• Executive Directors Column
• Coordinator Expansion Underway
• Dear Booster
• Equus Candle Company
• Vendor of the Month
• Seeking Nationwide Support
• Do-It Yourself Fundraiser
• Proud of our business supporters
• Spotlight of the Month
• The One Minute Shopper
• Fast Facts

GROWING PROBLEMS AHEAD
I recently hung up the phone after speaking with a superintendent who was desperately seeking guidance on how to help his school district overcome the funding shortage that was tearing away at his schools. After the conversation I found myself thinking back to 1999 when Y2K was all the concern. If you remember, there were experts in many fields from around the nation who all were very concerned that we were facing a complete technology shutdown.

Well we made it through the Y2K bug because of these technology experts and today our technology continues to grow in leaps and bounds. But today we also face many different challenges, some deal with the continued loss of live as our nation expands its involvement in wars around the world and others involve the rising costs of gas, housing, groceries and medical care.

Through all of these very important and pressing challenges we also find that our education system is literally being torn apart from rising costs and dwindling resources. Five years ago calls to the NBCA that had to do with raising funds came primarily from parents, coaches and a few Athletic Directors. Today the calls have increased dramatically in numbers and they come from State Superintendents, Principals, Athletic Directors, Coaches and concerned parents. Today there are entire school districts who have already, yes already - eliminated extra-curricular programs, including sports, band and music and the number of schools and school districts facing cutbacks continues to grow at an alarming rate.

So this month I pose the following question. What can WE do to help curb this trend?

In numbers almost any problem can be overcome. As I shared in the illustration of how a large number of experts came together to insure that the Y2K issue didn't cripple our technology so can we come together as concerned parents, community supporters, business owners and interested parties to create alternative solutions that will offer hope to a growing problem facing the continuation of extra-curricular programs in our schools.

So this month I am turning to the thousands of you who receive this newsletter and asking that you take just 1 minute of your time and offer up your thoughts. I want to hear your solutions and I want to hear your level of interest in helping us help introduce these solutions to clubs, schools and administrators around the country.

I wish each of you the best of success.
Happy Boostering!

Steve M. Beden
Executive Director

Enroll Your Club

Dear Booster........

The NBCA is now recruiting Area Coordinators nationwide.
- Unlimited opportunity
- No competition
- Part-time or Full-time
- Help make a difference in your community!

To find out more Click Here: Coordinator Opportunity

Dear Booster,
I am a member of our local touchdown club and was told about the National Booster Club Association by our Athletic Director. Can you tell me why we should become a member and what do we receive?

Tim S
Samtack Touchdown Club

Dear Tim,
Choosing to become a member is the first step towards positioning your club for continued growth. The NBCA offers support, guidance, training and access to club building tools and resources. If your organization is like most clubs then you will face issues and challenges that your officers and board may not have answers. The NBCA is the perfect sounding board and the perfect answer to find solutions to these challenges. Members gain immediate access to club building tools including fully hosted club websites, nationwide search engines where you can seek highly profitable fundraising solutions and club/team products, you also have access to club documents, forms and agreements. Through member support, you receive discounts on insurance coverage and other important club needs. Members also gain access to Booster U seminars and help with conducting major club events.

Membership is ideal for any club seeking to increase parent participation, conducting membership drives, help in raising funds, or just looking for solid guidance and support.

Send us your Dear Booster.... article and we will select one each month to share with the readers of Booster Trends. To submit your email send to: dearbooster@boosterclubs.org.

FUNd Raising At Its Best

Our company was started by my grandfather in 1959. He made the original Peco Flake Candy, which is our secret recipe of peanut brittle with coconut, and sold it to the Boy Scouts who then sold it for their fund raising programs. We are a third generation company that still follows the same Mission as when we started over 45 years ago: We offer the finest quality products at the highest possible profit percentage to your organization.

We have four children of our own who are involved with sports, dance, scouts and many other activities so we know how valuable TIME is. We believe that the NBCA is a great tool for busy club officers and volunteers to find everything they might need within one organization.

We are proud of all of our fund raising programs from our award winning cheeses and sausages to our Fire Glo T-Shirts and Hoodys. Our goal is to supply booster clubs and all organizations with fund raising programs that they can be proud to sell. We believe if you sell high quality items at a fair price you will have great fund raising success. The greater the success of your sale means you can spend less time fund raising and more time with the other important functions of your club!

We have great programs and plans for all booster clubs. Our family has picked out some excellent programs that offer great profit percentages for your organization.
• Fannie May Candy Bars – Profits up to 50%! Your club will be proud these upscale Milk Chocolate Candies!
• The Original $1 Fund Raising Bar – Profits up to 54%! These great Milk Chocolate Bars are a great seller plus a great value, three different variety packs to choose from!
• The Candyman’s Power Pack – Profits up to 45%! We have taken the best of the name brand fundraising bars and combined them with our delicious Fannie May bars to put together an awesome variety pack!
• Snack Favorites – Profits up to 54%! This brochure features our award winning chocolates, cheeses and sausages all with the selling price of $5, this is one of the easiest pre-order programs (we just had 20 basketball players ell over $4,000 of our $5 Snack Favorites and they are ready to go again)!
• Value Card Program – Profits up to 55%! Your club designs its own card, we secure all the discounts from your favorite merchants. These $10 cards are valid for one full year!
• Fire Glo T-Shirts and Hoodys – Glow you Spirit both day and night, these shirts are awesome!

We have such strong feelings towards the value of a good booster club, that we are members ourselves. We are proud to be a business member of the NBCA and we look forward to working with any clubs that might need our services.

Vendor of the month special: Now through the end of August 2005 we are giving a 10% discount plus 0 set-up fee on all our Fire Glo T-Shirts and Hoodys! Your members will look great at a night game or inside a darken gym with our NEW Fire Glo items!

Thanks,

Dan & Stephanie Roper
FUNdRaisingAtItsBest.com
Toll Free: 1-877-CNDYMN1 (263-9661)

NBCA Advocate - This is an ideal opportunity for anyone with contacts to local booster clubs, teams and businesses. The NBCA Advocate position does not require you to make any commitment other than your interest to periodically refer the NBCA to local booster clubs, teams and businesses. NBCA Advocates receive a commission or override for simply referring the association’s services to booster clubs, teams and businesses. This is an outstanding opportunity for any person who understands the role that extra-curricular activities play in shaping our society. If you would like to register and become an NBCA Advocate, please email your contact information or visit BoosterWorld and register today.

Area Coordinators - The NBCA is now seeking individuals who would like to assist local clubs, teams and businesses. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone looking for an opportunity to work part-time, or looking to help make a difference in your community. Coordinators will receive high commissions for introducing the association’s services to businesses, schools and parent organizations. This is an outstanding opportunity for any person who understands the role that extra-curricular activities play in shaping our society. If you would like to register and become an NBCA Advocate, please email your contact information or visit BoosterWorld and register today.

Club Coordinators - The NBCA is seeking individuals who are currently working with or involved with a booster club or extra-curricular program. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone currently involved with a club, team or extra-curricular program and who would like to turn the time you are spending into an opportunity to receive prizes, awards, recognition and compensation. Club Coordinators simply do what they are currently doing, nothing more. If you would like to register for the position of Club Coordinator, please email your name, club affiliation, city and state. Email us today at marketing@boosterclubs.org

ALLOW CARD
Now there’s a new and better way to raise funds for booster clubs. It’s called the Allow Card. And it’s changing the very way parents and kids look at allowances.

The Allow Card is a stored value debit card that takes the place of cash. So, teens can use it to make purchases at school and area merchants, as opposed to carrying cash or credit cards. Since The Allow Card requires a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to complete transactions, it’s much safer than credit cards cash and checks.

The Allow Card can be loaded or reloaded with any monetary value via an online transfer of funds from a credit card, savings or checking account to the Allow Card account. Since both parents and students have 24-hour online access to account details—balances, transaction history and more—they’ll know the cardholder’s financial situation.

The Allow Card is a revolutionary way for kids to manage their money…and it’s the kind of thing everyone will want. And that’s where the fundraising opportunity comes in.

Register your local booster club with Allow Card of America, Inc. and we’ll provide a fundraising kit that’ll help promote the program’s benefits. For every new Allow Card account, you’ll receive money. Best yet, the program is self-sustaining…you’ll receive funds as long as the cards are active and registered—month after month, year after year. The more people you sign up, the more money for your club.

The Allow Card is also part of the Allow Life program, which includes a website that introduces students to the importance of developing money management skills early on. The site provides financial literacy lessons and experiences, money management scenarios and online tools designed to teach valuable skills.

For more information on fundraising with the Allow Card, call one of our enrollment coordinators at 877-725-5698.

The National Boosters Club Association has found a way to help correct the problems of America’s youth and their families.
Personal observation and notes from U.S. News & World Report –
1. Today, two thirds of American adults are obese or overweight.
2. The N.E. Journal of Medicine states that because of obesity, life expectancy has been cut by nearly nine months for adults. What’s worse is they project that the rise in obesity rates among children and teens could knock off five years from today’s average life span of 77 years. Because of people being overweight, this generation will grow up and die prematurely.
3. Disease associated with obesity is diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and some cancers.
4. It will be the first time in 200 years that children will statistically be likely to live shorter lives than their grandparents.
5. Americans are in a controversial predicament. The outcome is extremely gloomy unless we make it easy for millions of people to change their food shopping habits, correct their eating habits, exercise more frequently, 30 minutes daily would be ideal, and somehow motivate people to pass up on high calorie temptations.
6. America is truly a horn of plenty. In the late 1970’s food calorie consumption was an average of 3300 per person, today its 3900 calories a day for every person.
7. Have you noticed that portions in restaurants have increased in size? I can’t remember my wife not taking home a “doggy bag” from the restaurant each time we eat out.
8. It was taught, back in the early 1940’s to be a member of the clean plate club. I was told there were people starving in Europe. Today, millions of people are starving in third world countries while most Americans are getting fat.
9. If you’ve been served too hefty a portion, it is better to scrape it into the garbage than shovel it into your mouth. Better yet, make a snack of the leftovers for a quick weekend lunch.
10. The best advice is to serve smaller portions, eat less, walk more, stop smoking and live a longer, happier, healthier life.
The National Boosters Club Association
11. Here’s a simple answer that will help benefit your children, your family members and students of local schools - Fundraising with premium quality meats without increasing your food budget. It is called The One Minute Shopper. Premium quality meats and fish delivered to your home. The product is HEALTHIER, SAFER, CONVENIENTLY PORTIONED MEATS AND FISH for sensible consumption and all of the meat programs are very affordable. Here is the most important benefit - TEN PERCENT (10%) of the delivered price of a meat order goes to your students’ Booster Club fundraiser. We all know that most towns and cities need more fundraising to help finance extra curricular activities which are being cut back in many communities. When students are busy with extra curricular activities, they are less apt to get involved with alcohol or drugs which is the Nations number one problem with obesity being number two. Check out the quality, benefits and services for your family and your children’s’ Booster Club on www.theoneminuteshopper.com .

Try a meat order on line at www.tomsnbca.com and everybody wins. The parents win, the students win, the community schools win, and the future health of our nation’s youth wins. Place your meat order today and honestly, everybody WINS!