Coaches Do I have to have a Booster Club?

[PalmTree]

I am not an actual owner of my gym (it is owned by a company that is not involved, weird situation) but I am paid to be the head coach, the manager of the gym, and the owner in all my duties. We have a Booster Club. I hate it. They are parents who gossip about the gym and don't do any fundraising. Can I get rid of it? Do they have any legal right to exist? They are non-profit and filed for a 103c or something. They try to make decisions about what kids will be competing, etc. Can I tell them they are done, or is there some way they can still exist even if I tell them that??

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yikes! keep the 501c3 and dump them!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

They don't raise money??? then what is the function? Our booster club raises tones of money each year, and they are the backbone of the buffer between parents and coaches. In other words they back us. That is part of the criteria to be on the board. DUMP THEM, then next year when you get a better feel for things , promote your best parent (experienced /seasoned) and give them your criteria and one fundraiser a year for updating mats etc.. Good luck...

 

[Gymsanity]

Having a booster club is a privilege, not some God given right, and it needs to be treated as such by the parents. It exists solely to help raise money for their children and NOTHING else. You need to sit down with the officers and make these points perfectly clear to them. If they continue to think that they have some other role in coaching decisions, skills, levels, practice hours, meet schedules, groupings, or coach/club bashing, etc., give it the boot! It is there for them, not you. If they abuse their privilege, take it away. If they act like children, treat them like children. I'm in the process right now of starting a new booster club, after ousting the last one several years ago for bad behavior. These new parents seem to 'get it', and I think it will be successful and beneficial for everyone involved, as it should be. However, if it takes a turn for the worse, guess what?..........Good luck.

 

[JMD]

They don't raise money??? then what is the function? Our booster club raises tones of money each year, and they are the backbone of the buffer between parents and coaches. In other words they back us. That is part of the criteria to be on the board. DUMP THEM, then next year when you get a better feel for things , promote your best parent (experienced /seasoned) and give them your criteria and one fundraiser a year for updating mats etc.. Good luck...

I'm pretty sure you can't legally have the booster club buy mats/equipment for a for profit business. All the money has to be distributed back to the children according to the bylaws.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I'm pretty sure you can't legally have the booster club buy mats/equipment for a for profit business. All the money has to be distributed back to the children according to the bylaws.

===
Our booster club is a registered business 501c3, they file a tax return each year etc.. They donate back to the gym for team equipment. Been doing it this way for over a decade. (we have team equipment separate from rec). They are not allowed to donate money directly to a child, unless a specific individual donates money as such. The head of our booster club currently is an accountant, so.....

 

[cbifoja]

I'm pretty sure you can't legally have the booster club buy mats/equipment for a for profit business. All the money has to be distributed back to the children according to the bylaws.

You are correct. A member of our board of directors is a tax attorney. We had this discussion a couple of years ago when our gym needed a new spring floor. The officers wanted to help out the gym owner with a donation. Our attorney member assured us this was highly prohibited by the IRS and would endanger our tax status.

That said, I cannot understand why a booster club thinks they exist for anything other than helping to offset competition expenses. Coaching? Hours? Routines? That's what we hire coaches for! I agree that a booster club is a privilege. I am a BC president and I work my butt off setting up fundraisers, participating in fundraisers, and trying to encourage our parents to step up and work together as a team. I feel like it is my job to help with communication between parents and coaches but no further.

 

[Natasha]

We have a great booster club. When I came on board, the booster club solely did fundraising (our home meet). Now we do fundraising and lots of team building/parent support. We have a great relationship with the gym. We do MUCH more than fundraising, but our "motto" is "everything on the other side of the glass (we have glass windows separating the lobby from the gym) is up to the coaches/gym owner." We only take care of "this side." So, we have things like spirit nights (set up a day for everyone to go eat at a restaurant), Hair clinics (teach parents how to do french braids, etc), parent olympics, team sleepovers, team banquet, Christmas party, etc. We also support the coaches by handling apparel fittings and the apparel orders (but coaches have sole decisions on leos- we just help get them ordered, distributed, etc). Every year we host a meeting for the new parents to go through what to expect at meets, helpful tips, etc.
The result is that the parents and gymnasts are very well bonded to the team. This has helped the gym tremendously.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

===
our booster club is a registered business 501c3, they file a tax return each year etc.. They donate back to the gym for team equipment. Been doing it this way for over a decade. (we have team equipment separate from rec). They are not allowed to donate money directly to a child, unless a specific individual donates money as such. The head of our booster club currently is an accountant, so.....

yes, this is right!^^^^^^(dunno is screaming to the top of his lungs!)

 

[PalmTree]

If the Booster Club at my gym has donated equipment, can I still get rid of them? WHat would happen to the equipment and whatever else is in their bank account?

 

[Deleted member 14190]

If the Booster Club at my gym has donated equipment, can I still get rid of them? WHat would happen to the equipment and whatever else is in their bank account?

==
Try this, Start a PSO group, NOT USING ANY OF THE PEOPLE HEADING UP YOUR BOOSTER CURRENTLY. Put them in charge of fund raising and whatever else the current booster club is in charge of.
Now you don't have to fight with anyone, you don't have to return any of the equipment because it was donated, win win. Finally tell the people heading up the booster club that they are no longer needed, because you have opened up a new company to run it. THE END.
Each year you will have the option to reinstate the head PSO officer and the financial officer, or elect a new one.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

A parent in another thread seemed upset about the owner/HC basically choosing the booster club... Which is completely logical given the OP's situation.

 

[JMD]

Our booster club is a registered business 501c3, they file a tax return each year etc.. They donate back to the gym for team equipment. Been doing it this way for over a decade. (we have team equipment separate from rec). They are not allowed to donate money directly to a child, unless a specific individual donates money as such. The head of our booster club currently is an accountant, so.....

yes, this is right!^^^^^^(dunno is screaming to the top of his lungs!)

I think it would be questionable and you may lose exempt status if audited. A non profit can't donate back equipment to a for profit entity even if the equipment is just used for team. It directly benefits the owner with tangible property.

All 501's have to file a return with the government. I think there used to be some exemption if your revenue was less than 25k but that is no longer true.

Here is an interesting article on the IRS website that specifically uses a gymnastics club in the example. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica93.pdf

 

[cbifoja]

If the Booster Club at my gym has donated equipment, can I still get rid of them? WHat would happen to the equipment and whatever else is in their bank account?

I have no idea about the equipment for reasons that have been stated above.

The money in the bank account should be distributed equally among all the gymnasts and applied to tuition/meet costs/new leos or whatever. But it shouldn't just get transferred over to the gym bank account without some sort of gymnast benefit.

 

[cbifoja]

Here is an interesting article on the IRS website that specifically uses a gymnastics club in the example. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica93.pdf

The part relating to equipment is on page 9.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Like any tax code it appears subjective and questionable. over 10 years later and no problems here, that's all I have to report. Now back to helping the op oust his problem parents,

 

[cbifoja]

From the document referenced above......

Club A has purchased equipment installed at X Gym that is used by the owners in their commercial business. This transfer of the organization's financial resources to the owners of X Gym is in violation of the inurement proscription and is also sufficient to defeat exemption.

Hmmm....doesn't sound very subjective/questionable to me. It doesn't say might be in violation or that the transfer is sometimes okay. It says that the transfer is a violation and is sufficient to lost tax exemption.

But it's not my business. I only have a responsibility to my booster club and our lawyer specifically told us we would be out of compliance if we donated money for a new floor. According to this document, posted on the IRS website, her advice is supported by this excerpt.

 

[skschlag]

I didn't think they were allowed to cover tuition. Our booster pays for all meet fees, coaches' fees, travel expenses, and uniform costs as well as one camp a year for each gymnast who is a member. Families do not have to join.
I believe we did purchase equipment one and then sold it to the gym. They talked to lawyers before doing it that way.
They also have to do something to benefit all gymnasts each year. Usually new bags or team shirts, etc.

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[cbifoja]

I didn't think they were allowed to cover tuition.

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You're right. I read that in the document too. Can't cover training costs.

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[Deleted member 14190]

From the document referenced above......



Hmmm....doesn't sound very subjective/questionable to me. It doesn't say might be in violation or that the transfer is sometimes okay. It says that the transfer is a violation and is sufficient to lost tax exemption.

But it's not my business. I only have a responsibility to my booster club and our lawyer specifically told us we would be out of compliance if we donated money for a new floor. According to this document, posted on the IRS website, her advice is supported by this excerpt.

Well, post the whole paragraph please.