Committee Chair Survival Guide
Thank you for volunteering to help with a Home and School event. Our organization would not be a success without people like you. In this handbook you will find some guidelines and tips for helping you in your position. Please never hesitate to contact an HSA executive board member for clarification or help.
Planning
1. Select your date. Please check the school's building usage calendar AND the school's events calendar. Please also check the high school calendars when choosing a date for your Event/Activity. While RR HSA cannot accommodate all calendars and schedules, planning ahead may avoid some unnecessary conflicts for families with secondary and elementary students.
Note: Events held Monday morning through Friday night will not incur any extra building usage fees. Saturday events held at Reagan, however, will incur charges for custodian fees. Our latest information for this year is that HSA will be charged $45 per hour (including set up and take down). The Head Custodian (see Helpful Contacts) can be contacted for verification of fee amount. Please take note that any fees charged to HSA will be applied to your event's bottom line. An invoice detailing the building use fee will be sent from the District Office to the Chair or RR Office. Forward the invoice to the Treasurer for payment. Please note the event for which the invoice is applicable if it is not obvious.
2. Complete and submit a Building Use Request. Facilities Scheduler Ver 4 for New Berlin (rschooltoday.com) If you do not want to create an account in order to request use of the facilities – notify the HSA Vice President of your event and date via e-mail and they can submit the request for you.
3. Know your budget (if applicable). You can find the complete budget on the Home and School website. Not all events will have a budget. Additionally, some events may very well go into the red before the event even occurs. That is OK!
Note: If the budget is exceeded by more than 10% it will need to be voted on/approved at an HSA exec meeting. Anything more than $500 over budget will require a vote at an HSA general meeting.
4. Obtain volunteers. Sign-up genius’ or google docs work best. Send out links to include in the Eagle Express (contact HSA Vice President) or post to Facebook.
5. Promote your event. The following ways can be used to promote your event. Please note all of these methods of promotion require some level of approval by the HSA board. This second set of eyes on information going out to students and families helps to prevent date conflicts, simple typos, and other larger errors in communication. It also helps to create a single point of contact between the HSA and the school staff. They are very busy with keeping the school running day in and day out, anything we can do to make their lives easier is appreciated. Please follow these guidelines. All communications must contain the following language in bold, red colored font (not less than 12 point) located at the top and/or front:
“Ronald Reagan HSA is not sponsored by the School District of New Berlin. The School District of New Berlin does not endorse or supervise the event(s)/activities identified in this communication.”
Financials
Tax Exempt Number
HSA does have a tax-exempt number that may be used if you need to purchase anything for your activity/event. Items that qualify for tax exempt status are those that you will not be reselling. For example, plates and napkins used to sell hotdogs would be tax exempt, but not the hotdogs and buns themselves. Please note that failure to comply with federal regulations may compromise our 501(c)(3) status. Please contact the Vice-President or Treasurer to obtain the number and if you have any questions.
Raffles
Raffles RR HSA maintains both Class A and Class B raffle licenses. Please see the Raffle folder in the HSA filing cabinet in Room 208 for further information. Contact any board member with any questions.
Cash Boxes
Request Cash & Cash Boxes Early. All starting cash must be received from the Treasurer. Given the likelihood of multiple events occurring at one time, by requesting this early, you guarantee a box and give the Treasurer time to get the start-up cash. At minimum, 7 days prior to your event fill out and submit the request for cash box form to the treasurer - see Forms (quick links).
RR HSA is a 501(c)(3) organization and we therefore we must abide by certain federal regulations. Most important are those involving funds. Please follow all cash handling procedures exactly as stated.
Always ask questions! If you are unsure of how to handle cash for your event, please contact the Treasurer or any other member of the Executive Board.
Event wrap-up
Complete an Event Report.
Submit the report (preferably electronically) with your sections completed to the HSA vice president and the principal. Completion of this step is very crucial. This will assist future Chairs of that event in knowing what has worked well in the past and what did not go so well. It keeps us from reinventing the wheel!
Storage
If you have any HSA related materials that you would like to store at school, please use Room 208. This small room is located right in the middle of the commons. Please note that HSA also shares this room with the Scouts. Therefore, we ask that everyone do their best to keep it orderly. Please make sure all items/containers you place in Room 208 are labeled with HSA and the event/activity.
Planning
1. Select your date. Please check the school's building usage calendar AND the school's events calendar. Please also check the high school calendars when choosing a date for your Event/Activity. While RR HSA cannot accommodate all calendars and schedules, planning ahead may avoid some unnecessary conflicts for families with secondary and elementary students.
- Event dates must be approved by school administration, please contact the HSA vice president with proposed dates to start this process.
- Event dates must be selected no later than 4 weeks prior to the event. Approvals may take a few days, so plan ahead.
- Promotion of the event should start no later than 2 weeks prior to the event, preferably sooner to allow for families and school staff to plan.
Note: Events held Monday morning through Friday night will not incur any extra building usage fees. Saturday events held at Reagan, however, will incur charges for custodian fees. Our latest information for this year is that HSA will be charged $45 per hour (including set up and take down). The Head Custodian (see Helpful Contacts) can be contacted for verification of fee amount. Please take note that any fees charged to HSA will be applied to your event's bottom line. An invoice detailing the building use fee will be sent from the District Office to the Chair or RR Office. Forward the invoice to the Treasurer for payment. Please note the event for which the invoice is applicable if it is not obvious.
2. Complete and submit a Building Use Request. Facilities Scheduler Ver 4 for New Berlin (rschooltoday.com) If you do not want to create an account in order to request use of the facilities – notify the HSA Vice President of your event and date via e-mail and they can submit the request for you.
3. Know your budget (if applicable). You can find the complete budget on the Home and School website. Not all events will have a budget. Additionally, some events may very well go into the red before the event even occurs. That is OK!
Note: If the budget is exceeded by more than 10% it will need to be voted on/approved at an HSA exec meeting. Anything more than $500 over budget will require a vote at an HSA general meeting.
4. Obtain volunteers. Sign-up genius’ or google docs work best. Send out links to include in the Eagle Express (contact HSA Vice President) or post to Facebook.
- A list of volunteers for events must be submitted to the HSA Vice President no later than 2 weeks prior to the event to ensure adequate coverage. If not enough volunteers are obtained, the event will be canceled.
- Number of volunteers needed will vary by event, contact the HSA Vice president for guidelines.
5. Promote your event. The following ways can be used to promote your event. Please note all of these methods of promotion require some level of approval by the HSA board. This second set of eyes on information going out to students and families helps to prevent date conflicts, simple typos, and other larger errors in communication. It also helps to create a single point of contact between the HSA and the school staff. They are very busy with keeping the school running day in and day out, anything we can do to make their lives easier is appreciated. Please follow these guidelines. All communications must contain the following language in bold, red colored font (not less than 12 point) located at the top and/or front:
“Ronald Reagan HSA is not sponsored by the School District of New Berlin. The School District of New Berlin does not endorse or supervise the event(s)/activities identified in this communication.”
- In-school flyers - Email your flyer to the HSA Vice-President for HSA executive board approval (VP will also obtain approval from the school principal). Please see tab on flyer guidelines. Once approved, copies can be made in the school copy room using the HSA copy machine fob (request from office staff). Number of students per classroom is posted on the wall in the copy room and can be used to determine how many fliers to distribute to each teachers’ mailbox.
- Eagle Express - Submit the information, including wording and any images you would like posted to the HSA Vice President.
- Facebook -– Submit the information, including wording and any images you would like posted to the HSA Vice President.
- In-school posters – Approved posters can be hung in the vestibule near the front entrance. If you would like to advertise in an alternate location in the school, please check with the office staff for approval.
- Home and School bulletin board - Post your approved 8x11 flyer on the HSA Bulletin board.
- School TV screens - There are TV screens located in the school office and in the commons. In order to publish your event here, submit a landscape image to the HSA Vice President.
- School daily news - Student receive daily updates - contact J[email protected]
- Outdoor electronic sign/School event calendar -– Submit the event information, including wording you would like posted to the HSA Vice President.
Financials
Tax Exempt Number
HSA does have a tax-exempt number that may be used if you need to purchase anything for your activity/event. Items that qualify for tax exempt status are those that you will not be reselling. For example, plates and napkins used to sell hotdogs would be tax exempt, but not the hotdogs and buns themselves. Please note that failure to comply with federal regulations may compromise our 501(c)(3) status. Please contact the Vice-President or Treasurer to obtain the number and if you have any questions.
Raffles
Raffles RR HSA maintains both Class A and Class B raffle licenses. Please see the Raffle folder in the HSA filing cabinet in Room 208 for further information. Contact any board member with any questions.
Cash Boxes
Request Cash & Cash Boxes Early. All starting cash must be received from the Treasurer. Given the likelihood of multiple events occurring at one time, by requesting this early, you guarantee a box and give the Treasurer time to get the start-up cash. At minimum, 7 days prior to your event fill out and submit the request for cash box form to the treasurer - see Forms (quick links).
RR HSA is a 501(c)(3) organization and we therefore we must abide by certain federal regulations. Most important are those involving funds. Please follow all cash handling procedures exactly as stated.
- One Cash Point. Ideally, all events should have one cash point. The fewer hands that touch the cash the better, (i.e., for the dance, don't have people pay a quarter at each station/ activity/ food booth. Have them purchase tickets from the cashier).
- Create a paper trail. All cash or checks should have a recordable paper trail.
- NO lOU's. Tell people who say they'll pay later that you can't let them - RRHSA Inc. rules.
- Do NOT make payments out of cash proceeds. For IRS record keeping, due to our 501(c)(3) status, payment for any goods and services must be made via check, by the Treasurer.
- For deposits:
- It Takes Two. Always have two people present to count and sign off on cash deposits- no spouses.
- Separate cash by denomination and checks accordingly. Both people should verify the amounts/ denominations.
- Both persons verifying deposit must sign the form.
- Place deposit form, cash and checks, in cash envelope provided.
- Make Deposits Immediately. Never let cash—or any checks sit for a few days. All funds should be turned over to the Treasurer as soon as they're counted. If your event is at night, deposit the funds in the Treasurer's drop box and email or call the Treasurer to notify them of the drop. Deposit all monies and a deposit form in the Treasurer box in the commons.
- For reimbursement:
- Save ALL your receipts/invoices. This includes any start up cash or emergency cash box funding. Please note: Expenses may not be reimbursed without receipts.
- Submit a reimbursement form (see Forms (quick links) to the treasurer within 2 weeks of the event.
- Reimbursement will be within 10 days (email Treasurer for faster turnaround).
- Reimbursements must be requested in the same budget year (runs July 1 -– June 30). Any reimbursement requests submitted more than one month after the event date or outside the budget year will be denied.
- For direct payment to a vendor, submit a vendor payment request form to the treasurer - see Forms (quick links)
Always ask questions! If you are unsure of how to handle cash for your event, please contact the Treasurer or any other member of the Executive Board.
Event wrap-up
Complete an Event Report.
Submit the report (preferably electronically) with your sections completed to the HSA vice president and the principal. Completion of this step is very crucial. This will assist future Chairs of that event in knowing what has worked well in the past and what did not go so well. It keeps us from reinventing the wheel!
Storage
If you have any HSA related materials that you would like to store at school, please use Room 208. This small room is located right in the middle of the commons. Please note that HSA also shares this room with the Scouts. Therefore, we ask that everyone do their best to keep it orderly. Please make sure all items/containers you place in Room 208 are labeled with HSA and the event/activity.