funds, but just member funds pooled to keep the fridge stocked.

I'd say it depends who stocked the fridge to begin with. If the member(s) stocked it with personal funds, probably no issue, if the unit stocked it, and
the money eventually is supposed to be deposited, then not allowed, or at least problematic.

I've seen all sorts of mental gymnastics designed to circumvent the rules - few, if any, are ultimately worth the potential trouble. 
"Everyone is friends here, and it's only a few bucks..." is fine, until it isn't, and then you've got complaints flying, SUIs dinged, etc., etc.

BTDT.

You have to bear in mind that the rules are in place, to a large extent, because of legitimate issues in the past - petty cash / supply box
funds "disappearing", fund raisers that paid for a members new car, or subsidized personal travel, unit or activity POCs who received
participation fees and left a group standing at the alter having never paid the bus company, or they paid out but the "extra" never
made it back to the unit or members (and no one notices until someone gets out a calculator on the actual activity) on and on.

Some are front-page scandals, most are small-dollar misunderstandings that result in hurt feelings and former members.  BTDT, too.
I personally know of at least one member who was terminated for stealing money from that fridge slush fund (security cameras are a harsh mistress).

When I first joined, I "knew better", just like most new members think they do.  Time and experience have taught me that for 99% of what
NHQ tells us to do, we should just do it and move on, instead of trying to push the line, or "do what's right", etc.

[NIN]

It's not worth the hassle, especially in this Internet age when people can just get the stuff direct.

OK, yeah, I handed over my unit right after WBP came into being, so I only had to deal with it for a short time (4-5 months, I think?) and we were all still figuring it out.

I do know that we kept a very tight reign on the supply box funds before WBP. My Finance Officer had a procedure he'd worked out with the Logistics Officer and it was very straight forward.  My Logistics Officer was very retentive about how much money was there, etc.

But the larger issue, the ability for the unit to take advantage of the "group buying power" for the purchase of insignia and such, is really lost when you lose the ability to do that kind of thing easily.

Buying stuff direct from Vanguard as an individual is a pain. I've only ever bought stuff from Vanguard a couple times and it was just, well, I wasn't thrilled with it.  We wanted to help streamline that process for members when and where possible.

Several times a year, the Logistics Officer would put the word out that she was making a Vanguard order (usually 2 of those coincided with Inprocessing Night, so she was ordering up all the insignia & logistics items for the basic flight, anyway) and parents would come in and plunk down cash & checks for insignia and we'd benefit from spreading the shipping cost across a LARGE order versus getting dinged for stupid shipping amounts for 10 ribbons and a 10 bar holder.

(But again, at that time my Finance Officer and the Logistics Officer had a system worked out for tracking cash receipts from the supply box, making deposits into the unit account, etc.  And the supply box money was ONLY for supply box purposes.  Not to get refreshments for Open House or whatever. Heck, when the armory's Coke machine changer was broken, I didn't feel right asking the Logistics Officer for 4 quarters for a dollar bill out of the supply box cash)

I guess I don't recall if we ever sent cash over to the Wing after WBP.

But my unit met 400m from Wing HQ, so its not inconceivable that we actually did that.

[jimmydeanno]

So by that line of thinking,  an honor-system "donation box" to put a couple quarters in when you take a drink out of the fridge is also a no-go?  I've seen that done at most units that have a fridge...  The money is usually taken straight from the box to the store to restock.

I guess it could be said that's not really squadron funds, but just member funds pooled to keep the fridge stocked.

The snack fund idea is fine.  However, under the WBP rules, the funds are supposed to be deposited immediately, since the unit isn't supposed to have a petty cash fund.  So, the procedure ends up being:

1) Unit purchases snacks.
2) Member puts money in can for snacks.
3) End of meeting, responsible person counts and takes accountability for the money.
4) Person deposits money into account.
5) Deposit is sent through the WBP
6) When more snacks are needed, start at #1 again.

The whole point is to have accountability of the funds the unit is using.  Having a slush fund or petty cash allows for redirection of funds and a general lack of accountability.  It doesn't mean that you can't have a snack fund, just get approval for your "fundraising" effort prior to opening shop.

[NC Hokie]

I suppose if a unit wanted to spend funds and keep things on hand that a member could then buy via a check to the unit, that's one thing, but now that units can't make their own deposits, you have to convert all cash into a check or money order and then send it to wing.

When did units lose the ability to make deposits? That wasn't the case in November when the most recent CAPR 173-1 was published.

r. Subordinate units must either deposit their funds in the bank account established by the
wing for subordinate unit funds or mail the checks directly to wing headquarters. Cash must not
be sent to wing for deposit. Cash must be immediately converted to a money order or check
before being submitted to wing for deposit. If the funds are deposited by the subordinate unit, it
must fax, scan and e-mail or mail deposit instructions to the wing advising proper allocation and
classification of the transaction along with a copy of the deposit slip to be received at wing HQ
within 7 days of making the bank deposit. After 1 year from the date of deposit and after making
at least three notices to all units of the date and amount of an unclaimed deposit, the unclaimed
funds will be allocated among all units participating in that bank account.

Is there an unpublished ICL or something that I'm unaware of?

[Eclipse]

4) Person deposits money into account.
5) Deposit is sent through the WBP

Incorrect.

Person must take the money and write a personal check which is then sent to wing.
Units are no longer allowed to deposit money locally, and Wings are not allowed to accept cash.

See next thread.

[Eclipse]

As to the local deposits issue, it looks like the Nov 2012 revision changed the language, in the "Summary of Changes":

"Units are no longer required to send donation checks to wing HQ, but must still send donation information..."

My emails in this regard from Feb 2011 indicate the language was that all "donation checks must be sent to wing".  Other then not trusting
the USPS to deliver them, I don't know why anyone would care, but I do know this caused gnashing of teeth in my wing.

So obviously there's no prohibition about making local deposits.

[jimmydeanno]

4) Person deposits money into account.
5) Deposit is sent through the WBP

Incorrect.

Person must take the money and write a personal check which is then sent to wing.
Units are no longer allowed to deposit money locally, and Wings are not allowed to accept cash.

r. Subordinate units must either deposit their funds in the bank account established by the
wing for subordinate unit funds or mail the checks directly to wing headquarters. Cash must not
be sent to wing for deposit. Cash must be immediately converted to a money order or check
before being submitted to wing for deposit. If the funds are deposited by the subordinate unit, it
must fax, scan and e-mail or mail deposit instructions to the wing advising proper allocation and
classification of the transaction along with a copy of the deposit slip to be received at wing HQ
within 7 days of making the bank deposit. After 1 year from the date of deposit and after making
at least three notices to all units of the date and amount of an unclaimed deposit, the unclaimed
funds will be allocated among all units participating in that bank account.

So, if there is a branch of the bank that the wing banks with, the local unit can drive their happy tails down there and deposit it themselves, and follow the "fax, scan, e-mail" option above.  You only need to convert the cash into cash or money order if you are mailing the deposit to wing.

[jimmydeanno]

As to the local deposits issue, it looks like the Nov 2012 revision changed the language, in the "Summary of Changes":

"Units are no longer required to send donation checks to wing HQ, but must still send donation information..."

My emails in this regard from Feb 2011 indicate the language was that all "donation checks must be sent to wing".  Other then not trusting
the USPS to deliver them, I don't know why anyone would care, but I do know this caused gnashing of teeth in my wing.

So obviously there's no prohibition about making local deposits.

The donation checks were supposed to be sent to Wing HQ because they were supposed to be endorsed by a corporate officer in order to be "officially accepted."  Other funds didn't matter.

So, unless your wing has some sort of supplement, or picked a bank that only has one location, local units can deposit their funds and just send the deposit slip and classification to Wing for processing and allocation in Quickbooks.

[NIN]

It doesn't mean that you can't have a snack fund, just get approval for your "fundraising" effort prior to opening shop.

That just took the ADY as the SnackO to a whole new pain level.

[jimmydeanno]

It doesn't mean that you can't have a snack fund, just get approval for your "fundraising" effort prior to opening shop.

That just took the ADY as the SnackO to a whole new pain level.

Not too bad.  We just submitted the SOP for the funds accountability and it was good to go.  The unit would buy like 3 months worth of snacks in bulk and the finance officer would do the deposits, with the snack-o verifying the amount.

Snack bars can be a pretty good "trickle" fundraiser.  Snacks bought for $0.25 sold at $0.50 can make some serious money over a year.  Our unit's most profitable year resulted in about $3k in -profit- from the snackbar.  Beverages have a better profit margin, too because their initial cost is cheaper.