Grants for Booster Clubs: Where to Find Them and How to Apply

Where Booster Club Grants Come From

Government grants for school programs usually go to the district, not to a booster club. When a public program is the best source, the club supports the district’s application rather than applying itself.

The Club or the School: Who Applies

Some funders give only to schools and districts; others give only to 501(c)(3) organizations; some accept either. Before applying, the club asks the principal or athletic director three questions:

1. Is the school or district applying to the same funder this year? Two applications from the same school can hurt both.
2. Does the district need to approve the purchase? Equipment used on school property usually does.
3. Who will own the item? Equipment donated to the school becomes district property.

Grant-funded purchases for one team still count in the district’s Title IX review. Outside money is compared together with all other benefits when boys’ and girls’ teams are measured. Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, for example, tells schools that by accepting a donation they “are obligated to ensure that it does not result in a disparity” (Washington OSPI (external site)). See Title IX and Booster Club Fundraising.

What Funders Require

Almost every funder asks for proof that the club is a 501(c)(3) in good standing. Many check the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search (external site); the IRS’s own Form 1023 instructions (external site) direct organizations to use it to confirm another organization’s current exemption and public charity classification. The same tool shows the IRS’s Auto-Revocation List of organizations that lost exemption by failing to file a required return or notice for 3 consecutive years (IRS Publication 557 (external site)). A club on that list cannot receive grants that require 501(c)(3) status until it is reinstated. See Losing and Regaining 501(c)(3) Status.

Keep a grant file ready with these documents:

Writing the Application

1. Read the guidelines twice. Confirm eligibility, the deadline, the maximum request, and what the funder will not fund.
2. Match the project to the funder’s stated priorities. A funder focused on access will respond to “instruments for students who cannot afford to rent” more than to “new marching uniforms.”
3. Get the school’s written support before writing.
4. State the need with numbers. How many students, how old the current equipment is, what happens without it.
5. Describe the project. What will be bought or done, by whom, and when.
6. Build the budget from written quotes. Include shipping, tax, and installation.
7. Say how the club will measure success. Students served, events played, equipment in use.
8. Attach the required documents from the grant file.
9. Have the board approve the application, especially if the grant requires matching funds or carries conditions, and record the vote in the minutes.
10. Submit before the deadline and keep a complete copy.

After the Award

1. Read the grant agreement before signing. Note every condition, deadline, and report.
2. Have an authorized officer sign it, as the bylaws require.
3. Record the grant as a restricted fundRestricted fundsMoney a donor or grantor gave for a stated purpose. The club tracks each restricted balance separately, reports it in the treasurer’s report, and spends it only on that purpose.All terms in the books, separate from general funds.
4. Spend only on the approved budget. Ask the funder in writing before changing anything.
5. Keep every receipt, plus photos of the purchase in use.
6. File the final report on time, with numbers and a short student story.
7. Return any unspent funds if the agreement requires it.
8. Thank the funder publicly where the funder allows it.

The treasurer reports restricted grant balances in the monthly treasurer’s report until the grant is closed.