# Succession Planning for Booster Clubs: Building the Next Board

> How booster clubs recruit and train the next board: term limits, an officer pipeline, shadowing, documentation, and avoiding a club that depends on one person.

- URL: https://boosterclub.org/governance/succession-planning/
- Section: Governance
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Booster club succession planning is the deliberate work of recruiting, training, and handing off to the next set of officers before the current ones leave. Because a family's time in a program ends when the student graduates, every booster club loses its leaders on a fixed schedule. The president and the nominating committee own succession planning, and it runs all year, not only in election season.

Clubs that skip it end up with one exhausted volunteer doing everything, then a scramble when that person's child graduates. The cost shows up as weaker controls, missed filings, lost records, and sometimes a club that quietly stops operating.

## The One-Person Club

A one-person club is one where a single volunteer, often a long-serving president or treasurer, holds the knowledge, the logins, the checkbook, and the relationships. Signs include:

- One person has held the same office for many years because no one else will.
- Other officers do not know the bank balance, the filing deadlines, or the passwords.
- Board meetings are reports from one person rather than discussions.
- Volunteers decline leadership roles because the job looks enormous.

The risks are concrete:

| Risk | Why it happens |
|---|---|
| Undetected theft or error | Internal controls depend on two or more people; a one-person club has none |
| Lost exemption | Filing knowledge leaves with the person; the IRS revokes exemption automatically after three consecutive years of missed filings |
| Lost records and accounts | Records sit in personal email and drives |
| Collapse at graduation | No one is trained to take over |
| Burnout | The volunteer carries the work of a full board |

## Term Limits and Staggered Terms

Term limits force succession planning to happen. Some districts, for example, recommend that booster bylaws limit the president and treasurer to two consecutive one-year terms. California's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), a state agency that advises school districts, recommends that officers be elected annually.

Staggered terms keep experience on the board. A club with two-year terms can elect the president and secretary in even years and the vice president and treasurer in odd years, so half the board is always experienced. Term and election rules belong in the bylaws; see [Officer Provisions in Booster Club Bylaws](https://boosterclub.org/bylaws/officer-provisions/).

## Build a Pipeline

1. **Vice president as president-elect.** The bylaws or a standing rule can make the vice president the expected successor, with a year of preparation.
2. **Assistant treasurer.** An assistant who counts deposits, enters transactions, and attends the financial review is ready to become treasurer.
3. **Committee chairs to officers.** Chairs learn the club's work and relationships; most officers should come from among them.
4. **Families with younger students.** Recruit parents of freshmen and sophomores (or from feeder middle school programs), who have years left in the program.
5. **Co-chairs.** Pairing a new volunteer with an experienced one for an event makes the role less intimidating and trains a successor.

## Recruit All Year

1. **Form the nominating committee by mid-year.** Waiting until spring leaves too little time. See [Running Booster Club Elections](https://boosterclub.org/meetings/elections/).
2. **Use written job descriptions.** Candidates say yes to defined roles with known hours more readily than to open-ended ones. See [Booster Club Board Positions and Duties](https://boosterclub.org/governance/board-positions/).
3. **Make personal asks.** A specific request from a current officer, naming the role, the time involved, and the support available, works better than a general call for volunteers.
4. **Shrink the job.** Split large roles. A separate concessions chair, sponsorship chair, and volunteer coordinator take load off the president and treasurer.
5. **Show the support.** Explain the procedure book, the handoff meeting, and the experienced officer who will remain available.
6. **Ask early and often.** Identify potential officers at fall events and invite them into committee roles before asking them to run.

## Train Before the Handoff

- **Shadowing.** Incoming officers attend board meetings and work alongside the current officer in the spring before taking office.
- **District training.** FCMAT's guidance calls for booster officers to attend an annual district-provided workshop. Where a district offers one, incoming officers should attend.
- **Procedure books.** Each officer keeps a procedure book current throughout the year so the handoff is a walkthrough, not a reconstruction. See [Booster Club Officer Transition](https://boosterclub.org/governance/officer-transition/).
- **Overlap.** The outgoing treasurer remains available to answer questions through the first financial review of the new term.

## When No One Volunteers

If the nominating committee cannot fill a slate:

1. **Reduce scope.** Drop or postpone events until the board matches the club's capacity.
2. **Share offices.** If the bylaws allow, two people can serve as co-presidents. Two people from the same household should not share or split financial roles.
3. **Fill vacancies under the bylaws.** Many bylaws let the board appoint someone to fill a vacancy until the next election.
4. **Make the stakes clear to members.** An honest message that the club cannot operate without officers often produces volunteers.
5. **Partner or merge.** Combine with another booster club for the same school, or with an all-sports or all-arts booster organization.
6. **Dissolve properly.** If no one will lead, close the club the right way rather than letting it lapse. See [Dissolving or Merging a Booster Club](https://boosterclub.org/governance/dissolution/).

## A Three-Year Succession Plan

| Year | Board focus |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | Write job descriptions and procedure books; recruit an assistant treasurer and co-chairs; move all accounts to club-owned logins |
| Year 2 | Adopt term limits or staggered terms; vice president serves as president-elect; assistant treasurer attends the financial review |
| Year 3 | First full transition under the new system; review what worked and update the bylaws, standing rules, and procedure books |

## Common Mistakes

- **Relying on the same volunteer every year.** It feels efficient until that family graduates or burns out.
- **Recruiting only in April.** Most willing parents have already committed elsewhere.
- **Describing the job as everything the current officer does.** The job sounds impossible; split it and write it down.
- **No overlap between old and new officers.** New officers rebuild knowledge the old ones had, and deadlines get missed.
- **Letting the club lapse instead of dissolving.** The filings, accounts, and liability remain with whoever is still on the paperwork.

## Checklist

- [ ] Identify which officers will leave in the next two years and when (president)
- [ ] Write or update job descriptions for every officer and chair
- [ ] Recruit an assistant treasurer and co-chairs for major events
- [ ] Form the nominating committee by mid-year
- [ ] Invite parents of younger students into committee roles each fall
- [ ] Propose term limits or staggered terms if the bylaws lack them
- [ ] Have incoming officers shadow current officers in the spring
- [ ] Send incoming officers to the district's booster training, if offered
- [ ] Confirm every procedure book is current before the handoff meeting
- [ ] Decide on partnering, merging, or dissolving if no slate can be filled

## Related Pages

- [Booster Club Officer Transition](https://boosterclub.org/governance/officer-transition/) the handoff itself
- [Running Booster Club Elections](https://boosterclub.org/meetings/elections/) nominations, ballots, and installing officers
- [Officer Provisions in Booster Club Bylaws](https://boosterclub.org/bylaws/officer-provisions/) terms, term limits, and vacancies
- [Booster Club Board Positions and Duties](https://boosterclub.org/governance/board-positions/) the job descriptions recruits need
- [Recruiting and Managing Booster Club Volunteers](https://boosterclub.org/fundraising/volunteers/) building the volunteer base officers come from

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*This page is general information for volunteer-run booster clubs. It is not legal,
tax, or accounting advice, and BoosterClub.org is not a law firm, accounting firm, or
government agency. Rules change and vary by state and district. Confirm current
requirements with the IRS, the relevant state agency, the school district, and a
qualified professional before acting. If a fact on this page is out of date, we want
to know.*

## Sources

1. Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (California): https://www.fcmat.org/PublicationsReports/Boosters-and-School-Connected-Orgs-Workshop.pdf
2. IRS: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/automatic-revocation-of-exemption