For

Funding of Tournament Travel and Other Expenses for Parents and Families

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Leagues are often asked to assist with the expenses of travel for parents and families. While these individual expenses can be daunting for some parents, leagues are encouraged to focus on the fundraising specifically for the expenses of the league and not for individuals. The league may however, choose to outline specific expenditures that it will help offset for parents and families, such as bus rentals, travel vouchers, and catered meals, in addition to travel expenses for the players and coaches.

Generally, the league should be careful in its promotion and support of fundraising for a group of individuals and be as transparent as possible when communicating to the public.

Should a league be asked by families of the participants to permit fundraising, a few guidelines should be considered:

  • Little League defines fundraising as the opportunity for Local Chartered Little League programs to raise money to benefit the league, its membership and its activities. Such fundraising should be defined in the league’s constitution and bylaws.
  • The fundraising campaign must be set up and operated separately from the league. The efforts should refrain from using Little League trademarks which are solely reserved for chartered league use so as not to appear as fundraising for the local league.
  • The fundraising campaign and all associated promotion should clearly spell out that the organization is not a non-profit and therefore the donations are not tax
  • deductible.
  • The campaign should also specifically explain how the money will be used and divided and note that it is not being used for the league reimbursement but for parental reimbursement, essentially explaining that it will go back to individuals.
  • Any payments from the fundraising campaign back to the individuals that are $600 or more are considered taxable.
  • Additional requirements, including state and federal tax and charitable solicitation filings, may be required in advance of any such fundraising campaigns.
  • Donations received from local businesses and third-party commercial entities may be acknowledged as a donation, however, use of Little League trademarks to promote local businesses or a connection with Little League is prohibited.

Your Little League® should not be exploited or commercialized in any way nor can you give permission to use your league or team name, which contains Little League trademarks, in commercial advertisements or endeavors including social media.