Youth Development Fund
Continuing to promote the growth of youth ultimate, particularly among under-served populations, will require more financial resources than those currently generated through ongoing DiscNW activities. The Youth Development Fund (YDF) is an account created to provide a repository for funds generated through fundraising activities that can be used to support specified youth-related activities.
Funds may be used for the following purposes:
- Financial assistance for school-based or “club” (e.g., MoHo or YCC) youth teams that could be used for costs associated with leagues and tournaments. Costs covered could include, but are not necessarily limited to, entry/registration fees, transportation, and/or food.
- Scholarships for individual players that could be used to attend camps. Costs covered could include, but are not necessarily limited to, entry/registration fees, transportation, and/or food.
- Stipends to individuals for coaching local school or “club” teams (e.g., MoHo or YCC).
- Financial aid to individuals coaching local school or “club” teams (e.g., MoHo or YCC), for the purpose of participating in professional development activities (e.g., clinics and conferences).
- Costs associated with outreach efforts carried out by DiscNW employees and volunteers in schools that do not have established ultimate programs. Established ultimate programs are defined as programs that have participated in a DiscNW youth league in the last two years.
Funds may not be used for the following purposes:
- Costs associated with DiscNW programs that do not involve youth players.
- Costs associated with lobbying activity.
- Costs associated with conducting Youth Committee meetings.
The fund will be administered by the Executive Director (ED), the Treasurer, and the Director of Youth Operations (DoYO), under the direction of the Youth Strategic Committee (YSC). In administering the YDF, the ED, Treasurer and DoYO have the following responsibilities:
- Preparing an annual budget for the YDF.
- Implementing funding initiatives to support the YDF.
- Advertising the availability of YDF funds.
- Presenting requests for YDF funding to the YSC.
- When teams are requesting funds, the DoYO and ED will research and provide information to the YSC about the teams’ economic need.
- Distributing funds as directed by the YSC.
- Providing fund balance, as well as any information on funds allocated or received in the prior month, in the Director of Youth Operations’ monthly report to the Board of Directors.
The YSC has the following responsibilities:
- Providing YDF budget guidance to the DoYO, ED, and Treasurer.
- Developing funding initiatives to support the YDF.
- Making decisions on requests for YDF funds. The YSC will consider the following:
- Economic need of the applicant.
- Female applicants will be given preference over male applicants when making decisions between individual candidates (e.g., when individual players are applying for scholarships to attend camps or coaches are applying for stipends for professional development purposes).
In the event that the YSC believes funds are being misappropriated, it may direct the Treasurer to freeze appropriations of funds from the YDF until any issues regarding potential misappropriation are resolved.
The Board of Directors will review fund allocations at least once annually. If the Board believes that funds are being misappropriated, it may override all YSC decisions regarding expenditures from the fund, and it may direct the Treasurer to freeze appropriations of funds from the YDF until any issues regarding potential misappropriation are resolved.
Only the Board of Directors shall have the authority to amend this policy. DiscNW staff and the YSC may make revision recommendations only.