High School Club Toolkit 2014-2015 0
TABLE OF CONTENTS Getting Started 2-5 Club Responsibilities 2 The First 3 Steps 3 Club Contract 4 Executive Member Sheet 5 The Next Steps 6-8 Set Club Goals 6 Sponsorships & Social Media 7 Swag & Updates 8 Club Members 9-10 Structure 9 Recruitment & Sustainability 10 Fundraising 11-12 Event Ideas & Online Fundraising Club Finance 13 Frequently Asked Questions 16 Contact Us 15 1
GETTING STARTED 3 Main Responsibilities of a Right To Play Club: 1. To educate high school students about Sport for Development and Peace, and raise awareness of Right To Play s programs on an international and local level; 2. To raise funds for Right To Play initiatives internationally; and 3. To encourage membership growth in high school clubs by creating an inclusive club-community and providing active membership roles. Key Questions to Ask Before Beginning: 1. Are you familiar with Right To Play as an organization? Visit our website to learn more. 2. Are you prepared to become a Right To Play representative at your school and be the liaison with Right To Play s U.S. National Office? 3. Do you have a general support base of peers interested in taking on responsibility for the executive committee and taking on various roles? 4. Do you have the time to devote to starting up and sustaining a fully functioning Right To Play Club? If you ve answered YES to all of these questions, then congratulations you are ready to start up a Right To Play Club at your high school! 2
THE FIRST THREE STEPS STEP ONE: GET RATIFIED Each high school student government has different regulations and stipulations for creating a club recognized by its school. Consult the student government at your school to ensure that you are aware of any rules or regulations pertaining to starting a club. These guidelines will generally be listed on the student government home page of your high school. Identifying a faculty member to gain support of this initiative is ideal. An endorsement letter can be provided from Right To Play should your student government require one. Once you have filled out the necessary paper work from your student government, you should form an executive board to help with the start-up and organization of the club. Each club s structure is different and it is ultimately up to you how your executive and general membership is set up. However, Right To Play suggest clubs have an executive group of at least three members: President, Vice-president and VP of Finance. STEP TWO: CONFIRM WITH RIGHT TO PLAY Once your club has been ratified, please fill out the documents found on the following two pages and email to Kathy Holding (kholding@righttoplayusa.org): 1. A signed Right To Play Club Contract (found on page 4). 2. Executive Contact Sheet (found on page 5) Make sure to start thinking about events and working on recruitment strategies so that you are ready for the upcoming semester! STEP THREE: LAUNCH YOUR CLUB Your first priority as an official club will be to start recruiting members. Traditionally, high schools host a clubs fair, providing clubs a venue to publicize their club to students. Right To Play suggests getting in touch with your student government to reserve an information table for your club. It is important that your club is well represented at these events so at least 2 club members should be there at a time. Here s a list of Right To Play materials you may want to have at your information table: Sign-up sheet for students interested in joining your club Your club s e-mail: set up a generic e-mail account that students can contact you through o Ex. righttoplaymac@hotmail.com or righttoplaystanford@gmail.com Right To Play banner: be creative and break out the colorful markers! Display board with information about Right To Play: you can print off photos and information from our website Use this booth as a great way to advertise for your next event! Have flyers or handouts that have the date and details and when your first meeting will be. 3
RIGHT TO PLAY CLUB CONTRACT As members of the Right To Play Club, we agree/understand that we must: Name of High School 1. Abide by the rules & regulations as set forth in this manual. 2. Keep Right To Play informed of our club s fundraising and awareness activities and events: o o Check-in with Club Mentors each month and provide updates Contribute information to be used for the club snapshots on Right To Play s website 3. Host a minimum of 1 awareness campaign and 2 fundraising events per academic year. 4. Represent Right To Play responsibly at all times and act as a positive role model on behalf of the larger organization. 5. Mail in funds by the Send-In Deadline each semester: December 23 rd 2013 and April 30 th 2014. 6. One executive club member, typically the club president, must communicate with the Right To Play representative (Kathy Holding) and let her know about any delays in sending in the funds raised. We agree to all of the above and to support Right To Play s mandate of supporting every child s right to play: Right To Play Club President: Full Name: Signature: Date: Right To Play Club Co-President or Vice President: Full Name: Signature: Date: Right To Play Staff: Full Name: Signature: Date: 4
EXECUTIVE CONTACT SHEET It is important for us to keep our records updated in an effort to ensure the sustainability of the club over the years. Please fill out this form and send it back to us as soon as you ve determined your executive board for the upcoming school year. High School Name: Your high school club s email: (To post on Right To Play s website) President s Contact Information: First Name: Last Name: Email Address: Phone #: Year of Study: Vice President s Contact Information: First Name: Last Name: Email Address: Phone #: Year of Study: Treasurer s Contact Information: First Name: Last Name: Email Address: Phone #: Year of Study: Other Contact Information: First Name: Role with Club: Last Name: Email Address: Phone #: Year of Study: Submit it by mail Attn: Kathy Holding Right To Play 49 W. 27 th Street STE 930 New York, NY 10001 OR Scan it and email it to: kholding@righttoplayusa.org 5
THE NEXT STEPS SET CLUB GOALS At the beginning of each year, each club is responsible for setting certain goals for the year. It is important to keep track of these goals and to ensure that progress is made in order to achieve them. In the following space, please describe the club s progress to date for all of their major goals. Right To Play understands that plans can change but if you set out a couple of goals to help steer you along this new experience of running a club, it will help you and your team keep focused. Goals can change, so you don t have to worry about being stuck with these goals, this sheet is to help you get started and you can share with Kathy once it is complete. Fundraising Event #1 Event Name: Event Date: Fundraising Goal: $ Expected Cost: $ Expected number of participants: Fundraising Event #2 Event Name: Event Date: Fundraising Goal: $ Expected Cost: $ Expected number of participants: Awareness Event Event Name: Expected Cost: $ Expected number of participants: Event Date: Potential Club Partnership There are various clubs on campus that raise funds and donate it to other club s causes. Are there any clubs on campus which host major events and who may be looking to align with a charitable partner? Potential Partner Club Name: Event Name: Event Date: Expected Donation: $ Expected number of participants: 6
GATHER SPONSORSHIP & COMMUNITY SUPPORT Corporate sponsors can be a great resource for supporting your various Right To Play events. We will be happy to provide your club with a letter of endorsement and a generic sponsorship letter of inquiry you can use when approaching potential local supporters. Two things to keep in mind before you start: 1. Right To Play forms various corporate partnerships around the world and in an effort to reduce overlap, please contact Kathy before you approach a corporation for an official sponsorship. 2. As Right To Play policy, we do not associate ourselves with alcohol or cigarette sponsors, as this is in direct conflict with our mandate and values of encouraging healthy lifestyles for children and youth. Please keep this in mind when planning sponsorship for your event. USE SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a great way to keep connected with your members, fellow students and Right To Play! Facebook and Twitter provide you with a fun and creative way to increase support, but you need to be responsible with this public medium before you post anything, think about whether the material is appropriate or not to share with the online world. Keep in mind how the material you post through these pages can and will affect how Right To Play is seen as an international organization. What we LOVE to see: Club updates: using the media to advertise for upcoming events and keeping your general members and supporters updated on the progress Shout outs, thank you notes and photo contests Executive Team introductions or member spotlights o A great way to get club members to know a bit more about the team o Encouragement and acknowledgement of members hard work Pictures and videos from events Retweeting or sharing Right To USA and International news Feedback and suggestions for us to support you better throughout the school What we d LOVE to see less of: Events that use the organization s name but switch out the last word o Ex. Right To Crawl, Right To Pong, Right To Party Our logo with different colors or changed from its original form Some of the above may seem like small details, but they make a huge difference. As an organization that works to promote healthy living, we need to show that on all fronts and not give the public mixed messages. What you post can affect Right To Play s relationship with current or prospective corporate sponsors, as well as, the communities we work in. We appreciate your understanding and if you ever have a question or need clarification, do not hesitate to ask! 7
ORDER SWAG & PROMOTIONAL ITEMS Ordering club shirts or promotional items is a great way to help gather support and fundraise on your campus! Typically we are unable to provide you with swag* but we have a partner brand book to get you started with logos, colors, etc. *We want to keep our costs as low as possible. We strive to maintain a donation ratio of 85%: 15%. 85% of all donations go directly to implementation and maintenance of our programs, whereas, only 15% goes towards administration. We currently don t have the capacity to fulfill orders of promotional clothing. KEEP US IN THE LOOP It is important to keep us updated about your club as it helps our office inform our corporate sponsors about what students are doing to support every child s right to play. Keep in mind that the more contact you have with Right To Play U.S. National Office, the more we will be able to support your club in the following ways: Resources o We can provide you with electronic copies of promotional materials o Ex, Brochures, photos, manuals to help guide you through the process of setting up an event Fundraiser Ideas o We hold many fundraisers each year and would be thrilled to brainstorm ideas with you! o It is also a good idea to let us know what type of events you re working on so we can ensure they align with Right To Play s values and philosophy. Promotion o We are happy to promote and celebrate your events on our website. Send us photos of the event or an advertisement about it before hand and we can feature your club on our website for all to see! Visit us at www.righttoplayusa.org. Send in Donations by December 23 rd, 2014 and April 30 th, 2015 o Sending in donations by these two deadlines enables us to ensure donors receive tax receipts in a timely fashion, if they are required. o In order to properly budget and expand our international programs, we need a constant source of funding rather than large donations at the end of the year. o By sending in funds regularly, we will be able to keep better track of fundraising amounts and update clubs on their overall progress! 8
CLUB MEMBERS STRUCTURE There are many different structures you can use for clubs and you want to find what works best both for your members and the club leaders! One of the most common approaches we see is having an executive team of at least five that meet more often than the club at large and do a lot of the preparation of planning. We suggest you start with the following model, and adjust as you go at the end of the year, debrief with your club and get feedback on what worked or didn t work and go from there! Treasurer President Events / Communications Coordinator Members / Volunteers Vice President Online Initiatives EXECUTIVE TEAM President Acting as liaison to the Right To Play U.S. National Office, the President s role is to organize and lead meetings. They are responsible for keeping all club members informed about upcoming events, and for making sure that each club member is getting involved in club activities. Vice President Key responsibilities include assisting the President with coordinating club meetings and overseeing club membership. Treasurer/Finance Key responsibilities include creating a yearly budget, encouraging use of the online donation page and submitting funds by check to Right To Play in a timely fashion. (Very important if tax receipts need to be issued). Events / Communications Coordinator Key responsibilities include coordinating special events such as fundraisers and gathering support from high school community through emails, posters, newsletters, etc. Online Initiatives Responsibilities include regularly updating social media, creating online fundraising pages and writing short articles on various club events that you email to Right To Play so that your club can be featured on the website. GENERAL MEMBERS General Members are a key part of the club and its sustainability. They are expected to attend general meetings and volunteer at events throughout the year. It s critical to make sure they enjoy their role and get the most out of the club experience. Provide opportunities where members can take on more responsibility or explore an area that they are interested in consider having a first year team or allow members to shadow an executive member and help with their role. RECRUITMENT When it comes to creating and maintaining a club, some of the most common questions are: How can we recruit more members for the club and events? How can we get them to stick around? 9
First, take every chance to be seen as a great club that everyone should be a part of! Participate in get involved fairs or your school s version of that an event where groups set up information booths about their cause and have sign-up sheets and provide a fun game or activity at your booth. SUSTAINABILITY Please take into consideration who is going to provide leadership to your club after the executive and general members graduate. Are there individuals who will be able to manage the club in the future? Are there enough current club members to carry on your club s legacy when you graduate? As the club executive team, please discuss and plan how roles of the club will be passed along. Whether it s an interview process, an election process, or a delegation of roles, it is up to your team to decide what will work best for your club. A few effective strategies to try: 1. Executive Retreat or Workshop Organize a workshop for the incoming executive at the end of the year. Go through expectations of being a part of the team, lead a brainstorm session and set goals for the following year and don t forget to throw a few games in there, too! 2. Create a Guru Binder Document and keep track of all your events, important contacts and anything you would find useful if you were just starting out. Although the process might feel a bit tedious, the new president or executive team will be forever grateful and will help keep the momentum you started going! 3. Executive Mentoring Have the executive team act as mentors to general members provide learning opportunities about the different positions and allow members to shadow them, helping with various tasks throughout the year. Work to get general members interested in taking a role with more responsibility or starting initiatives of their own be inclusive and make sure everyone finds the challenge or role they are looking for! 4. Create a Fun & Inclusive Environment Make the club environment fun and exciting by including games at meetings, club appreciation shout outs on social media and team-bonding activities. Examples to use for your meetings: Start the meeting off with an ice breaker or Right To Play games to get everyone laughing and having fun. In the middle of the meeting, add in a Right To Play Energizer or Minute to Win It games to boost energy and excitement. At the end, have a team cheer or motto to finish of the meeting. For example, some schools will use the following: The Love Clap 10
FUNDRAISING TYPES OF FUNDRAISING EVENTS What would you like to learn how to organize? What do you think would be fun and a great addition to your community? Running a club provides you with a unique opportunity to try out different events and learn what works well and what does not take an idea you re interested in and run with it! Here are a few great examples: Spin-a-thon or Erg-a-thon These events involve teams that always have one person on a bike or rowing machine for a morning, afternoon or, if you are feeling especially ambitious, a whole day! Many clubs have used this idea as an annual kick-off event. Hold the event at a popular area on campus to get more exposure and have more people drop by to the event. 24-Sport Challenge or Sport-a-thon Along the similar lines as the spin-a-thon and erg-a-thon, these events involve teams playing different games, sports and modified sports for x number of hours. McMaster in Canada held the first university 24-Sport Challenge in 2013 and had exciting events like Laser Tag, inner tube water polo and wheelchair handball. Planning a 24-hour challenge is hard work but is very rewarding and creates excitement on campus. Another option is cutting down the time period and calling the event a sport-athon! Elementary School Play Day Plan a day of Right To Play games and sports for a school in your surrounding community! Make sure you use this opportunity to tell them about Right To Play and our impact. Keep in mind, volunteers need police background checks if they are going to work with children in schools and if you are taking pictures, the students parents need to sign photo release forms. Break a World Record Dream big and try to set a record at your school! One great example is University of Guelph s 2011 Hopscotch for Hope: They spray-chalked a 5.5 km hopscotch course and organized a day of music and food vendors. This event raise $11,000 for Right To Play and earned an official Guinness World Record! Sports Tournament Pick a sport, hold a tournament! This can be a great annual event to build on each year, and having a registration fee for teams is a solid way to raise funds. Movie Night or Documentary Screening Book a room or theatre to show a movie, provide snacks as a fundraiser and have a by-donation entry fee. Fill the Stadium or Stands or Arena Speak to your Athletic Department about having a portion of ticket sales go to Right To Play on a certain day or tournament. Create half-time activities, raffles and games to boost fundraising! 11
& SO MUCH MORE! If you ever need brainstorming, we are here to help! Skating night at Queen s University! A student s life is full of multi-tasking: McGill Spin-a-thon Tug-o-war at Western University s Sport-a-thon It s not every day that you get to pull a tractor..guelph University s Tractor Tug for Tots How many people can fit in this phone booth? This golf tournament added fun challenges at each hole. Feel like cooling off? Try running into the lake in December. Picture from Freezin For A Reason 2012 12
FINANCE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Who is eligible for a tax receipt? Individuals donating $20.00 or more are eligible to receive a tax receipt. Right To Play is a registered 501c3 and will provide you with a tax I.D. number. How long does it take to receive tax receipts? Tax receipts for offline (cash or check) donations can take approximately 4 weeks to be mailed from the U.S. National Office once the donation has been received. Online donations are automatically issued a tax receipt via email. If someone gives me $20.00 cash, what information do I need to get to issue a tax receipt? For donors who request a tax receipt, please be sure to obtain their full mailing address, phone number, and email address and submit it to Right To Play along with the donation. Will Right To Play issue tax receipts for the full amount we fundraise? Right To Play can only issue tax receipts for the amount that is received in the office. If your club fundraises $1,000, but spends $200 on prizes and food (net $800) Right To Play can only issue tax receipts for the $800. ONLINE FUNDRAISING If you are organizing a larger event with participants fundraising individually, the best way to do this is through Right To play s online fundraising platform. Benefits: The link can be shared over social media and email, expanding your reach! Instant tax receipts for your donors Less paperwork for you and for Right To Play s U.S. National Office 13
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How often should our Right To Play club meet? The club should be meeting on a regular basis. Once a month is necessary to keep everyone on the same page, and we anticipate this number will increase around event dates. How can we get an Athlete Ambassador to be a guest speaker at an event? To ensure that our primary mandate of raising funds for overseas programming is being met, Right To Play will assess each request and determine the effectiveness of inviting an Athlete Ambassador to speak at your event. We will often ask for an honorarium be made to Right To Play for booking an Athlete Ambassador to speak at your school. If you would like to book an athlete, please e-mail Kathy with the following details: Date and time commitment of the event Type of event Purpose of Athlete at the event (are they speaking? Are they participating in activities?) o If speaking, what would you like them to speak about and for how long? Fundraising goal for the event Type and size of the audience attending the event Any other details you think are relevant How many events can we do? Right To Play College and University Clubs are responsible for hosting a minimum of 1 awareness event and 2 fundraising events per academic year. We don t want you to commit to more than you can manage so please consider the time commitment involved before you choose to host more than these 3 required events. That being said, the sky is the limit! If you and your team are feeling especially ambitious organize as many as you d like to manage. Which events are usually the most successful in raising awareness and funds? The most successful fundraising events tend to be on-campus sporting events (Ex: Spin-a-thons) and sport tournaments with required registration fees. A big part of making these a success is ensuring that they are planned well in advance, with lots of advertising and awareness. Make sure to invite as many people as possible, and be sure to show lots of enthusiasm! Do you have any materials that could help us with publicity for our event? As a not-for-profit organization, physical resources such as t-shirts, water bottles, and key chains are rare for us to have. However, we highly encourage schools to create their own swag and promotional materials. Use Partner Brand Book to guide the design of your materials, and get Right To Play s approval on any promotional materials (posters, t-shirts, banners, etc.) that have Right To Play s name and/or logo. What do we do after a fundraiser? After each event, please write a quick follow-up document that summarizes what you found successful, what you would change for the next time and how many funds the event raised. This will help Right To Play understand the reach of the club and will help better celebrate your hard 14
work. The follow-up report can be emailed to Right To Play and saved in your Guru Binder for the next club President. Please collect all the funds, write a check made out to Right To Play, and mail the check and a list of donor names and contact information promptly to: Attn: Kathy Holding Right To Play 49 W. 27 th Street STE 930 New York, NY 10001 STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? Great! We d love to help. Contact Kathy Holding at kholding@righttoplayusa.org 1 (646) 649 9592 15