Booster clubs are extremely popular organizations usually based in American schools at the middle school, high school, and university level. Generally, booster clubs are run and organized by students and their parents, though at a University level, many fans and alumni do their part to help support booster clubs. The primary focus of booster clubs is not socializing, but to develop support for student athletic programs and to raise funds in order to counteract the budget cuts taking place at many public schools and institutions.
The cost of running any kind of extracurricular program, of course, varies from school to school. However, some necessities such as equipment, uniforms, and traveling money are universal and, unfortunately, quite expensive. That is why sports booster clubs, academic booster clubs, music booster clubs, and so many other school based organizations seek to provide additional financial support. To help you better understand how booster clubs work for every student activity, we’ve put together a list of the most common types of booster clubs as well as their primary functions and objectives.
Athletic Booster Clubs
Athletic booster clubs are nonprofit organizations formed to specifically assist, promote, and support all sanctioned athletic programs in middle school, high school, or university settings. The main functions of sports booster clubs are to mainly assist with fundraising opportunities, help manage and distribute funds, promote attendance and spirit at athletic events, and to promote parent involvement and assistance during athletic department activities. Additionally, athletic booster clubs should encourage and acknowledge the important relationship between success in athletics and academics. Athletic booster clubs should be able to provide supplemental support for things such as athletic training and maintenance of athletic facilities as well. In order to raise these kinds of funds, it is important to engage students, their parents, and the school as a whole, encouraging them to participate and volunteer at fundraising events. These booster clubs, while they mainly deal with the fundraising and financial support, have the added purpose of encouraging and supporting the core values, missions, and athletic philosophies of the school’s athletic department. Participating in a school athletic program can have enormous positive impacts on students, allowing them to develop things such as leadership skills, strong moral values, and team oriented sensibilities. Therefore, it’s extremely important for sports booster clubs to not only help sustain athletic departments, but to help them flourish as well.
Fine Arts Booster Club
Fine arts booster clubs usually focus on supporting activities in the realm of art, drama, and speech. Drama booster clubs work to ensure that the needs and requests of school arts departments are taken into account and fulfilled. From building sets to buying and creating costumes, to purchasing the rights to productions and so much more, the expenses of sustaining an arts department are substantial and can be difficult for departments to manage on their own. Fine arts activities are extremely beneficial for young adults, expanding their social and world view while also instilling an appreciation for a variety of cultures around the world. Fine arts clubs, while usually managed by parents, should encourage students to volunteer their time and resources to enhance the fine arts programs offered by their schools. The main functions of the fine arts booster club should be to help parents communicate with staff and teachers in order to determine the program’s needs, create a plan to fulfill those needs as well as other goals, and to act as a representative for the program in front of the school board and administration. Fine arts booster clubs should also do their part to organize volunteers to work fine arts activities and fundraisers while also managing and collecting funds to support the fine arts program.
Academic Booster Club
An academic booster club is a group of parents, students, and faculty dedicated to enhancing educational achievement within a middle school, high school, or university setting. Usually, academic booster clubs are formed by parents to encourage participation from the community within the academic environment. The main goal of an academic booster club is to raise funds that will, subsequently, turn into things such as scholarships or grants that will give opportunities to deserving students. Scholarships and grants are also an enormously valuable resource to teachers, providing them with additional resources that will allow them to motivate and enhance the work of their students. Academic booster clubs also have the responsibility to sponsor and, in some cases, organize academic recognition programs which support all students at all grade and course levels for their achievements in class. These kinds of ceremonies will honor students of all kinds, congratulating them for the various types of work they’ve put forth throughout the year.
Music Booster Club
Music booster clubs typically encompass various activities such as marching band, orchestras, jazz band, and more. These musically focused booster clubs act as advocates for everything related to music programs that run in middle school, high school, or university environments, from buying new musical equipment to helping pay for marching band uniforms and covering travel fees.. The primary purpose of a music booster club is to build stable working relationships between students, directors, parents, and school administration. Due to the recent trend within public schools of cutting funds from music and arts programs in order to save money, booster clubs are a valuable and necessary resource of school music programs. Music or band booster clubs, therefore, have the responsibility of raising and managing funds that are pooled towards the band or music program. Additionally, booster clubs of this nature should strive to provide encouragement, guidance, and emotional support for the students who are active in the music program. Taking part in band or music programs can be life changing to students, giving them a sense of creative community within an academic atmosphere. That means that, as a music booster club, it’s imperative that sufficient funds are raised in order to not only maintain the program, but to make the program reach its full potential.
As you can see, we have touched on different ways booster clubs are utilized to support activities outside of athletics. We are only touching on a couple of extra-curricular activities that are supported by booster clubs, but as you can tell, the possibilities are endless. If you have a child in school and one of their activities had it’s budget cut or is losing all of its funding, starting a booster club to support that activity might be the perfect solution.
