The following is an article found in the Kentucky Herald back in December of 2005 that still has relevance, regarding the significant issues and effort surrounding the fundraising that takes place in American school districts. We recommend reading this article and anticipating some of the listed concerns in your overall fundraising plan. A well-organized fundraising effort and wise spending prices can eliminate many of these concerns.

For some parents, fund raising is a second job

By Jennifer Smith And Sarah Vos HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITERS

In Fayette County, booster clubs are big business.

The Lafayette High School band, for example, has more than 100 employees — all parent volunteers — and a yearly budget of around $400,000.

About $238,000 of that went to band camp and overnight trips last year, while $160,000 was spent on “general expenses.” The previous year’s financial report itemized payments such as $2,400 for food from Chick-fil-A, $3,800 for dry cleaning uniforms and $36,900 to charter buses.

While the school system keeps the utilities on and pays head coaches and band directors, booster clubs pick up the rest of the tab. Last year, parents raised $2.8 million for sports and band activities in the county.

The parents who are part of these enterprises spend countless hours supporting their kids’ teams. They work at concession stands and bingo parlors, sell products of every kind, wash cars, serve lunch to hundreds of kids and chalk the lines on the playing fields. Some take out personal loans to help fund field houses and concession stands.

This summer, Van Kirk, whose son Bill plays trumpet, took two weeks off from Auto Tech Service, the company he owns, to coordinate the parent volunteers who run Lafayette’s band camp. The job requires more hours than his work.

In the mornings, under a blue and white striped party tent, there were parents treating students for heat stroke (the heat index usually breaks 100 degrees during the summer camp) and other ailments. Every aspirin was recorded in binders that track the 200-plus members, their health problems and any medication they take. There was a crew to serve lunch and a crew to build sets and transport members to contests.

Throughout the season, there are parents to coordinate fund-raisers and track the band’s income. One volunteer counts up the amount each student earns from the 500 Kroger cards the boosters have.

But there’s more than just volunteerism to drive this enterprise. Last year, the parents of most members of the 227-person band wrote a check for $1,100. Each participant had to raise an additional $550.

Putting in work

Debbie Scott was at more Legends games this summer than most season ticket holders. Of the 85 events at the stadium, she attended 75, working concession stands beneath the bleachers for the Paul Dunbar band.

For the three years her son Ben has played trombone in the band, she’s been working concessions to help fund the program.

This year, she oversaw eight stands manned by Dunbar band parents and students. She’s the first to arrive, hours before the game, and the last to leave, often after midnight.

“It was like having another job,” said Scott, who already works as a part-time billing clerk at a chiropractic office and as an on-call registered nurse.

Parents also oversee raising money by selling everything from peanuts to purses.

“We do just about anything legal to try to make a dime for the band,” said David Richardson, president of the Bryan Station band boosters.

The only rule that Fayette County communicates to these groups is that the items being sold or the work being done “not bring embarrassment to the school or to the school system and to parents and coaches,” said Ken Cox, who retired as director of high schools this year.

Some items sell well, others end up sitting in the trunks of family cars.

It’s hard to keep peddling the same goods to the same people over and over again, said Jim Masters, a former Tates Creek girls’ basketball coach. And there are few new ideas out there, he said.

“It’s tough relying on concessions, banners and car washes, especially when the entire county is doing the same thing,” he said.

Some parents tire of the constant fund-raising and just write a check.

‘Asking us to do too much’

They don’t mind working, some parents say, as long as they know it will help their children succeed.

“If we’re financing our program ourselves, then we know our money’s going to our program,” said Terri Hunt, treasurer of the Dunbar softball boosters.

Many coaches said they prefer a system like this one, where they aren’t limited by a budget set by school administrators.

“It’s nice to be able to get what you want when you want it,” Lafayette girls’ soccer coach Michael Lippert said. “If we need something, there’s a system in place to get it.”

Tricia Crowe, softball coach at Henry Clay, sees fund-raising as team building. Parents and players work concessions at University of Kentucky football games together. She finds that girls who aren’t willing to raise money generally aren’t willing to put in the practice time either.

But for more expensive activities, like baseball, cheerleading and band, the requirements go far beyond team building: commitments to work a four-hour bingo shift once a month or more and multiple fund-raisers, like raffles and selling fruit, all year long.

Even with active parent groups, worrying about raising money is too much for some coaches.

“Fund-raising provided extra stress that coaches just don’t need,” said Jan Ulmer, a former Tates Creek girls’ basketball coach. “It’s just asking us to do too much to be a coach and be a chief financial officer.”

Herb Hammond, baseball coach at Henry Clay, said raising money takes up more of his time than coaching. “You’re more of a fund-raiser coach than you are a coach fund-raiser,” he said. But he doesn’t feel like he has a choice.

“If we didn’t fund-raise, we wouldn’t have a program,” Hammond said.

Fund-raising adds stress to an already difficult job, said Eddie Oakley, former boys’ basketball coach at Dunbar and now an assistant principal there. Four years ago, Oakley, discouraged by the booster system, did away with the booster club concept.

Oakley raised less money, which meant a trip to Florida every three or four years instead of a trip every spring.

When parents are invested in a program because they raise the money, conflicts can arise, some coaches say.

“You’re thankful that someone is helping you provide things for your athletes,” said Mike Barren, athletic director at Dunbar, who added, “but people want to give advice to the coach.”

It can be seen in every team or group. Parents who build locker rooms, weight rooms and field houses think they should have a say in how they’re used and by whom.

Even something as simple as a musical instrument can create discord.

Last year, the Dunbar band boosters spent $35,000 on new sousaphones, large tuba-like instruments. They now belong to the Fayette County schools.

“It was my money, blood, sweat and tears that helped buy them,” said Rick Jouett, president of the Dunbar band boosters. “Now it is their property.”