So Your Athlete Made the Team - now what?
Since Tiger Boosters was launched in 2018, it has become a pivotal resource to help teams raise, manage, and spend their money. As a registered 501(c)3 non-profit, Tiger Boosters is an indispensable organization that allows donations to be tax deductible as sales tax exemption for many team expenses. Moreover, it offers access to TeamSnap team and web services, individual team Paypal and bank accounts with checking and debit card privileges and google enterprise for team/coach specific email accounts.
The organization has evolved over time in an effort to best support our athletic teams. While initially Boosters operated on a front-loaded funding and reimbursement model, in 2022 it changed it's operating model to provide greater automony to individual teams and eliminate the Booster "middle man" to the greatest extent possible. As such, Booster currently operates as a pass-thru vehicle, affording teams the benefits of its tax exempt status while empowering each team with its own ability to raise, collect and disburse its funding - without the need for a Booster volunteer's direct involvement to collect cash or pay a vendor. This change has been extremely well received by teams, making team management less onerous and more timely.
NOTE TO TEAM MANAGER PARENTS & COACHES
All fundraising activities must be set up and channel funds to the team's PayPal account that is tied to the team bank account. Any fundraising activity not tied to the team's paypal account will be considered outside of Booster's scope and will be the sole responsibility of the team.
Below are the key financial, communication, and TeamSnap protocols that Tiger Boosters has established for teams. These protocols are necessary so that we can best track and support the nearly 40 programs and fundraisers we do each year. It is also helpful to support our efforts in being transparent and maintaining predictable continuity from year-to-year.
Collecting Funds:
- Paper Deposits - now that each team has its own individual bank account under the Booster umbrella at PNC (Boosters current banking partner), each team is responsible for making its own non-electronic deposits at a PNC branch/ATM using its account number and/or ATM/debit card. Checks should be addressed to the team, e.g. Jackson Reed Swimming.
- Paypal - each team will be provided with a unique Paypal account that is directly tied to its own team bank account (under the boosters umbrella account). Teams may use Paypal for team donations, fees or specific fundraisers with QR codes, etc. Any request for a team Paypal account must be submitted to Athletics, and once approved created by Boosters.
- TeamSnap - each team will be provided with a TeamSnap team account, allowing creation of rosters, schedule, stat tracking, team communication as well as capacity to invoice teams to collect team dues or other expenses. Using the invoice function within TeamSnap enables each team admin to track and channel payments directly to its own team bank account. Please note teams should rely on invoice and NOT registration function within TeamSnap. Any request for a TeamSnap account must be submitted to Athletics and once approved will be created by Boosters.
Making Payments:
- All teams are responsible for covering their own expenses by making payments either by check, debit card or Paypal, depending on what forms of payment vendors accept. In rare instances Athletics may pay a vendor on behalf of a school program (eg outsourced athletic trainers for fall sports) for which each team will be charged its portion and accordingly funds transferred from their team account to the Athletics account. Please note Boosters no longer issues credit cards to any individual team, no exceptions.
Team Web Page:
- Updates to the individual team webpage are managed by Athletics. Please send your updated information / phots to Athletics Dept. for publishing.
Team/Coach Email Addresses:
- Each team is assigned its own email using the format = sport@dctigerathletics.com. All coaches are offered a unique coach email using the format = coachname@dctigerathletics.com
- Any request for a team or coach email address must be submitted to Athletics and once approved will be created by Boosters.
Below are timeless tips offered by the Founding President of Tiger Boosters related to:
Team Travel Planning, Planning for Events and Fundraisers, TeamSnap
TEAM TRAVEL PLANNING
Tiger Boosters strongly recommends using a travel agency for travel events that involve airfare. This is less of an issue for bus travel events.
Please do NOT use a travel agent who does this as a side hustle, but doesn't have a proven track record.
A professional travel agent will save you (and us) a lot of time and energy, and be able to take care of any issues that come up quickly and competently, such as a change in schedule, poor services, etc. Like travel insurance when you need it, the fees that a good travel agent charges is worth every penny.
Airfare
If your team is traveling by plan, you may need to purchase airfare. You will need to use payment methods detailed above for your travel arrangements. Boosters cannot front any resources toward your trip.
We also strongly encourage the use of a good travel agent. This can make all the difference and they are worth every penny extra you pay.
General Travel Expenses
Depending on your expected expenses, anticipate paying with your debit card on site (like hotel). PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CONFIRM YOUR BANK ACCOUNT HAS SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO COVER ALL ANTICIPATED EXPENSES PRIOR TO DEPARTURE.
When a team travels internationally, as our Baseball team does to Dominican Republic every year, additional caution and paperwork is required.
If a DCPS employee is participating and they are NOT paying their own way (for example, a coach who is coming as a chaperone), they must fill out the International Travel Request form provided by DCPS. It must be completed and submitted 30 days prior to the date of departure.
PLANNING GUIDE for EVENTS & FUNDRAISERS
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Decide on type of event.
Ideas include auction, a-Thon, bake or food sale, bash party, car wash, festival, event at a venue, sporting events such as a 5K run, tournament, skills clinic/camp. The possibilities are endless! -
Put your team of volunteers together.
Clearly identify the roles of each volunteer. Establishing expectations and deadlines is key! -
Create an event budget.
Determine your ROI (return on investment) to make sure it’s worth the effort. -
Choose your venue and date.
Try not to conflict with anything major going on at school so that you have the best possible turnout. -
Create an event timeline.
We call this the “T-“ or “T minus” schedule. It’s the countdown from the date of your event. This is crucial to document for two reasons:-
It’ll help keep you on track while planning your event; and
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It keeps a record of what needs to happen when, so you’ll be able to assess where you can do better next time, and next year’s event chair doesn’t have to recreate the wheel.
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Identify needs for security, custodial services, equipment and rentals.
Consider your needs for tables, seats, set-up, A/V, speakers, catering, etc. You were asked this on the Team Event Planning form, but it may have changed. Follow-up! -
Determine your tech needs.
Do you need an auction bidding software platform or an event ticketing sales platform?
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Identify and engage event partners and sponsors.
Look for Jackson Reed staff, caterer, venue manager, DCPS contacts for events involving 5K Runs and city-wide tournaments, local business sponsors, etc. -
Develop your event branding.
You will need an event logo, promotional materials, flyers, posters, etc. -
Develop and deploy your event marketing campaign.
How and where will you promote your event? Considerations:-
Jackson Reed Constant Contact email list
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Principal’s Weekly Email Newsletter
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The Beacon school newspaper
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Alumni contact lists
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Team listservs and networks
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Tiger Boosters listservs
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Local neighborhood listservs
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Local schools
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Social media, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
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Deposits the money you made
If you made any cash or collected checks, deposit it in your team bank account. -
Post-event debrief
It is imperative that your team of volunteers review what worked well and what could have gone better. Take notes, update your event timeline and planning details, and get ready for next year. -
Post-Event Summary
Once all your bills are paid, take stock by creating a financial event summary. -
Thank your donors and vendors!
Don't forget to thank everyone who donated or helped out in some way.
TEAMSNAP
Tiger Boosters purchased a license for League Enterprise TeamSnap, a highly rated team management software that also comes with an app and is widely used across youth sports clubs and teams.
Reasons to use TeamSnap:
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- Manage rosters
- Track & share team schedule, games and results, which integrates with our website.
- Simplify and streamline team communication
- Ability to invoice families by team or individually
- Collect forms
- Ability to assign roles at the team and sport level.
Head coaches determine who will have management access at the sport level (for example, Boys Soccer)
It is imperative that you use TeamSnap to track your schedule. This is important because:
- The schedule in TS will show up on your web page AND on the front page of the website
- Student-athletes and parents will use the app on their phones for the schedule
- This is meant to be an all-in-one tool
Events vs Games
It is important that each game or practice is accurately logged into TeamSnap.
- Any scheduled item labeled GAME will show up on the front page of the website
- ALL scheduled items, including GAMES and EVENTS (practices, fundraisers, etc.), will show up on the calendar on YOUR team page.
Upload Your Schedule in TS First
We know that many coaches have to upload the teams schedules in multiple locations. We encourage you to start with TeamSnap FIRST, because you will then be able to export the schedule into a .csv file, which can then be uploaded to the other websites you are required to use.
Team managers and coaches can upload and edit their team rosters at any point.
Teams can invoice at the team level, on the web version as well as through the app, after a one time set up inserting the team bank account info into TeamSnap.
You can set different price points for each team, or offer payment plans, or offer discounted rates for certain families. You can invoice the whole team the same amount, or different groups each different amounts.
TeamSnap offers the ability for seamless communication with your student-athletes and their families. You have the ability to send out one-way notices (from you to them), or to connecting with a smaller group of student-athletes (such as a group that's traveling to a specific event). Coaches and managers can even DM each other and individual student-athletes through TeamSnap. There is also an alert function that is useful to communicate urgent matters like weather cancelation, etc.
SPORTS
EVENTS & FUNDRAISERS
Tiger Bash
Tiger CrabFeast
Tenley Tiger Run
Homecoming
DC Sneaker Expo
CAMPS, CLINICS & TOURNAMENTS
Basketball Summer Camp
Cheer Camp
Contact Us
Jackson-Reed High School
3950 Chesapeake St NW
Washington DC 20016
202-282-0120