Ascend Booster Club Venue Fundraising

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Venue Fundraising - What is It?

We work running concession stands at various sports and concert venues throughout the area.  You may be put in a food stand; beer stand or a fill in worker.   You must have your valid food worker card, MAST Card and valid ID on your person to work.  

Code of Conduct 

The atmosphere while fundraising should be fun, positive, respectful and cooperative. All members will be expected to comply with the Ascend Gymnastics Booster Club’s Code of Conduct as listed in the by-laws. Integrity and hard work are expected of  every volunteer. Any negative, abusive or dishonest behavior, in or out of the actual  venue location, will result in being asked to leave immediately and may result in a  permanent ban from being involved in fundraising events. Donations will be forfeited  to the general fund. 

**We are a preferred group with our venues because of the professionalism of our volunteers.** 

How to start 

In order to fundraise with Ascend Gymnastics Boosters, you must: 

● Be 21 year or older  

● Be a current member of Ascend Gymnastics Booster Club

● Have a current MAST card 

● Have a current Food Handlers 

● Have a current TiPS card (for White River, Gorge, and UW only) 

Trainings 

MAST 

https://rserving.com/web/rserving.php?siteid=251 $9.95 

This course is 3 hours long. PRINT YOUR CERTIFICATE until you get your card in the mail. This will be sufficient for 30 days. After that, you must have the blue MAST card. This card must be on you at all times to fundraise (along with valid ID). (TiPS training (below) will also give you a MAST, but if you get it through TiPS, you will not be able to fundraise at Lumen until you get the blue card in hand.) 

FOOD HANDLERS 

https://www.foodworkercard.wa.gov $10 

TIPS TRAINING 

www.gettips.com $40 This is required for White River/Gorge, Tacoma Dome and UW. Many times the venues will offer a free training in the spring. Getting a TiPS card will give you a valid MAST certification and you will not have to do a separate Mast Training. However, you will be unable to fundraise at Lumen Field or Showare until you get your blue mast card in the mail. If you take the Mast training above, you get a certificate you can use to start fundraising right away.

Levy Training     

Fill out Levy Training https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/7a470e3355604850bcc221568094c519  If you plan on fundraising at Lumen this year, please click on the link to update your volunteer info for 2024.  You will need to watch the the Levy video (https://npo-training.videoshowcase.net/login) and download their workbook and policies (https://app.hellosign.com/s/7R3rql9o).  In addition, you'll need to upload copies of your current food handlers and MAST permits. 

Signing Up! 

Sign-ups are done on Sign Up Genius. Updates and information is given on our Facebook page at Ascend Venue Fundraising Group.  You will be able to access our Sign-Up Genius events only after valid permits have been received. 

In order to allow the most families to benefit from fundraising, in some venues only one family member is allowed to sign up.  If you sign up multiple family members at these venues, you will need to sign the second family member up under Additional Family member or waitlist.   (This is only true in venues that show this option).    This is to ensure as many families as possible have an opportunity to sign up.  Please note if we are limited in available workers slots, the priority will be to ensure as many families as possible (1 per family) work before allowing multiple family members to work.  (this is true at all venues).

If you are on a waitlist, there is still a HIGH POSSIBILITY of you working but we are waiting to see if we can get further stands. Unfortunately, that information is often not available until a few days before an event.  

If you are on the waitlist, please do NOT move yourself to the Volunteer list if a spot opens up. I will move the next in line up to that spot. 

Sign up Genius is locked 2 weeks prior to an event and moved to Facebook. At this point, you cannot cancel without finding a replacement (and no-shows will result in cancellation fees detailed below). 

Cancellations and No Shows 

The success of these fundraising events depends on the dedication of our volunteers. Last minute cancellations and no shows can not only jeopardize our relationships with our venues but can also cause them to charge our donation a cancellation fee. Once your name has been submitted to the venue you are COMMITTED! Any change will require you to find a qualified replacement. Please don’t sign up to “reserve” your spot and cancel later. It’s much easier to add volunteers than it is to remove them once the list is submitted. 

Sign up Genius is locked for deletions 14 days before an event and the current gate list will be posted on Facebook under individual created event. Please cancel before that date. If you have an issue after this date, please post on Facebook looking for a replacement. 

If canceling after Sign Up is locked, you are responsible for finding your own replacement or you will be charged a $170 no-show fee OR the fee deducted by the Venue, whichever is highest. 3 short term cancellations without finding a replacement may result in you forfeiting your ability to work venue fundraising. No showing without any communication with the Fundraising Coordinator will result in immediate removal from the group. 

Late Arrivals 

Because many of our volunteers work during the day, it is often requested but must be pre-approved prior to working the event. We try our best to accommodate this so that everyone can have a chance to fundraise. Late arrivals MUST be approved prior to the cancel  date. Please be patient and understanding that a majority of the work we do is done before the event and having late arrivals can be disruptive and unfair to those working the whole time. Therefore, anyone requesting a late arrival will be a lower priority for signing  up than those that can be there at the requested call-time. Arriving late or leaving early may result in a deduction amounting to a pro-rated amount of our donations.

Parking 

Lumen Field provides free parking for Sounders Games and some concerts. A parking pass will be posted in the Facebook event page. Please allow an extra 20-30 minutes of travel time for these events. 

White River Parking, Tacoma Dome and Showare all provide free parking as well. 

Showare Parking is in the Park n’Ride across the street or in the Regional Justice Center parking garage. Remember you will be away from your vehicle for several hours. Please don’t leave valuables visible in your car. 

It is highly encouraged to buddy up with someone and carpool - especially the first few times going to a venue. Everyone has been new at some point and going with others saves frustrations (and frankly lets you get to know more members of the group). 

Dress Code: 

Dress code for Lumen Field, Showare Concessions, White River/Gorge and Tacoma Dome are black pants and black non-slip shoes. Jeans and Leggings are not permitted at Lumen Field. White River and The Gorge do allow black shorts of a modest length. Hair should be pulled back. Shirts are provided at most venues and must be checked out upon entering the venue. Ascend is CHARGED if you keep your shirt, so please turn these in before you leave.   Ascend Booster Fundraising shirts may be purchased and worn at some venues.   (Showare, UW and some stands at Lumen field)

Lumen Field stands are often outside (under cover) so please plan accordingly! During the Winter, multiple thin layers will work best as you must wear the Ascend shirt over any other shirts. Long sleeved shirts and jackets must be dark colored, or Seahawks/Sounders colored. Gloves, Seahawks beanies, hand warmers, etc. are all acceptable. All fundraisers will receive one Ascend Booster t-shirt to wear at Lumen and the cost will be deducted from your first event.  There will be an option to purchase a sweatshirt as well.  

Similarly, White River is outside and HOT during the summer. Sunglasses, hat/visors or sunscreen and bottled water is recommended.

General idea of past donations are below: 

Donations made by Showare are: 

$20 /hr Concession/beer portables or 15%, whichever is higher. Grills are 18% of net sales. 

Donations made by Lumen are: 

$170 minimum.  

11% net sales of food and 8% net sales of alcohol 

Donations made by White River are: 

8% net sales of food and 5% net sales of alcohol. Typically, no minimum. 

Each participant will pay a $25 annual administrative fee to help cover insurance costs.  This will be taken out of your first event and every June annually. You will also be charged for a Ascend t-shirt. 

Ascend Gymnastics Booster Club currently deducts 1.5% of above donations that goes to the general fund to cover organizational costs/ expenses, and/or general booster donation requests. In addition, $2.00 per venue event will be deducted and the following will apply:  $1 per person, per event goes to the Venue Coordinator; and 2) $1 per person, per event to go to the Treasurer position. Non venue fundraising is not subject to the $2.00 deduction. 

Stand Leads are responsible for making sure inventory matches start sheets, providing direction and instruction to stands, communicating with venues regarding equipment issues, product shortages, etc. and for completing the final paperwork at the end of the night.  

How can you use donations??? 

Donations received can be used for gym tuition, assessments, hotel (nights of competition/practice only), plane tickets (1 adult per athlete), car rentals. You may also use it for any gymnastics related training, private lessons, USAG yearly membership, clinics, choreography, and equipment fees. You cannot use your fees for other sports. You can transfer your monies to another 5013c with a  valid TIN#(per IRS guidelines we are limited to transferring a maximum of $1500 per family to another non-profit). You can always ask the treasurer if you are unsure what is and what is not covered. Any reimbursements must have a valid receipt within one year from submission the previous year. 

You will generally receive a statement of all donations received around the beginning of each month. Checks are written TWICE a month to be paid on the 1st and 15th of every month. If you do not make a request in the allotted time, you are free to do so the following period. All requests must be submitted to the treasurer 3 business days prior to these dates in order to receive on time payments. All requests are to be made to the treasurer via the google form link found on this website.  Reimbursement checks and checks sent to other non-profits are only issued on the 1st of each month.

Reimbursement requests must follow our Reimbursement Guidelines as well as our By-laws. Please read the appropriate thread on the Facebook page regarding this policy before submitting any reimbursement requests. 

If your daughter leaves Ascend Gymnastics, you have 30 days to designate where your funds will be sent or those funds will  be reverted to the general fund, unless prior arrangements have been made.