Looking to start a booster club in America’s birthplace? You’ve come to the right place to receive assistance in creating your new Virginia booster club! Here are Booostr we have developed an easy to read guide on how to create a booster club in Virginia. This article will provide you with many the resources and links you will need to successfully and easily create your booster club.
The booster club creation process in Virginia begins with the State Corporate Commission website. This site is a great resource to utilize throughout the entire process of starting your Virginia booster club. Here you will find information on forms and fees for Virginia nonstock corporations as well as general information about starting a corporation. Once You have familiarized yourself with the site, the next step is choosing a name for your Virginia booster club!
The name of your booster club is very important for many reasons. First, a club name lets potential volunteers or donors know what activity your booster club supports. TO make the process easier, we suggest starting with a list of 5-10 unique names that would work for your Virginia booster club. Once you have your list you can check the names through the State Corporate Commission website search engine to be sure that it is unique and original in the state of Virginia. Having an available and recognizable name makes everything much easier for your booster club down the road.
Before you file your articles of incorporation, you’ll need to have bylaws that comply with Virginia law. Your Virginia booster club bylaws contain the rules and procedures your organization will need follow regarding holding meetings, electing officers and directors, and taking care of other corporate formalities required in Virginia. However, that being said, your bylaws do not need to be filed with the state — they are simply your internal operating manual.
The next important step in your club creation process is choosing the members of your board of directors. The goal is to choose individuals who have experience in management and who are willing to really help establish your Virginia booster club. It is very important to choose experienced members as these can be people who can make or break your club. A lot of booster clubs struggle with selecting members because boosters tend to have high volunteer and management turnover. This is primarily due to parents’ involvement lasts as long as their kids involvement in said activity. This can be anywhere from 1 to 4 years. Instead of choosing parents for these key roles, try to engage members who are genuinely passionate about the school and activity your club supports. These are the people that will help your club reach its full potential.
Now it’s time for your Virginia booster club’s first meeting! This can be pretty overwhelming because so much information has to be covered and everyone is still getting familiar with each other, but you can handle it! During your club’s first meeting your team will need to cover approving the bylaws, electing directors (if not named in your articles), appointing officers, setting an accounting period and tax year and approving initial transactions of the corporation, such as the opening of a corporate bank account. It may sound like a lot, but once all of these tasks are taken care of your club can begin to discuss activities and fundraisers for the club.
It is important to appoint club officers who would take care of your Virginia booster club and assure that everything is managed professionally. Part of the selection process needs to be officers appointed based on their expertise, interaction with parents and kids as well as their focus on the development and growth of the club. Careful considerate of the booster club’s officers is another great way to ensure stability within your club.
While visiting the IRS Website you will find information on the tax paperwork your Virginia booster club will need to file, as well as EIN information. To avoid any legal hiccups, make sure you carefully follow the IRS filing guidelines. The reason you need an EIN is that it is used for tax purposes, opening a club bank account and certain business to business transactions. It’s not a difficult process but a necessary one to ensure your Virginia booster club operates on the up and up.
The next step we recommend when forming your Virginia booster club is to become a nonprofit organization. This is not hard, but does require a few more steps with the IRS. To start the process, go to the IRS website and read through the requirements needed for becoming a Nonprofit organization. All of the information needed – applications and tax information is located here. Follow the steps the IRS lays out and you will be a fully functional operating nonprofit Virginia booster club!
While being a tax exempt organization is not required, we HIGHLY recommend it. Once you have all the information assembled, you have your EIN and your Virginia booster club has been verified as the nonprofit organization, you need to go ahead and move forward with your tax-exempt application.
Here is a simple guideline that will help you file for tax-exempt status:
Many nonprofits think becoming tax-exempt is unnecessary, but it can help your club avoid unnecessary costs and help you solicit donations much much MUCH easier!
The final step in creating your Virginia booster club is opening a business bank account. There might not be very much in the account at first, but having an account makes managing club funds a lot easier. Here is the process for opening a business bank account:
Having a business bank account will give your club better oversight of all club funds much more closely. Furthermore your business bank account allows you to easily store every club transaction, no matter the source and allows your organization to collect online donations!
Now you are founder of a brand-new Virginia booster club! That wasn’t so bad was it? Hopefully our guide was able to help, if so know that our help doesn’t stop here! If you register your club with Booostr you will have access to many more helpful articles regarding how to grow your booster club. Different fundraising ideas and much more! We hope to see you around on our site. Happy Fundraising!
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Booostr is the first booster club software platform with a connected set of tools designed to help booster clubs and nonprofits better manage their organization. From Communication, to Management, to Fundraising, Booostr's connected software improves booster club efficiency and allow them to focus on surpassing their goals.
