What it means to be a Cardinal Booster Club Representative

Cardinal Booster Club parent representatives (Reps) are the backbone of the organization.  Representatives serve in a leadership capacity for every member organization.  Representatives are often known as the "team mom" or "team dad", helping a coach or director communicate with parents or maybe arranging hospitality items for our students.  The support these parent volunteers provide is invaluable to our coaches, students and parents, but being a CBC Representative is more than being a team mom or dad.    

A CBC Representative is a leader within the JPIIHS community, supporting the mission of Cardinal Booster Club and representing not only the needs of the organization they represent but also the interests of the parents as they pertain to the fees parents pay for their children to participate.

CBC Representative Responsibilities

Role in the budgeting process

Coaches and directors should collaborate with both JPIIHS administration and their CBC representative to set the budget for the year.  For CBC member organizations, this budgeting is done in two parts.  

School Budget - The first part of every plan is the JPIIHS budget.  This governs funding that the school will provide for the operation of the organization.  Reference the CBC Finances page for some examples.  While CBC representatives may be consulted or informed of school budget decisions, they have no official role in this process and may not have visibility to this budget at all.

CBC budget - The second part of an organization's budget is the Booster Club budget.  This budget determines what fees will be collected from parents and what those funds will be spent on over the course of the year.  CBC representatives should always play a role in setting the booster club budget for an organization.  The CBC rep represents the interests of parents in this process and should work to ensure that membership fees in the budget (income) are reasonable and do not exceed the planned needs (expense) of the organization.  

Planning for year over year budget carry-over: While an operational surplus that rolls over from one school year to the next is appropriate and necessary in many cases, it should not exceed the organization's need.  Large balances that build and carry-over across several years are wasteful and are not a proper use of parent contributed money.

Role approving expenses

CBC representatives are responsible for their respective booster club budget.  They should actively manage how much money is in their account and understand and approve all expenses.  CBC representative also play an important fole approving expenses that will be charged to their CBC budget.  The following schedule is used to govern the approval of expenses, based on the amount.

Expenses up to $1000

Expenses up to $1000 can be approved by either the coach or the CBC rep.  The CBC representative should still be informed of the expense to properly manage the organization's CBC budget.

Expenses exceeding $1000

For expenses over $1000, the CBC Treasurer will require both the rep and coach/direct to approve the expense.  Best practice is for both coach and representative to email cbctreasurer@johnpauliihs.org to indicate their approval of the expense.  

Expenses greater than $2500

For booster expenses exceeding $2500 a purchase order (PO) is required prior to incurring the expense.  This is a JPIIHS policy.  In these situations, the coach or director for the organization is required to submit the PO, since booster representatives do not have access to JPIIHS's purchase order system. These purchase orders route to the CBC Treasurer who will consult with the CBC Rep to before approving the PO.

Reimbursements

CBC expenses that are paid for using personal funds may be submitted for reimbursement using the CBC check request process.  CBC representatives should be aware of all expenses before the expense is incurred to:

1. 1. ensure the expense is reimbursable under CBC policy, and 

   2. ensure there are sufficient funds to cover the cost of the expenditure

The CBC representative should never feel obligated to personally pay for all expenses and seek reimbursement .  It is common for organizations to split duties across many parent volunteers, where parents will personally pay for an expense and submit a CBC reimbursement request on their own.  A common example is a team meal, where a parent will order food, pick the food up and pay for the food using personal fund, and subsequently submit a reimbursement request to Cardinal Booster.  In these cases, the CBC representative should simply work with other parents to ensure they know of and approve the expense, and have funds available to cover the cost.

Other considerations as a Booster Club Representative

Advancing the mission of Cardinal Booster Club

As a leader within the JPIIHS community, representative serve and important function advancing the mission of the Cardinal Booster Club.  Alongside our general members, Representatives are asked to serve on committees and support CBC sponsored events throughout the year.

Membership Standing

CBC representatives are required to be a member in good standing, having paid any required Cardinal Booster Club membership dues.

Representative who are not in good standing, may still carry out their duties, but cannot vote or propose new business at board meetings.

Monthly Report

Each CBC representative should attend CBC Board Meetings, generally held monthly.  In these meetings representatives will:

• learn about issues impacting the booster club organization and have the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments.

• vote on motions and have the ability to bring their own motions forward.

• provide a report to the membership on the status and achievements of the organization they represent.