Sponsors for Cheerleading (Individual)

My daughter asks for things like this often enough - if we can't afford it she can't do it. We fundraise for dance through her studio, but that's it. We don't ask people otherwise. You need to pay for it or have her not do it. Sorry.

People go to businesses all the time and ask them to sponsor a walkathon, school sales, a child care, and cheerleaders too.

I'm assuming she need several thousand? For air fare, hotel, food, etc...? Then I'd get an article written about her in the local paper then the day it comes out she should get walking from business to business and ask owners if they'll donate to her fund raiser to get to this event.

She can have her friends come help do a car wash if you can get a store to donate water and a space in their parking lot, she can do a huge garage sale on a business parking lot and put up signs for donations for cheer. There are many things she can do to promote herself.

I know several people who do this for pageants and other things. Almost everyone gives a little bit.

Updated

People go to businesses all the time and ask them to sponsor a walkathon, school sales, a child care, and cheerleaders too.

I'm assuming she need several thousand? For air fare, hotel, food, etc...? Then I'd get an article written about her in the local paper then the day it comes out she should get walking from business to business and ask owners if they'll donate to her fund raiser to get to this event.

She can have her friends come help do a car wash if you can get a store to donate water and a space in their parking lot, she can do a huge garage sale on a business parking lot and put up signs for donations for cheer. There are many things she can do to promote herself.

I know several people who do this for pageants and other things. Almost everyone gives a little bit.

I see your SWH so I am sure I will be flamed but here goes........

My daughter was a cheerleader 5 years, JV Co-Captain and Varsity Captain (2013). She is now a college Junior.

In her last 2 years of high school she was selected both times as All American Cheerleader. Great, I am proud of her. She was a great cheerleader and role model for her team. She filled out the paperwork, received her certificate and patch from AAC to be sewn onto her Varsity jacket and we were done. NO $$$ involved.

YES, she got the grand invitations to be in New York or England on a special All American tour. It is very pricey, upwards of $5000+. It is a HUGE money maker for the AAC group. The AAC plays on parents and cheerleaders the importance of this trip and how special you are. It is a money making ploy to your ego.

Have you heard of those books that parents get when their child is a senior in high school saying "your child is in the Who's Who of all American high school students". Sign up now for YOUR book that has your child's name for $x.xx

Bottom line... the school has nothing to do with your daughter going to the events. The only people involved are involved personally per cheerleader that was selected. It is 100% your choice and your financial responsibility. Any and all expenses/taxes incurred are YOURS.

NO, it is most inappropriate to go ask for sponsorships so your child can go on a trip. In the event that you do find someone that would donate, they will most likely 1099 you at the end of the year (yes you would pay taxes) because you are not a 501c3 organization... you are a private individual asking for money to send your kid on a trip. Bottom line that is what you are doing when you ask for "sponsors".

If you can't afford to foot the bill 100% and send her... Don't do it and please do go around town soliciting funds.

Read the AAC paperwork carefully. After my daughter read the schedules, fees, expectations, etc... we opted NOT for her to go on the trip.

She chose not to spend the money to go on the AAC trips because she would rather go on a trip of a lifetime where she plans her own adventures. So, in May, 2016 she is going with her best friend on a tour of Europe for a month.

This trip will be far more educational than spending the money for an AAC weekend trip and asking for sponsors.

I am sorry, I know you will call me bad names as well but it is what it is.

My son went on two trips in high school. Both were for non-profit charitable organizations, and my son's group went as part of a specific project (one to build a house for orphans, and one to restore an abandoned playground) in Mexico. He wrote letters asking for support, but any funds that he raised were in the form of checks written to the church that was sponsoring the trip, and the church financial officer accounted for all the funds and credited each team member with the funds that he or she raised (checks or money had to specify which team member they were for), and sent tax-deductible receipts to the donors. My son could use any funds that he raised towards his costs, and he earned the rest.

However, your daughter's situation is different. Her wonderful opportunity is not for a non-profit organization or charity. Any donations that you receive will just be out of the goodness of your friends' or family members' hearts.

Businesses, unless they're owned by good friends, won't sponsor such a trip. Taxes have nothing to do with it. This really isn't any different than if you told her that you have decided to send her to Paris as a reward for good grades, or to Italy because she'd like to see some art museums and perhaps pursue an art career someday. It's a personal choice, a personal trip, and an expense that you and your family will have to decide if you can afford. You wouldn't ask for professional sponsorships for a personal trip like those, and you wouldn't consider tax repercussions. You'd simply pay or not pay for a trip.

That doesn't take away from the honor of being selected. Congratulations to her.

Something you can do is have her write letters, and offer her services as a babysitter, dog walker, personal cheerleader trainer for a young girl who wants to go into cheering, house cleaner, etc. She can mention that she's raising funds for a performance at the Liberty Bowl, but she should make it clear that this isn't a tax-deductible situation, just a hard-working, talented, cheerleader trying to go to the Liberty Bowl. Have her establish a separate bank account and keep track of any money she earns. Set the goal and encourage her to try to make it.

I'd do neither. No letters, no trying to get tax deductions (for which I don't think this situation would qualify). Instead, I would encourage your daughter to earn the money. January 3rd is awhile away and I think that there's plenty of time for a 17 year old to earn some cash. You and dad might contribute some, and if there's a birthday or holidays, perhaps family might gift her with some cash to help, but I don't think it's okay to do sponsorship letters. Cheerleading isn't cheap and honestly, if you've had the funds to send her to camp and to involve her in the sport, you need to continue to fund it within your own family.

Best of luck and congrats to your daughter.

ETA: I'm sorry you had a fire. That IS what homeowner's/renter's insurance is for. To cover the costs of recovering from a major loss.

It might be an honor, but it's an honor that your family should cover if you want her to be involved. Nobody is being rude for saying that you should pay for the activites you want your children involved in YOURSELF. That's called "personal responsibility."

I don't really get why you're acting all butthurt that people might be telling you to pay for your child's activities yourself. In this world where every dang thing is a Gofundme, people are getting worn out by other people wanting them to pay for their extravagant adventures and lives.

I don't think paying for a kid to go on a trip is considered a charitable contribution, so no, there won't be any tax benefits for people who give your daughter money.
When I was a high school cheerleader I had a summer job to pay for camp, uniform, competition fees, etc. because my family had no money, and the school gave us very little funding.
Why doesn't your daughter work for it herself, like I did, rather than asking for handouts?

ETA: The info in your SWH would have been SO much more helpful in the original post. Details help, and they save caring members a whole lot of time.

Original Post: It must be very frustrating to have a child qualify for something special and then find out that the costs are to be borne entirely by the family.

However, you are going to be severely disappointed if you start writing letters to companies and merchants asking them to underwrite her trip. They won't. You are not a 501©3 charity and do not qualify to become one. No one will get a tax deduction for donating to you. Whatever community dollars they have will go to community efforts, not individuals like your daughter. There are scores of kids in your town who need help with things - many of whom need help getting basic necessities like backpacks, warm winter coats, and a nutritious breakfast. Your daughter's trip is going to the at the bottom of their priority list, if at all.

If you have a wealthy family, you can have your daughter (not you!) write letters asking for outright cash gifts. Usually those don't go over very well either, but you know your family better than we do. Depending on your traditions, she could possibly ask for cash in lieu of a birthday gift of a holiday gift, but if you're waiting until Christmas to see if she has enough for a January 3rd trip, that's cutting it way too close. However, any gifts to your daughter will probably not put her into the taxable category so she won't have to pay taxes on this herself. Depending on her age and other summer jobs she may have, she may or may not be required to file a tax return. But even if she does, she may be below the taxable income level.

What would make FAR more sense is for your daughter to do things to raise the money. She can do after school jobs, babysit, walk dogs, etc. I'm not sure how old she is and whether she is able to get a job like bagging groceries. However, what she CAN do to enlist the help of friends and neighbors is to offer to help clean out their garages and closets of things worthy of a garage sale, and then advertise her sale. People might be willing to donate things to help her out, because it will also help them clear out clutter without the hassle of holding their own yard sale if they don't have enough stuff to justify it. Your daughter can publicize her yard sale (or more than one, which would make a lot of sense) through any number of free websites. Our town doesn't allow people to put posters on utility poles, but a lot of people will put a poster on a car windshield (front and back) and then park the car in a prominent location. You can get a lot of traffic that way from people who just love the bargains of yard sales. If she puts up a sign at the yard sale that she is trying to earn money for a trip, she could consider a donation jar and ask people if they would donate their change from a purchase - they might do that. If their purchases are $6.50, maybe they'll throw in the extra 50 cents for example. It might now seem like much, but it adds up.

I think you will get much more support if people are helping her work for the money rather than just being hit up for donations. Every school, Scout troop and Pop Warner football team is hitting up people for cash - people get kind of sick of it. So if your daughter is offering an actual service, people might help her out.

It's okay for kids to learn that they have to work for these big treats that they want.

So basically your daughter was invited to perform at the Liberty Bowl and you want friends and family to foot the bill by sponsoring her trip? I've gotten these solicitations from friends and have always figured that if your kid wants to go then its up to your family to foot the bill.

As far as your question? Unless its a 501 charity then no it wouldn't be a tax deduction. Ask the organization about paying tax on this.

I agree with the others that a more realistic plan would be for her to earn the money, and I bet if you got that message out to your network, people would come through with info on available jobs.

To put this in context, you're asking for help to send 1 kid on a great trip to cheer, for an event that is 4 months away. Last year, my SD was on her high school's robotics team, which was a fledgling group of 8 kids who had never won anything. They unexpectedly won a wild card spot in the national championship, which was 10 days away from the day they were notified. They had to raise the $5K team competition fee and figure out how to transport and lodge 8 kids and chaperones from Boston to St. Louis for 5 days (two of which were 14 hours on a bus). Each family, luckily, was able to come up with $500 for their students, and chaperones paid even more. We did a Go Fund Me campaign to raise anything we could and we did raise around $3K, and then the school department kicked in part of the entrance fee so they were able to go. That was seen as a bit of a community opportunity/emergency and their Cinderella story was what moved people to donate.

I bet people will be excited for her and want to help, but the help would be financial support in exchange for work. Congrats and good luck to her!

You should pay taxes on it but you won't be caught if you don't. I can't even believe you asked can they deduct the money on their taxes, no one is that thick, right? Are you a charity? Nope. There is your answer.

Still as TF has pointed out this is basically a scam you fell for. Cut your losses. It is nothing more than a really expensive vacation.

I always find it fascinating how some parents lose their minds, as you did in your what happened, when everyone around you doesn't see your child as the precious little snowflake you do. No one here was rude.

you need to check with your tax accountant on whether or not you'll be liable for taxes on the donations, but i can tell you this much, since you're not actually a charitable organization your donors will NOT be able to write off the donation.
khairete
S.

Because your daughter is not a tax-exempt entity the sponsor(s)s can't claim it as tax-deductible donation.

A person is able to gift money up to an individual up to $14,000 in one year (2015 rules) without owing a gift tax. Asking friends and family is your best bet.

A business may sponsor a person or team in exchange for advertising. For example, if she was able to wear a uniform with their business logo on it at the Liberty Bowl. Generally speaking, a business will decline to sponsor someone who can't offer anything advantageous in exchange.

I am adding this in about the people being able to claim it on taxes. They will not be able to claim it as a charitable donation. However if you are making any kind of booklet or poster type thing with their donations listed it can be claimed as advertising. Thats what our people all did.

No taxes on it if the people make the checks straight out to the cheer company. My daughter did the sponsor thing when she was in the pageant world. There were booklets which sold "ads" We took the form straight to a lot of local businesses. And to her dentist, pediatrician, our Paris women's group etc. They all put ads in that said things like "way to go Rachael" and the company business name. The ads ranged from$25 for 8th of a sheet to couple hundred for whole page ads.

There is nothing wrong with a fund raiser. In a perfect world everyone could afford everything but not everyone can and if someone doesn't want to sponsor they can say no. Congratulations to your daughter.

Good luck with your fund raising.
Everybody's doing it.
Sometimes we can make things happen and other times we just can't afford to.
I get that you're looking for info about taxes on the amount you raise.
It's a good question and every state has different laws about it.
You're going to have to keep what ever is donated in a separate account from your other household money.
You can Google "fundraising tax issues" and get a lot of info but you need info specific to your state.
It might be best to consult with a tax lawyer about your situation.

http://www.idealist.org/info/Nonprofits/Dev3

http://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/irm_04-076-051.html

wow..ask a question...

What sticks out for me in your question is that it's clear to me this is less about how to pay and more about you wanting to provide your daughter with a possibly once in a lifetime experience that she's clearly earned by her hard work and dedication. I give you kudos for encouraging you to get her out into the world and having such rich experiences. It will strengthen her independence and self-reliance.

I am sorry about the fire and can't imagine what that must be like to recover from. I am sure if you pool all your good ideas and glean the useful ones from the postings below, you can make this happen for her with her help of course. I hope she steals the show. :-) S.

Wow people aren't RUDE here at all. I'm sorry you don't understand that if you can't afford to pay for your child to participate in an activity then your child can't go. They will give the "honor" to the next girl on the list. This is not the Olympics, these cheer/dance/pagent programs are set up to make money, period. They don't care how good your daughter is, they only care if she can pay. I can't believe you are so naive that you can't see this!

I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for help to pay for the trip. I asked for help to pay for a trip when I was in high school. I wrote to local doctors, dentists and a few business owners. Many didn't reply, but a few replied and gave me some money toward the trip. I was only 16, so I don't know if my parents ended up paying taxes on it, but I highly doubt it. I know we didn't give the donors any tax ID numbers or anything like that, so I don't know if they were able to deduct it either.

I hope you are able to find a way to send your daughter on this trip. It sounds like quite an honor that she was chosen.

Have her ask any friends/family that would normally give her a birthday or Christmas gift to donate toward this instead. I assume you have a deadline to pay, so she may have to ask early, but I think people would be understanding.

Congratulations to your daughter.

I think the best person to ask about deductions, would be your tax preparer.

My thoughts are, you won't pay taxes on a gift and they will not be able to write off the donation because she is not a designated charity.

If a business donates and receives advertisement, they will not be deductable because they are receiving something for their donation.

Since the school is not assisting, the only thing I can think is a go fund me account. I have dropped $20 in a few go fund me accounts for various reasons. You may want to ask some of the small chains like subway or sonic. Sometimes they have sports donations by giving you discount cards to sell. Check and see what their policy is.

Good luck.