Running A Booster Club Meeting

Let’s be honest. Most people don’t like attening or running a booster club meeting. They are often stuffy, boring, and drag on way past the scheduled end time. In some cases, hardly any work gets done because side topics and conversations got started.

One of the best ways to keep your members regularly attending booster club meetings is actually to start and end on time. With busy schedules and lives, having your meetings start and end on time is a great way to keep the members actively showing up.

Running a booster club meeting can be both organized as well as fun.

It’s also important to schedule your meetings far enough apart that there is plenty of both old and new content to discuss.

Two issues that can happen from scheduling meeting too far apart:

1. Members forget what happened since the last meeting.
2. It can cause a lull in communication, which could result in declining activity for the club.

The best way to schedule meetings is by making them a regular occurrence.

1. Holding your meetings on the same day every month or bi-monthly makes it easier for members to schedule.
2. Choosing a time of day that works for the members increases the attendance rates at the meetings.
3. Most booster clubs operate on a once a month meeting schedule and choose to add-in extra meetings as needed to cover special purposes.

Having a plan for the meetings help to keep them on track and the discussion flowing in a positive and on-task direction. Not only that, but it can also help to keep the meeting running on time.

What To Include In Every Meeting's Agenda

Some things to include in your meeting are:

• Minutes of the last meeting.
  • This helps to catch everybody up to date.
  • If you were running low on time, which topics absolutely must be covered?
  • Have members report on events that happened since the last meeting.
  • Be sure to include good and bad focal points and the amount of money earned.
  • If events are being planned, have the lead person for those events give a quick update on how things are coming along.
  • Have the booster club Treasurer give her financial reports.

  Also, make sure that after compiling a list of topics and points of discussion that you arrange them into a sequence that makes sense. Using the same agenda outline makes it easier for capturing the minutes of the meeting.

  

  Capturing Meeting Minutes

  

  Meeting minutes are written a record of what happened at the previous meeting. If you want to run a booster club meeting, having good minutes taken can help the next meeting move along nicely and in an organized manner.

  Effective meeting minutes include:

  • Members that participated in the meeting.
  • The agenda items that were covered
  • List of upcoming events, including where and when they are.
  • Actions or tasks needed to be completed by members, and by whom.
  • The significant points of discussion.
  • Any decisions that were made by the members or motions that failed.
  • Record the financial numbers shared by the treasurer in regards to the group’s money.
  • If there was a vote or ballot, what was it and what were the results?

  Booster clubs follow the standard parliamentary procedure referred to as Robert’s Rules of Order to ensure that the votes are cast justly.

  In 1876, Henry M Robert published a set of standard parliamentary procedure still used in meetings today. Having a majority of the group choose to accept or deny an idea helps to keep everyone on task and in agreeance. One of the best ways to do this is by following Robert’s Rules.

  Robert's Rules of Order

  The most basic summary of how Robert’s Rules of Order works:

  • Someone gets to say their idea (make a motion)
  • Someone else has to agree with their idea (second the motion)
  • Everyone has a chance to give their opinion before there is a vote
  • If more people vote yes to the idea, you can do it
  • If more people vote no, you can’t.
  • You also don’t have to vote, if you don’t want to.

  How to follow Roberts Rules in your booster club meeting

  To make a motion, you must be recognized by the President and be given the floor for discussion. This is usually done by raising a hand until called upon by name by the President as they’re running a booster club meeting. Then follow through with the procedure as outlined in your booster club Bylaws.

  With these rules in place, orderly meetings can be run with fairness to all members in attendance.

  Letting members know in advance about upcoming topics that they’ll be voting on is a good thing to include in pre-meeting communication because it gives them more time to decide on their ballot.

  

  Pre-Meeting And Post-Meeting Communication

  

  Communication before and after meetings is a great way to stay connected with your members.

  • It helps to prepare booster club members for the meeting before attending.
  • It catches them up after a meeting- which is great if they were absent and unable to attend.

  Before meeting communication

  Communicating with your members before running a booster club meeting is incredibly useful for your group.

  Several days before your meeting, have the agenda written out and send a copy to your members.

  • This reminds them of the upcoming meeting.
  • It also helped to keep everyone on track and focused on the group’s objectives.

  What to include in your pre-meeting agenda announcement:

  A booster club meeting plan should include the topic points for discussion and any calls to action that may be required. This helps to pique the interest of the members and get them in the door.

  Things to include in your pre-meeting communication:

  • Date, time and location of the upcoming meeting
  • A quick overview of topics expected to be covered during the conference
  • If something is requiring a vote, give details and inform them that they have to be present to have their voice heard and cast their ballot.
  • A short reminder about any events between the date of communication and the meeting (if there are any)
  • If any deadlines are coming up (before or after the meeting), you can remind members about those as well.
  • If anything needs to be brought to the meeting, now is the time to remind everyone.

  Two examples of things that may need to be brought to the meeting:

  • Fundraising updates
    • If there are members that were supposed to contact local businesses for fundraisers, they’ll need to bring notes on how the calls went to the meeting for discussion.
    • If your meeting has a designated refreshment bringer or is taking turns with the task, using the pre-meeting communication as a before meeting “thank you” can be a polite reminder for the task.

    Post-meeting communication

    Take note when running a booster club meeting, that having a few members missing from meetings can be a regular thing thanks to conflicting schedules.

    One of the best ways to keep these MIA members in the loop is by distributing post-meeting communication to everyone whether they attended the meeting or not.

    Not only that, but towards the end of a meeting, attention spans begin to wander. Within a few hours, people can easily forget what happened during the meeting.

    Sending out post-meeting communication can serve as an excellent refresher for everybody and help to put plans in motion.

    In your after meeting communication, you should make sure that your communication contains:

    • The date, time, and location of this past meeting
      • Including the time the meeting was called to a close.
      • Including the outcome of any votes.
      • If there are any upcoming events, include them and any other follow-up actions needing to be taken.

      After running a booster club meeting, it’s important to send a copy of the minutes to all members. Most suggestions state that sending them out within 48 hours post-meeting is ideal.