Chix with Stix
President’s Report
Randy Stafford, President
December 17, 2013
Summary:
The transition from past president John Walker is largely complete. Since becoming president I’ve participated in numerous and diverse discovery and knowledge transfer activities, resulting in important findings which have informed my plans for my tenure, as detailed below.
Activity since volunteering to become President ~11/1/13:
· 11/16/13 – General knowledge transfer session with past president John Walker. Discussed role of booster club, functions, budget, finances, organization structure, logistics, assistant coach compensation.
· 11/19/13 – Meeting with Coach Adam Everett. Discussed history of program, reasons for existence and appropriate role of booster club, operations to continue and improve, budget, assistant coach compensation, practice facilities, policies affecting booster clubs, legal entity and bylaws.
· 11/19/13 – Voted president (in absentia) by attendees of Chix with Stix meeting.
· 12/6/13 – Meeting with AD Chad Broer. Discussed appropriate role of booster clubs, athletic program finances, assistant coach compensation.
· 12/10/13 – Phone call with John Walker regarding wearables. John educated me in detail on the purpose and history and logistics of the booster club’s wearables function.
· 12/11/13 – Meeting with Neil Mellberg regarding 501(c)(3) application status and booster club bylaws. Neil turned over to me the file he had.
· 12/11/13 – Phone call with IRS to find out whether Chix with Stix had an Employer Identification Number. It didn’t. So I got one.
· 12/11/13 – Phone call with former Chix with Stix president Terri Dowling (John Walker’s predecessor) to ask about bylaws for the club. Terri said the club did not have any.
· 12/11/13 – Phone call with Jim Thyfault, Executive Director of Athletics for Jeffco Public Schools. Jim confirmed the Jeffco Public Schools policy that booster clubs may not compensate coaches (during the school year).
· 12/12/13 – Organized past meeting minutes on website.
· 12/13/13 – Meeting with John Walker at Wells Fargo Bank to give me and Jerrod Milton (new Treasurer) access to the booster club’s bank accounts. John also gave me a box of records passed to him from the preceding Chix with Stix president, Terri Dowling, which I looked through thoroughly.
· 12/16/13 – Phone call with tax accountant Mark Mandler. Mark had no record or memory of doing tax returns or 501(c)(3) application for Chix with Stix.
· Since 12/9/13 – Intensive email exchanges with past and current board members / officers / committee chairs on subjects of wearables / online store, current organization structure, 501(c)(3) status, finances, bylaws, the December board meeting, current club organization structure.
· 12/18/13 – Email exchange with Chatfield volleyball coach Stephanie Schick regarding policy-driven limit on value of coaches’ gifts (remembered from our time in volleyball program)
Findings from Knowledge Transfer and Discovery Activities:
· The reasons for existence, and primary purposes of the booster club are (only) to (i) supplement the funding provided by the school district for the girls’ lacrosse program; (ii) implement “programming” e.g. banquets, off-season activities, timing/scoring/statistics, etc.; and (iii) manage equipment including uniforms and related clothing. There was clear consensus on this point between Chad, Adam, John, and me.
· The booster club does not currently have a comprehensive budget documented. It has a coach’s budget request, but that does not include all expenses from the club’s overall operations. John has the overall budget in his head, covering total annual income and overall expenses including tryouts, kickoff dinner, saving for uniform purchases every third year, etc.
· The main functions of the booster club are:
o website
o summer clinic
o offseason activities including winter leagues and clinics and tryouts
o wearables
o kickoff dinner
o equipment including uniforms, pinnies, etc. and the practice field
o statistics, timing, and scorekeeping
o photography and video
o senior night and gifts
o banquet
· John has been very careful with the accounting related to the King Soopers funds. He has a system of bank accounts and funds transfers and accurate tracking spreadsheets set up, which he has been using diligently. It would be desirable to automate this system more, to the extent possible.
· The booster club does not appear to have ever adopted a set of bylaws. After speaking with multiple past presidents and their delegates, and receiving the handed-down records of the club, I cannot find any document titled “Chix with Stix Bylaws”, nor can I find any person who can produce the corporation’s bylaws on request.
· 2007 was the first season of Chatfield girls’ lacrosse, and Adam coached alone that year. 2012 was its first league championship. The program has had playoff appearances in three years so far.
· The question of the booster club helping compensate an assistant coach is still relevant for the upcoming season. Chad Broer stated that Jeffco Public Schools has a policy that booster clubs may not compensate coaches. This was confirmed to be true during the school year by Jim Thyfault, Jeffco Public Schools’ Executive Director of Athletics. Chad also explained that the program’s transportation funds received from the school district are separate from the coaches’ compensation funds received from the school district, and amounts may not be transferred between those two funds.
· The booster club does have a legal entity, a non-profit corporation registered in Colorado under the name “Chix with Stix” and ID number 20071143322, incorporated March 21st, 2007.
· It does not appear that Chix with Stix was ever granted 501(c)(3) exempt status by the IRS. There is no official IRS “determination letter” in the club’s records. Nor did Chix with Stix ever have a federal Employee Identification Number (EIN), which is a pre-requisite for applying for 501(c)(3) exempt status.
· The booster club does have a P.O. Box at the Ken Caryl post office, box number 271503. This was acquired by past leadership, apparently pursuant to 501(c)(3) application.
· The current organization structure of Chix with Stix is as follows:
o The current members of the Board of Directors are Clark Stukey, Jerrod Milton, and Randy Stafford.
o The current officers of the corporation are as follows:
§ President: Randy Stafford
§ Treasurer: Jerrod Milton
§ Secretary: Clark Stukey
§ There are no Vice Presidents in office at this time.
o The current committee chairpersons are as follows:
§ Website: Ken Lanuza
§ Wearables: Dale Anderson
§ Statistics: Beth Sale
§ Volunteer Coordination: Heather Stukey
§ All other committee chairpersonships are vacant at this time.
· There are a large number of vacancies to be filled, given the functions of the club compared to the current set of committee chairpersons. More volunteers need to be recruited to perform the club’s functions.
· According to Chad Broer, there is a limit of $50 on the value of coaches’ gifts.
Plans for my Tenure as President:
Based on my initial goals when I volunteered to serve as president, and based on the findings from my knowledge transfer and discovery activities, I am making the following plans for my tenure as president, which will end in May 2015. Consequently most of these appear as new business agenda items for tonight’s board meeting.
· To collaborate with past and current board members to develop and document a comprehensive annual budget for the booster club;
· To lead, and collaborate with other interested stakeholders in, the development and adoption of a set of bylaws for the Chix with Stix corporation.
· To lead, and collaborate with other interested stakeholders in, the attainment of 501(c)(3) exempt status, perhaps through the services of parentbooster.org.
· To target parents of freshman and sophomore varsity players for recruitment into vacant positions in the booster club, thereby grooming them to eventually succeed the current booster club leadership whose daughters are members of the classes of 2014 and 2015.
· To develop, in collaboration with other officers and committee chairpersons, a living “governance and operations guide” document, documenting the governance and operations of the booster club for all its offices and functions, in sufficient detail so as to facilitate easy transition of those offices and functions to new parent volunteers who come along as involvement in the booster club naturally turns over from year to year.
· To continue the traditions and excellent operations of the booster club upheld by its past leadership in areas such as finances, programming, and equipment, and to make improvements where necessary.