Do any squadrons have parent booster clubs? Are they raising money? If so, how are you dealing with the funds that are brought in? Is it going into the Sq account? Are the boosters allowed to set up their own accounting with the funds they raise? Thanks.
Simple. They create their own "club". The then donate a check to the Squadron and the Squadron sends it directly to wing for addition to the Squadron Account.
You will have problems if Cadets are involved, they make themselves appear to representing Civil Air Patrol Corporation, or anything they do has any CAP member involved in Uniform!
My Parents make our Squadron nearly $10,000 a year. That includes matching fund gifts etc.
Our Squadron seriously considered the idea of establishing a "booster" group when the Wing Banker system was first announced. Under the control of TP, we had concerns that our monies would be "nationalized" , instead of being held as reserved funds at the Wing Level. These fears proved (so far at least) to be groundless. The major impediment was that the people most concerned with establishing such a group are by regulation prohibited from being a party to the new organization, a situation offering very serious potential for abuse. I think it would be more prudent to establish a club with a somewhat wider charter ( Cadet Clubs of Hackensack, NJ, etc.) to prevent the possibility of one individual either making off with some of the funds, or National making off with all of them! The club can own and possess things that CAP may not permit a Squadron to have ( Airplanes, boats, hovercraft, helicopters, actual functioning firearms, Humvees, and APC's included) and make them available to the Sq with little fear of misappropriation by a parent organization running amuck. ( And lets face it boys, the organization has spent quite a bit of time all mucked up, by a few problem children)
The chief advantage is of course being able to fundraise outside the very limiting regulations of CAP. Take a look at these sometimes ( I forget the Reg number off hand) and you will see that they do tend to hamstring a SQ.
Major Lord
...and the chief disadvantage of a booster club is that it needs to be its own legitimate company. Don't forget to file all the appropriate papers in your state, and if you want donations to your cause to be tax-deductible/charitable for those donating (so they can receive a tax break for giving to your booster club), then you'll need to file with your state and the IRS for a 501(c)(3) status. You'll need a board of directors for the booster club, and the "officers" of that board can't overlap with a lot of people in CAP (there are CAP rules on this). Don't forget your booster club will need to keep its finances meticulously because as a 501(c)(3) non-profit org, your finances are public record. Depending on how much you fundraise and have in assets, your booster club may also be required to file IRS Form 990's every year, and in many states you may need to also register and/or submit finances or reports to your state's charities bureau or state revenue agency. There are also additional rules and laws by state about fundraising, etc, that you must be aware of. New York has a Charities Bureau in the State Attorneys General office, and requires registration, annual reports, etc.
Don't forget, too, that your booster club can't use the name, words, logos, uniforms, or graphics of Civil Air Patrol.
I had problems getting parents involved in the cadet program at all. Our senior members were 0% cadet parents. So if you've got dedicated parents who are willing to organize all of that, and handle all of the administrative nightmare that can come from a booster club, and you don't need that help at the squadron instead because you're 100% staffed, then sure go ahead. Otherwise, I think you're diverting volunteer time and efforts away from making your program and squadron better and stronger just so you can keep your pot o' money separate from Wing and maybe do a few things that the regs wouldn't otherwise allow (and c'mon, how many squadron booster clubs really own buses or ATVs?).
I don't see any reason that any CAP unit would need such a club when there aren't really any significant CAP regulatory barriers to fundraising efforts -- its just that most units don't put in the effort on that end -- not that the cadet units are necessarily bad, its just that they have so many other things going on that REAL fundraising is on the far back burner.
As Pylon said, any parent that would be willing to go to that much work to run a separate organization could probably fund raise just as effectively, if not more so given that they could actually use CAP's name, etc., inside CAP.
And to tell the truth, I'm not sure I would want to put my trust in an entirely separate group to be the primary fundraiser for my unit.
R173-4 gives some guidence
http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/R173_004_3C78BD19C872E.pdf
Rules, regs and pitfalls to forming a 501(c)3 vary by State. Google can be your friend:
'setting up a 501(c)3' or 'how to run a booster club'
We have a VERY active cadet squadron that is coming to terms with it's growth (12 to 81 cadets in less than 3 years). We now have a GREAT Finance Officer working on the cadet side and we're turning over some serious $$
Still thinking about the benefits/logistics of setting up a booster club.
Basically needs to be 'run' by parents - with CAP officer oversight/advice/guidence. Read the reg carefully about uniform restrictions and cadet/senior involvement in fundraising activities while in uniform
We're new to this and would be interested in others' views too
Quote from: Spike on December 23, 2009, 01:16:23 AM
Simple. They create their own "club". The then donate a check to the Squadron and the Squadron sends it directly to wing for addition to the Squadron Account.
You will have problems if Cadets are involved, they make themselves appear to representing Civil Air Patrol Corporation, or anything they do has any CAP member involved in Uniform!
My Parents make our Squadron nearly $10,000 a year. That includes matching fund gifts etc.
What are they doing that couldn't be done by the squadron?
Mostly matching gifts. $5,000 comes from that source. The other cash is raised by 2 holiday parties and 50-50 raffles.