Updated October, 2023

Establishing a Club

AR clubs are initiated by students and refresh every year. This means that existing clubs still need to go through a renewal process at the beginning of the school year. Here are the steps to establish a club, these steps must be completed in order:

1. Gather students to participate/lead the club. Clubs must have at least three members in order to be initiated.

2. Find a staff member who is willing to be the Club Advisor. The Club Advisor must be able to be present at every meeting and approve all announcements made by the club. The AR Principal cannot be a Club Advisor.

3. With your Club Advisor, find a time, day of week, and location for your meetings (meetings do not have to be weekly and do not need to be in person).

4. With your Club Advisor, determine the best process for selecting student leaders within the club and which positions will be necessary, if any.

5. Fill out a Club Form and turn it into the Principal’s box in the Main Office. The Principal may return the Form with requested revisions (typically because of a room conflict).

6. Once your Club Form is approved, work with your advisor to reserve your meeting room location using the Club Calendar. 

Club Activities

All club activities must have a Club Advisor present whether they are on or off campus. If a Club Advisor cannot be present then another staff member or district employee must be arranged in order for the event to proceed.

Announcements

Any Daily Announcements or other communications conveyed on behalf of the club must be approved by the Club Advisor before being submitted. As a best practice, all Daily Announcement emails to the AR Office should also “cc” the Club Advisor as a recipient to confirm their approval. You are representing your club and the school: Make sure you use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Community Service

Clubs are a great way to earn Community Service! Please note that club meetings do not count as Community Service hours, only activities outside of club meetings can go toward hours. Please have all club related Community Service hours signed off by the Club Advisor or designee within one month of the activity in order for the hours to be officially registered.

Money Matters

• Raising Money for your Club or Club Activity

  • In order to raise money to spend on your club activities (art supplies for an Art Club, theater tickets for a Drama Club, etc) your club must have an account at the Fortuna Union High School District Student Finances Office (SFO). If your club does not have an account at the SFO, work with your Club Advisor to set one up, as it is a multi-step process. 

• Buying stuff for your Club

  • To buy anything with club funds, your Club Advisor must work with the AR Office and the SFO to check out an SFO Debit Card or process a purchase order. Consider purchases carefully, as each individual purchase can take a few days to execute.

• Fundraisers

  • We have a small community and that means our money source is limited. Always make sure your Club Advisor runs the fundraiser by other clubs/advisors so that we don’t have conflicting events. This check-in is typically done at the weekly staff meeting, so plan ahead!

  • Advertise (announcements, posters, social media) early and often! Make sure that you include why your club is raising money. Not just in the ads but on the table/ at the location as well. If you are raising money to pay for something specific, say what it is and how much you need. After your fundraiser we encourage your club to submit a thank you announcement sharing your results and what your club was able to accomplish with the money raised!

  • State law prohibits you from selling food at school. Bake sales or other food related fundraisers can only accept donations. Work with your Club Advisor to make sure the correct wording is used in any Daily Announcements or other communications.

  • Figure out what supplies you need ahead of time. Tables, cups, plates, napkins, serving utensils, canopies, etc.

  • While we encourage efforts to minimize food waste while maximizing fundraising outcomes, follow up fundraisers to put leftover baked goods out for donation still need both Club Advisor and AR Principal approval before going forward. 

• Raising Money for Charity

  • AR supports and encourages student initiative and energy to raise money or other needed items for people in need. It is a part of our Mission Statement for students “to become contributing members of an ever-changing society.” It is our intention that this guide empower students to accomplish charity work in an effective and legal way.

  • Money from SFO accounts cannot be donated, they can only be spent on District student activities. Therefore, fundraisers for charities must follow a series of best practices:

    1. Money raised for charity should always go to vetted organizations, not individuals (narrow exceptions exist, including medical related expenses for an AR student, and will only be granted by approval of the AR Principal). Work with your Club Advisor to identify the organization that best fits the goals of your club. Use Charity Navigator to assess non-profits’ effectiveness in their use of donated funds.

    2. If cash is being received, then we encourage your club to invite a member from the benefiting organization to be present during or at least at the end of your fundraiser so that they can receive the cash and take it directly to the organization. Otherwise the Club Advisor or another district employee will need to physically bring the cash to the benefiting organization. For this reason we also recommend local non-profits (e.g. Food For People) over national or international non-profits, who are harder to give cash to. Club Advisors amd students cannot put club funds into their accounts for transfers.

    3. If you want to support a national or international organization, we encourage clubs to research modern methods of money transfer, such as displaying a QR code where individual donors can submit funds directly to the organization. Otherwise, the other way to support national or international organization or efforts (such as earthquake relief in a specific country) is to partner with a local service club or organization that is also supporting the national or international organization or effort that your club wishes to contribute to. (For example, Rotary International’s local District 5130 has a Disaster Relief Fund for wildfires and other natural disasters in Northern California, and often has funds for international efforts such as support for Ukrainians impacted by the war with Russia. Cash from an AR club fundraiser can be given directly to a local Rotary Club to be directed towards these funds at 100%.)