FIRST WASHINGTON BOOSTER POLICY – Updated June 30, 2025

WHAT IS A BOOSTER ACCOUNT FOR?

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, FIRST Washington (FW) is allowed to accept tax deductible donations to fund projects that are aligned with our mission and goals. As the 501(c)3 fiscal agent with custody of donated funds, FW will provide oversight of the disbursement of the booster funds through our Booster Account Program. The FW Booster Account Program makes it easier for FIRST Washington teams to fundraise as well as solicit donations from family, friends, and local businesses. FIRST Washington provides this service to support program development and relieve each team from having to form its own non-profit corporation to gather and store team resources.

FW will accept donations from donors who provide a team number and request we direct their donations to support a specific team on the condition that the team accepts and respects the FW funding policies.

FW reimburses authorized team expenditures through the team booster accounts to the extent that the individual team booster account has funds available. If there are sufficient funds in a booster account and if the team presents a request for reimbursement that complies with FW policies, FW will promptly reimburse the requester via direct deposit through Expensify.com.

Reimbursements are processed each business day excluding holidays and may take up to 5 business days after Lead Coach’s approval of expenditure for the funds to reach the recipient’s bank account depending on the individual bank processing times.

OWNERSHIP OF THE BOOSTER ACCOUNT

For tax reasons and IRS rules any money collected or donated through FIRST Washington belongs to FIRST Washington.

Funds allocated towards a FW team booster account do not earn interest or dividends towards the team account. FW keeps all interest.

To open any new FIRST Washington booster account a team needs to be registered & paid with FIRST Inspires and registered with FIRST Washington.

We only offer ONE booster account per team.

No shared or combined team/school/district booster accounts.

If a team is inactive for two seasons (not registered with FIRST Washington, FW will reclaim the funds remaining in the booster account for use to support other teams in need.

If a team is found to have used booster funds in a manner that violates the FW expense policies or is outside the scope of the FW mission, FW reserves the right to suspend the use of the booster account.

If legal action is ever brought against FIRST Washington, we reserve the right to use the funds in the booster accounts.

HOW DO BOOSTER ACCOUNTS SUPPORT TEAM FUNDRAISING?

1. FW offers your team the ability to accept donations online.

a. You can create your own website and link your donation button to FW.

b. If you don’t want to be responsible for your own website, you can use FW’s web-based template to create your own webpage on the FW domain. We send you one link, and in 10 minutes you have a webpage with a team photo and a donation button.

c. You can also use FW’s generic team donation form if you prefer. All teams are listed on our generic page! If your donor selects your team number and donates, the funds will go directly to your team’s booster account.

2. FW will accept checks on your behalf. Checks should be made payable to FIRST Washington with your team number in the memo field; the funds will be applied to your booster account. The mailing address is: FIRST Washington 22426 72nd Ave S Kent, WA 98032

HOW DO TEAMS USE BOOSTER ACCOUNTS FOR REIMBURSEMENTS?

FW provides online services for all booster account holders.

1. Expense reimbursement - EXPENSIFY.COM.

a. Each submitting coach or mentor must connect an individual bank account to their EXPENSIFY.COM profile. We cannot process payments into PayPal, Venmo, or by check.

b. Lead Coaches may authorize mentors and volunteers to create a free profile on EXPENSIFY.COM.

c. Authorized coaches and mentors purchase appropriate goods, services and supplies for team expenses and request reimbursement from the booster account using EXPENSIFY.COM.

d. All requests for reimbursement must be approved by the Lead Coach or the designee of the Lead Coach.

e. After the request is approved by the Lead Coach, FW staff will review the request and if the request aligns with the FIRST mission and FW’s policies, the reimbursement will be processed via direct deposit.

f. Please review the Reimbursement policy carefully, and if in doubt, contact booster@firstwa.org to ask for guidance before incurring expenses. FIRST WA reserves the right to deny expenditures if deemed inappropriate.

g. If an expense is not approved, the finance team will send an electronic message via EXPENSIFY.COM to the requester with an explanation. The requester can then modify the reimbursement request and submit it to the Lead Coach for approval and processing.

2. Financial reports for each booster team - APLOS.COM

a. Upon request, FW will issue one “view only” online license to each team so teams may monitor their own finances online using APLOS.COM.

b. The license may be used by multiple people on the team.

c. Teams can view their donations received to date, reimbursed expenses, donor lists, and team balances to date. Note the balance reflects only what has been received and paid out as of any given date. Expenditures not submitted in a timely manner cannot be known and therefore are not calculated in the team’s funds available, meaning sufficient funds may not be available for a pending reimbursement. All booster teams are highly encouraged to submit expenses as soon as possible for the best service and to maintain accuracy of team account balances.

REIMBURSEMENT GUIDELINES

General

FIRST Washington is the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that carries the responsibility of ensuring that all donated funds are used in a manner consistent with the non-profit mission and program goals. For this reason, FW will approve all reimbursement and other team expenses that are funded by the booster account.

All receipts must be submitted for reimbursement by June 30th of each year for the preceding season. Failure to do so may result in reimbursements being denied.

Expenses for each week should be combined and submitted within one reimbursement request and within one month following expenditures.

FIRST Washington will not reimburse expenses that have been paid or reimbursed by another source.

Typical Reimbursements

• Registration Fees PAID to FIRST Inspires and/or FIRST WA. Proof of payment is required.

• Event fees for FIRST events

• Robot parts and materials

• Field construction

• Project supplies

• T-shirts and appropriate team apparel

• Transportation to events

• Meals while traveling

• Snacks for practice and meetings

• Materials for fundraising and promotion, i.e., printing, graphic design, posters, photography, videography

• Team celebratory meals (team members, coaches, and mentors only).

• Donations to other FIRST teams registered with FIRST Inspires

• Laptops, iPads, and furniture will be approved on a case-by-case basis

Disallowed Reimbursements

• Pass-through payments to individuals.

- Reimbursements require business receipts with the name of the business, address or URL, itemized list of purchases, and the total amount of the purchase.

- FIRST Washington reserves the right to request a vendor W9 prior to approving a reimbursement.

• Donations to other organizations or individuals that are not related to FIRST programming

• Excessive food and beverage – general guideline is no more than the equivalent of $25 per student in one week, excluding meals at events or while traveling to events.

• Receipts for deposits on purchases – We only reimburse for the total amount paid for a purchase.

• We CANNOT process partial reimbursement requests (above the available team booster funds) or reports with any missing receipts. Receipts may only be submitted ONE time for reimbursement. If choosing to receive a reimbursement for the booster account

balance in lieu of waiting for more available funds to cover the full amount of the expense/receipt total- reimbursement for the remaining balance of that expense/receipt will be forfeited.

• Expenses that are unrelated to the team or the team’s project. FW reserves the right to ask for justification of an expense that is not well documented as being relevant to the team project.

• Sibling Expenses – for example, sibling travel and meal expenses at an event.

• All personal expenses are strictly prohibited.

• Alcohol is not an approved purchase and can cause entire reimbursement requests to be denied and need to be resubmitted.