Effective Fundraising at THS

Andrew Gutierrez, Junior Staff Writer

There are dozens of clubs, and classes, at Turlock High School and all of them need some type of funding for them to be able to run. Chess club needs enough boards and pieces for everyone to play, NJROTC needs funding to be able to help buy every uniform for their participating students, and FFA needs a way to pay for all of the events they constantly organize. California law allows for Turlock High School, along with the rest of the schools in the state of California, to raise and spend money on behalf of all students by using an Associated Student Body organization or ASB. In our school, all fundraising activities through both clubs and our ASB are coordinated through our student activities office. Our ASB and every club must follow a long list of rules and regulations when it comes to becoming and creating a club and especially when it comes to fundraising. This is the reason every club is required to have its own constitutions and the rules for fundraising can be found on our school website, but it is very complex and difficult to understand. For example, sales of food and beverages are typically a great way to raise money for your clubs but there are so many complicated state laws that must be followed that it has its own section in the ASB manual. This is made more difficult because THS is also required to follow our local county’s laws. Any time a club is able to organize something with the sale of food, try to understand how difficult it may have been to organize. It is because of all of these rules that in order to begin any fundraiser a club must complete a fundraising permit and receive administrative approval. 

It is clear that fundraising at THS fundraising is no easy simple task as there are a lot of different rules and processes that you must follow and go through. Although many clubs can get by on only donations, the main source of income for clubs that need constant funding will always be fundraising events. Here are some of the ongoing fundraisers that are currently being used around THS and what all of them share.