Due to a severe lack of financial support from the school and the district, our fundraisers are crucial in getting us the money we need to send the team to tournaments. Our circumstances are not helped by the fact that many team members fail to help with the fundraising process. We were fortunate enough to get funding from Booster Club last year (2013-14), and barely so this year (2014-2015). Therefore, we have decided to implement a new policy as of 2014. This policy is subject to change according to how successful we are with fundraisers thanks to the collective support from each team member, as well as between each type of fundraiser.
Members are required to volunteer to work at least one shift at one fundraisers each semester. We encourage students to work the full day, as it is simpler to stay after school with most of the team. Those who work a shift as well as donate concessions are invited to help us get rid of any leftovers during our after school practices. The majority of the work involved is selling concessions, set-up, and clean up.
a. If you are unable to work a shift, please see the EXEMPTIONS section.
Members are required to bring concession items to each fundraisers that requires concessions. In most situations, a simple box of 12 cookies is not sufficient. Not only does this show apathy towards the team, it is also unfair to those who have done their share and more, such as those who bring pasta, pizza, salad, etc.
a. A sign-up sheet will be posted on both this website and our Facebook group as soon as possible; we aim to have it up roughly 3 weeks before the fundraiser. Please sign up as soon as possible to avoid any major issues such as the one listed below.
b. We understand that it can difficult to determine how much to buy. If one bought 3 12-pack cases of soda only to find that 5 other students had done the same, we would have a large amount of leftovers, not to mention unnecessary money spent. Therefore, we ask that everyone decide on what they can bring as soon as possible so that we can determine how much of each concession each person needs to bring. For example, if we know that 3 people can bring water, we can tell those 3 students that they only need to bring 1-2 cases. This saves time and money on everyone's part.
c. Monetary donations are greatly appreciated. We normally ask for $10, although any amount will be welcomed. In most cases, we ask that those who donate money bring in some other kind of concession. In this case, the above rule is suspended; you may bring in a simple box of 12 cookies in tandem with a monetary donation.
d. If you are unable to donate concessions, please see the EXEMPTIONS section.
All members are encouraged to sign up and do homeroom runs for the full length of the fundraiser. This time period is typically 2 weeks, with homeroom runs announcements made on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is a grand total of 4 days, with only 15 minutes each day. Sign Ups will be posted on the Facebook page as well as the website a week in advanced. IF you sign up but cannot do a certain day please find someone to cover your rows. Passes will be available in Room 404. While this is only encouraged, please know that this is still an integral part of the fundraising process. We have not had any major issues with this aspect of fundraising, and we hope to see this trend continue otherwise a specific requirement will be set.
a. Homeroom runs announcements are typically 2 weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is a grand total of 4 days, with only 15 minutes a day. Because this is such a simple task, we are trusting our team members to be involved in this aspect of fundraising; this quota will be encouraged instead of enforced, and therefore not subject to the enforcement policy below.
b. Sign-up sheets are typically posted a week before the assigned homeroom runs time period. Passes are available in room 404. If you are unable to do your row(s), please find someone to cover as soon as possible. Please note that a simple post on our Facebook group may not guarantee that someone will cover for you, especially ones that are last-minute; we have been noticing a trend in this. Your assignments are your responsibility.
In 2013, we learned that LAUSD had cut funds for our Speech and Debate program, even though we were one of the top 100 teams in the state. However, Booster Club and the PTSA paid our coach's differential, the pay he is to receive for putting in extra hours after school. Because we were able to get the team quickly up and running again, this issue went by relatively unnoticed. In 2014, we found out that Speech and Debate was put on hold due to budget cuts once again. We were just barely able to get funding, since Booster Club and the PTSA were already low on funds. We don't want another scare like this again, and hope for the chance that we will be funded. This year, we are going to give back as much as we can. We were not the only program affected by these budget cuts. Booster Club and the PTSA also paid the differentials for Cheerleading, Drama, and Band.
a. We ask that all families that can, become members of the PTSA and Booster Club.
We put this new policy into effect at the end of the 2013-2014 school year after noticing that although our team had more than doubled in size, we were receiving the same amount of concessions. During the last 2 fundraisers of the year, we asked that everyone bring in two concessions, a monetary donation counting as 1. We hope not to place this burden on our team members again, as it can get tedious and expensive. However, we may have to resort to this once again if we notice that a majority of the team is not actively participating.
We feel it is fair that the team should play a major role in raking up enough money to send them to tournaments. Therefore, if a member does not participate in the fundraising process (the shift, concessions, and publicity) , they will be dropped from their next tournament. It has not come to the point where we have had to drop a student from an invitational or a State Qualifier tournament, and we hope that it never has to.
a. If for any reason you are unable to meet one or more parts of your fundraising quota for the semester, please notify our Fundraising Commissioner, Tommy Ly, or our coach, Mr. Orrei Barasch, as soon as possible before the deadline. Please do not feel ashamed to come talk to them; they are both more than willing to help, and both will keep you anonymous. Our fundraising commissioner personally hands in the sign-up sheet at the determined deadline to our coach, and your name will be marked down as if you had brought something. No one else will see this sheet. In the past, we have refunded members for concession donations when necessary. A note in writing, although not mandatory, would be best to ensure that your message is not lost.
b. We understand that there are certain complications that can prevent a student from being able to volunteer to work a shift. Some of our fundraisers are set the night before a tournament simply because there are so many tournaments that take place during the school year. Those who have signed up for such tournaments are excused from the fundraiser. However, students in spontaneous and limited prep events (IE tournaments) are NOT excused.
Please remember that this is a relatively new policy. We will be sure to adjust it to accommodate how well the team works. If you have any suggestions to amend this policy, please tell us through our Contact Us page.
