If your child participates in extracurricular activities at school, you have probably heard of a booster club. Booster clubs are nonprofit membership groups that support specific school activities, departments, or causes, such as school sports teams or drama programs.
Creating a booster club is an effective way to raise funds for local school programs. However, managing a booster club can be difficult, especially because everyone involved is a volunteer.
Managing a booster club involves handling payments from many different parents, alumni, and donors. To efficiently manage payment collection for your booster club, you need tools that simplify the process. Online payment collection apps designed for groups can do just that.
Continue reading to learn how a payment collection app can help your booster club streamline its finances and how to choose the right app for your club.
How online payment apps help your booster club
Booster clubs engage in various activities to raise funds for school programs. In many cases, the dues paid by members make up a significant portion of their funds. Booster clubs often collect membership dues and use them as the foundation for other fundraising efforts. However, this requires handling many individual transactions and can end up being time-consuming if not managed efficiently.
Online payment apps can significantly reduce the time spent collecting payments for your booster club. Members can pay their dues directly through an app or link, streamlining the process and preventing payments from being forgotten. Additionally, the right group payment collection app can not only make collecting funds easier but also simplify spending. Booster clubs often need to make a variety of payments for different purposes, such as transferring funds to an athletic department, purchasing equipment, or acquiring resources for fundraising efforts. An app that allows you to spend funds directly from the payment collection tool can make managing expenses more efficient for your group.
Online payment apps can also automatically record every transaction your group makes, which can significantly reduce the administrative burden of booster club management. You can easily access statements and records, and this will set you up for success when filing your tax-exempt reports for the IRS.
Strategies for online booster club payment collection
Using an online payment app for your booster club can do more than just save time. The right payment collection solution can help you maximize your budget and ensure you don’t leave any funds on the table.
With the right payment solution, you can offer your members multiple payment methods for dues, allowing them to make secure payments in the way that is most convenient for them. This provides a straightforward solution to start accepting credit, debit, and ACH payments instead of just checks and cash.
Depending on your organization’s structure, you can even provide incentives for members who make early payments. A slight discount on dues can be enough to encourage members to pay early or on time. These retention and time-saving benefits make up for the discount on your club’s end.
Still not sure? Ask your members
The right online payment apps can make things easier for booster club management and members. However, enacting change in an organization can be difficult. You might not be convinced yourself, or you could find yourself dealing with others in your group who are averse to change. In that case, you can always ask your members for their input.
Conducting a brief survey about payments can shed light on the matter and clarify your group’s needs. You’ll likely find that most of your club members would prefer more versatile payment options. While they might get by with the current solution, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t appreciate a new one. Ask what payment method they would like to use, and find online payment apps that can make that a reality.
Streamline all types of payment for your booster club
While membership dues may be the primary source of income for many booster clubs, there may also be other payments that need to be collected, such as payments for hosting events or donations from supporters. Online payment apps can simplify the management of these payments. Just as you can use a link to collect dues, most payment apps offer similar options for collecting donations or payments at in-person events. By implementing a payment app, you can cover all of your payment collection needs as a booster club.
How Crowded can help your booster club with online payment collection
Managing finances requires organization and clarity, but when you’re managing money as a volunteer, you may not have the time to devote to it as if it were a full-time job. Crowded helps bridge that gap by providing the resources needed to quickly and easily collect payments for your booster club online. With Crowded, you can leave behind messy Excels and enjoy stress-free money collection.
Crowded makes it easy to collect funds for anything you want, including membership fees, events, equipment, uniforms, travel, and tournaments. The best part is that you can create a payment request for anything you want, and there are no extra costs for your booster club.
So how does it work? Crowded offers free accounts for booster clubs with no subscription fees. Any processing fees related to payment collection are paid by your members. These transaction fees are designed to be affordable and are competitive in the industry, at 3.5% for card payments and the lesser of 3% and $5 for ACH transfers.
Spend directly from where you collect with Crowded
Crowded not only offers a modern solution for collecting booster club payments but also enables your club to spend directly from the same platform. This saves you from having to withdraw and deposit money every time you make a purchase on behalf of your club.
Instead, you can issue digital or physical debit cards to any of your members with a pre-specified amount of funds for expenses. Your group admin has full control of the money on these cards and can add, redeem, or freeze them with a single click. Additionally, all purchase receipts are sent straight to the app so you can easily manage your tax reporting.
This means no more keeping track of receipts or handling reimbursement requests. It’s a game-changer that puts your club in full control of its spending.
Ready to use Crowded to make money management stress-free for your booster club? Sign up for Crowded online or to learn more about how you can customize Crowded for your booster club book a time with someone on our team.
