Fundraising Benefits our Students
All SMB funds are used to benefit our music curriculum. Fundraising activities fall into four categories: Curriculum Fees, General Fundraisers, Designated Student Account Fundraisers, and Travel Fundraisers. See Student Account Guidelines for additional information. See June 2008 allocations for information about which Directors’ wish list items were funded.
Curriculum Fees raise money to cover the costs of specific programs, which are not funded by the schools. These programs include elementary school beginning orchestra and band, SUSD intermediate and advanced bands, Redwood Middle School ensembles, and the SHS marching band, orchestra, drill team, and winter guard. Curriculum fees are collected at the beginning of the year.
General Fundraisers raise money for the SMB operating budget and general funds. These profits are from SMB fundraising not specifically identified as student account directed. These funds are allocated each year at the December and June board meetings. Allocation is based on meeting the needs of each program and equity between programs. Typical uses are: instrument and capital equipment purchases, clinicians, uniforms, subsidizing program costs, and scholarships. The sources of these funds are the SMB Membership, Jazz Cabaret, and Pancake Breakfast.
Designated Student Account Fundraisers are designated fundraisers (e.g. cookie dough sales and Starbuck cards) that raise money for SMB and provide students the opportunity to raise money on their own behalf. Each designated fundraiser will have a portion of the gross sales credited to the selling students’ student account. A copy of this document will be distributed to all music students at the beginning of each school year. For a student to earn credit, all curriculum fees must be current. See Student Account Guidelines for additional information.
Travel Fundraisers are determined by the class and benefit individual student travel accounts. 100% of the profit of specified fundraising done directly for the benefit of a particular music program or group will go into the student account of the individual responsible for the fundraising effort. These fundraisers will only be done on the advice of the relevant music teacher.
Student Account Guidelines Each year the Saratoga Music Boosters conducts various funding campaigns. These campaigns help fund the director-identified program needs that are not funded from school district monies. In addition, some of these campaigns, cookie dough, advertisement, and Starbuck card sales, offer students the opportunity to offset trip participation costs.
It is believed that establishment of a student account fundraising program and tracking system motivates students to be more involved in each fundraising activity and concurrently enables students an opportunity to raise funds to help offset individual band, colorguard, choir, and/or orchestra travel expenses.
Student Accounts: Each student can have a "student account" established in his or her name as early as sixth grade. This account, once established, will carry forward with the student through high school and until graduation. If the student has funds left in his or her account upon departure from the program and/or upon graduation, the funds are either transferred to a younger sibling or become a general fund donation. There are no refunds from student accounts.
Funds raised by each student will be credited to his or her account after each fundraiser. The SMB treasurer will account for and track the student account funds. In addition, when music trips are planned, the music directors must work with SMB staff to ensure that students get the appropriate amounts deducted from their trip balance when they have accumulated funds in their student accounts. The student account records are public records and are available for review upon request.
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