Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Dance booster club bylaws need officer roles, treasurer duties, quorum rules, fiscal year, conflict-of-interest language, and a dissolution clause. Solid bylaws protect officers, satisfy the IRS on Form 1023 or 990 filings, and keep the club running when volunteers turn over every year or two.
What should dance booster club bylaws actually cover?
Bylaws are the internal rulebook that says who runs the club, how decisions get made, and what happens to the money if the club folds. For a dance booster club, that means covering membership (usually parents of dancers), the officer roles, how officers get elected and removed, meeting and quorum rules, fiscal year, financial controls, amendment procedure, and a dissolution clause. Most dance booster clubs are organized as nonprofit corporations under state law first, then apply for federal tax exemption under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). The IRS actually requires specific dissolution language in your organizing document (articles of incorporation, and often mirrored in bylaws) before it will grant exemption. IRS guidance states that an organization's assets must be "permanently dedicated to an exempt purpose" and that upon dissolution, assets must go to another 501(c)(3) or to government use, not to members or officers [1]. Bylaws are not the same as articles of incorporation. Articles are filed with your state and are hard to change. Bylaws are your internal operating manual and should be easier to amend, usually by a vote at a general meeting. Keep both documents. Keep them consistent. Keep signed copies in whatever binder or shared drive the next treasurer will actually find.
What does a treasurer do in a booster club?
A treasurer manages the club's money: tracking income and expenses, reconciling the bank account, preparing financial reports for meetings, and making sure required tax filings get done. In a dance booster club, that usually also means handling competition fees, costume fund collections, concession stand cash, and reimbursements to dance families. Specifically, what does a treasurer of a club do month to month? A realistic list looks like this: deposit checks and cash promptly (many clubs set a 48-72 hour rule), reconcile the bank statement against the books every month, keep receipts for every expense, present a written treasurer's report at each board meeting, and maintain a budget that the board approved at the start of the season. What does a treasurer do that's easy to overlook? Filing the annual IRS return. Every tax-exempt organization, regardless of size, has to file something with the IRS each year. Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less can file the simple electronic postcard, Form 990-N [2]. Larger organizations file Form 990-EZ or the full Form 990 depending on revenue and assets [3]. Miss three years in a row and the IRS automatically revokes your tax-exempt status, no warning letter required beyond what's already in the statute [4]. Your bylaws should name the treasurer's specific authority: check-signing limits, who else can sign (a two-signature rule above a dollar threshold is common), and whether the treasurer needs board approval before spending outside the approved budget. If your bylaws are silent on this, disputes over a $2,000 costume order get ugly fast.
What is a treasurer, in plain terms?
A treasurer is the officer legally and practically responsible for an organization's money: what comes in, what goes out, and what gets reported to the board, the members, and the government. In a volunteer-run dance booster club, the treasurer is often the only person who really understands the finances, which is exactly why bylaws need to spell out backup access and oversight. Good bylaws require at least one other officer (often the president or a designated board member) to have read access to bank statements and the right to review the books at any time, more than at handoff. This isn't about distrust. It's about the reality that treasurers get sick, move, or simply vanish mid-season, and someone still has to pay the DJ for the recital. Some clubs also create an assistant treasurer or financial secretary role specifically so there's a trained backup. If your roster is small, that's a real cost in volunteer hours, but it's cheaper than a season with a locked-out bank account.
How should bylaws structure the board and officer roles?
Most dance booster club bylaws create a board of 4-7 officers: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and sometimes a fundraising chair or uniform/costume coordinator. Bylaws should state each officer's term length (one year is common, renewable), how many consecutive terms someone can serve, and the process for filling a vacancy mid-year. Spell out quorum explicitly. A quorum is the minimum number of board members (or general members, depending on the vote) who must be present for a decision to count. A common structure: a majority of the board for board votes, and a fixed number or percentage of paid members for votes at general meetings. Without a quorum rule, three parents at a poorly-attended meeting could technically vote to spend the whole budget on new backdrops. Also address removal. What happens if an officer stops showing up, or worse, stops depositing checks? Bylaws should give the board a defined path (written notice, a vote requiring some majority, maybe a hearing) to remove an officer without a lawsuit.
What is Form 990 and why do bylaws need to mention it?
| 990-N | Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 | Simple 8-question e-postcard [2] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Gross receipts < $200,000 and total assets < $500,000 | Short form [3] | |
| 990 (full) | Gross receipts ≥ $200,000 or assets ≥ $500,000 | Full form [3] | Bylaws don't need to reproduce these thresholds (they change), but they should require the treasurer to file the appropriate return every year and report the filing status to the board. That single sentence in your bylaws creates accountability that outlives any one treasurer's memory. For background on the filing itself, see form 990 and the postcard version, 990-n. |
Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, and governance. The IRS describes it as the form organizations use to "provide the IRS with the information required by section 6033" [5]. It's not a bill; most booster clubs owe no tax on their exempt activities. It's a transparency filing, and it's public record once filed. What is a 990 tax form, functionally? Think of it as your club's annual report to the federal government and to anyone who wants to look up your finances on GuideStar or the IRS's own database. There isn't one single form; there are three versions depending on size: | Form | Who files it | Threshold |
What happens if the club loses tax-exempt status?
If an organization fails to file any version of Form 990 for three consecutive years, its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by operation of law under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j) [4]. The IRS publishes a list of revoked organizations and does not send a warning before the third missed year triggers revocation. This matters enormously for a dance booster club that relies on donations being tax-deductible for parents and local businesses. Once revoked, the organization is treated as a taxable entity, and donors can no longer count on their gifts being deductible until exemption is reinstated. Reinstatement generally requires filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ again, along with the delinquent 990s, and paying a filing fee. Confirm current fees directly with the IRS before you file, since fee amounts do change over time [5]. Bylaws can't prevent revocation on their own, but a clause requiring the treasurer to certify each year that filings are current, reviewed at the annual meeting, closes the gap where this quietly slips through. For more on the filing itself, see 990 tax form and irs form 990.
What financial controls belong in booster club bylaws?
Bylaws should require, at minimum: dual signatures on checks above a set dollar amount, a written budget approved before the season starts, monthly bank reconciliation, and an annual review or audit by someone who isn't the treasurer. None of this needs to be complicated. It needs to exist in writing so it survives officer turnover. A lot of dance booster clubs handle real cash: gate admissions at recitals, concession sales, raffle tickets sold at competitions. Bylaws should require a two-person count for any cash collected, with both people signing a simple tally sheet before the money leaves the table. This protects the volunteers counting the money as much as it protects the club; false accusations happen, and a signed tally sheet ends the argument fast. If your club runs a raffle as a fundraiser, check your state's specific licensing and reporting rules before the event, not after. Many states require a charitable gaming license or registration through the state attorney general's charity office, and rules vary widely on prize limits, ticket sales, and reporting. Confirm with your state charity office before you print a single raffle ticket.
How should bylaws handle conflicts of interest?
A conflict-of-interest policy requires board members to disclose any financial relationship with a vendor, coach, or contractor the club does business with, and to abstain from voting on that contract. This matters more in dance boosters than people expect, because the studio owner, a competition choreographer, or a costume vendor is sometimes also a board member's relative or employer. The IRS doesn't mandate a conflict-of-interest policy for most small exempt organizations, but Form 990 (the long form, and the EZ) asks whether the organization has adopted one, and the absence of a policy is a visible flag to anyone reviewing your public filing. Adopting a simple policy, disclosed annually and signed by each board member, costs nothing and heads off a real problem: parents who serve on the board while also running the for-profit dance wear shop the club buys from. Build the policy into the bylaws themselves rather than a separate document nobody reads. One paragraph requiring disclosure and abstention from the vote is usually enough for an organization this size.
What should the dissolution clause say?
The dissolution clause states what happens to the club's remaining money and property if it ever shuts down, and it is one of the few bylaws provisions the IRS actually requires language for. IRS guidance is direct on this: exempt organization assets must be dedicated to an exempt purpose permanently, and on dissolution, must be distributed for an exempt purpose or to a government body, never to members, officers, or directors [1]. A typical clause: "Upon dissolution of the organization, after paying or making provision for all debts and liabilities, the remaining assets shall be distributed to one or more organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), or to a state or local government for a public purpose, as determined by the board." That's boilerplate you'll find in a lot of nonprofit bylaws templates, and for good reason: it's what the IRS wants to see before granting exemption. Without this clause, or with the wrong wording, an application for exemption using Form 1023 or 1023-EZ can get kicked back for revision, adding weeks or months to your timeline. Get this right the first time.
How often should bylaws be reviewed and amended?
Most booster clubs should review bylaws every one to two years, and amend them whenever the club's actual practice drifts from what's written. A common trigger: the club adds a new fundraising activity, changes its fiscal year, or realizes the quorum rule doesn't work with current attendance. Bylaws should specify their own amendment process: usually a proposed change is circulated in writing to the board (and often general members) some number of days before a vote, and passage requires a two-thirds majority or similar supermajority. This friction is intentional. It stops one enthusiastic officer from rewriting the rules at a meeting three people attended. Keep a version history. Note the date of adoption and each amendment right in the document. When a new treasurer or president takes over, and they will, they need to know they're looking at the current version, not a copy from three presidents ago.
What does a handoff between treasurers need to include?
A clean treasurer handoff needs the bank account access transferred, a full set of financial records for the current and prior year, copies of the last three years of filed 990s, and a walkthrough of any recurring bills or vendor contracts. Bylaws should require this handoff to happen within a set window, 30 days is reasonable, after a new treasurer is elected. The most common failure point in a dance booster club: the outgoing treasurer used a personal PayPal or Venmo account for club transactions because opening a real nonprofit bank account felt like too much paperwork. Bylaws should flatly require all club funds to run through an account in the organization's own name, with the EIN on file, never through a personal account. This single rule prevents an enormous amount of confusion, and occasionally fraud, at handoff time. For a structured approach to building out the financial side of your bylaws alongside your actual filings, a state-specific reference tool like the $99 Treasurer Kit Builder walks through the state-specific forms and IRS filings a new dance booster treasurer needs, matched to your state. It's a reference tool, not legal advice, but it saves the hours most new treasurers lose just figuring out where to start.
Do bylaws need to be filed with the state or IRS?
Generally no. Bylaws are an internal governance document and are usually not filed with the state or the IRS as a standalone document. However, if your club applies for federal tax exemption using Form 1023 or Form 1023-EZ, the IRS requires you to attach a copy of your bylaws (or certify that you've adopted them) as part of the application . Your articles of incorporation, by contrast, are filed with your state's secretary of state or equivalent office and are a matter of public record. Some states also require nonprofits to register with the state attorney general's charity office before soliciting donations, separate from IRS exemption. Requirements vary significantly by state, so confirm with your state charity office what registration is required before your club starts fundraising. Keep your bylaws, articles, EIN confirmation letter, and IRS determination letter together in one place, physical or digital. A new officer trying to reconstruct a club's legal history from scratch is one of the most common (and most avoidable) headaches in booster club leadership.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do in a booster club?
A booster club treasurer tracks income and expenses, reconciles the bank account monthly, prepares financial reports for board meetings, manages a budget, and files the club's required annual IRS return (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 depending on revenue size). They also usually oversee cash handling for fundraisers and recitals.
What is a treasurer, exactly?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's finances: money in, money out, and reporting to the board and to government agencies like the IRS. In a small nonprofit like a dance booster club, the treasurer is often the sole person with full visibility into the books, which is why bylaws should require a second set of eyes.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations, used to report income, expenses, and governance to the federal government under Internal Revenue Code section 6033. It's a public transparency filing, not a tax bill; there are three versions (990-N, 990-EZ, full 990) depending on the organization's size.
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used to report a nonprofit's annual finances to the IRS and to the public. Smaller organizations with gross receipts of $50,000 or less file the simple electronic 990-N postcard; larger ones file the 990-EZ or full Form 990. Filing is required every year regardless of whether the organization owes any tax.
What does a club treasurer do differently from a company treasurer?
A club treasurer usually manages much smaller, more volunteer-driven finances: dues, fundraiser proceeds, competition fees, and reimbursements, often with no paid staff and high officer turnover. The core duties (bookkeeping, reporting, filing) are similar, but club treasurers rely far more on written bylaws to maintain continuity year to year.
Do dance booster clubs need bylaws to get 501(c)(3) status?
The IRS requires organizing documents (articles of incorporation) to contain specific language about purpose and dissolution of assets, and typically requests a copy of adopted bylaws with a Form 1023 or 1023-EZ application. Bylaws also give the club an operating structure the IRS and state regulators expect to see from a functioning nonprofit.
What should the dissolution clause in bylaws say?
It should state that upon dissolution, remaining assets go to another 501(c)(3) organization or a government entity for public use, never to members or officers. IRS guidance requires exempt organization assets be permanently dedicated to an exempt purpose, including on dissolution.
How many officers should a dance booster club board have?
Most clubs use 4-7 officers: at minimum a president, treasurer, and secretary, often with a vice president and a fundraising or uniform coordinator added. Bylaws should set term lengths (commonly one year, renewable) and a clear process for filling vacancies mid-term.
What happens if a booster club misses its IRS filing for three years?
Its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), with no warning issued in the year revocation triggers. The club then needs to reapply for exemption, typically via Form 1023 or 1023-EZ along with delinquent returns, and pay the applicable filing fee.
Should bylaws require two signatures on checks?
Yes, most nonprofit governance guidance recommends requiring two authorized signatures above a set dollar threshold, precisely because it prevents one officer from moving significant money unilaterally. Bylaws should name the threshold and the officers authorized to sign.
How often should a booster club update its bylaws?
Review them every one to two years, and amend whenever practice drifts from what's written, such as adding a new fundraiser type or changing the fiscal year. Bylaws should specify their own amendment process, typically written notice plus a supermajority vote.
Can a booster club use a personal Venmo or PayPal account for funds?
It shouldn't. Bylaws should require all club funds to flow through a bank account held in the organization's own name and EIN, not a personal account, to protect both the club's money and the volunteer whose name is on the account.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less may file Form 990-N
- IRS, Form 990 Series Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File: filing thresholds for Form 990-EZ versus the full Form 990 based on gross receipts and total assets
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: failure to file required 990 returns for three consecutive years results in automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under section 6033(j)
- IRS, About Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax: Form 990 is used to provide the IRS with information required under section 6033
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1023-EZ: filing fees and requirements for the streamlined Form 1023-EZ exemption application