4-H Club Management
The club year runs October 1 through September 30. Each year clubs are required to renew their charter while ensuring all requirments are met to keep the club active. The unit office sets due dates annually for various forms, record books and required training updates. Clubs must meet minimum requirements to remain active. If all requirements are not met the club may be suspended.
November 1st: Project Record Books due to Extension office. 4-H Agent Extension can make arrangements to pick up at the October club meetings, when the agent position is filled. If Horse Club Members do not submit, members will not be able to enter in any 2024 4-H State horse shows.
Notify Hanover 4-H Agent or UAA who the adult leaders and volunteers will be so that any new training can take place. As per VCE 4-H Policies, there must be at least 2 adult co-club leaders and they must be enrolled, trained and approved in 4Honline. A roster of elected and trained youth officers must be set for the next club year by December 17, 2023.
November 30th : Club renewal forms are due to the Hanover office and are available for download below. Club leaders should use the 4-H Club Packet Submittal Checklist below to ensure all items are submitted by the due date.
- Club Leadership Information
- Volunteer/Member List
- Charter Renewal- at least 5 members must be enrolled and approved in 4Honline 2.0 by Extension staff by October 31st in order for the club to remain active.
- Civil Rights Compliance
- Club Constitution & Bylaws- club members should create their own and approve by vote.
- Club Annual Goals and Program Plan- fillable forms provided below or use your own format
- Property Inventory form- Any equipment valued $250 or more purchased with Club Funds must be listed on this form. If there is no club property return the form with the top part completed and enter N/A- No Equipment
- Secretary Record Book
- Treasurer Record Book
Fillable forms available below:
Treasurer's Record Book sections:
- Completed 4H Treasurer’s Record Book Cover Page.
- Income/Expense Log: There is a fillable Adobe pdf log provided, so that it can be maintained and printed monthly. Create a separate file for 4-H Foundation, 4-H Local and Paper Clover. Each transaction should be updated on the log as it occurs so that transactions are not missed.
- Monthly Bank Statements: Deposit and Expense documentation are attached in chronological date order.
- 4-H Treasurer’s Monthly Reports: The Treasurer is responsible for preparing and giving a report at each club meeting consisting of beginning balance, money received, funds spent, and the ending balance in the club account(s). These should be done after receiving monthly bank statements and prior to meetings.
- 4-H Treasurer's Annual Report and Audit Report: This should be done at the end of the club year, September 30th. This is when the Treasurer’s Record Book is to be completed and audited within the club. A Club Auditing committee should be assigned to review the club records and funds at the end of the year. The committee should consist of a Club Leader, a Parent Volunteer (if available) and a 4-H member. They cannot be the Treasurer or their parent. This needs to be completed prior to being submitted to the Hanover Extension office for audit by the UAA.
- Retain all Treasurer Record Books for 5 years years. After this period they can be destroyed and disposed of in an appropriate manner.
4-H Club funds are controlled under the VA Tech University system to allow for each VCE Unit’s 4-H Club to deposit and disburse funds necessary for club related business. These funds are primarily secured through fundraising.
- Local Club: Funds can be used for the purpose for which they are raised in support of 4-H with the exception of alcohol, gift cards, and gas cards which are prohibited.
- Foundation: In addition, 4-H Clubs have Virginia Tech Foundation accounts, so donations can be processed as tax deductible. For example: Paper Clover and feed tag funds are placed in the Virginia Tech Foundation Fund for VCE Hanover and tracked for each club.
- Gifts-In-Kind: Clubs may receive items of value for use rather than funds, such as feed for their horses at the State Horse Show or new saddles.
Budget
In the beginning of the club year, members must plan annual their goals for the year, which includes budget, fundraising activities, programming, and expenditures for the year. The plan must be reflected in the meeting minutes given that all expenditures must have documented club approval prior to the expense.
Fundraising
All money raised using the 4-H name must be used only for activities approved by the club and follow club by-laws and the mission of 4-H. Club funds are publicly accountable and must not be used in any way to enrich individuals. This means that money may not be given out to individual club members or others, but must be used to pay for educational programs, activities, workshops, community service projects or 4-H club supplies. Money may be transferred to fund county, state or national 4-H programs.
Clubs conducting fundraising activities must account for all funds collected. Clubs that are selling items and soliciting donations must use a Purchase or Order Log depending on when the item is received. The log should consist have dates, names, item(s) being purchased, amount paid and payment type (cash/check). Note: clubs purchasing items for re-sale (i.e. fundraising, concessions, etc.) will pay sales tax at time of purchase. Clubs soliciting donations without items for sale must keep a Donation Log with date received, name, amount and payment type (cash/check).
Any flyers or other types of advertisement must follow VCE/VA Tech policy such as displaying the correct logos and indicia statements. If a “Certificate of Insurance” is needed for a business or property owner where your club will be conducting their activities, email the VCE Hanover Unit Admin Assistant (UAA), Missy Johnson with details about the event.
Expenditures and Reimbursements
All club expenditures must be pre-approved in advance by the club membership and recorded by the secretary in the meeting minutes, preferably in the beginning of the club year when creating annual goals for the club. This pre-approval of expenditure is necessary to ensure that the club has adequate funds to cover the expense and that the club account is not overspent. Any request to purchase or reimburse, must be accompanied by completed and signed 4-H payment or reimbursement club forms with required supporting documentation. A W9 Form is required to be on file in Banner in order for all payments to be processed. This form is provided by the UAA prior to payment processing if there needs to be an update as per VT Controller's Office.
4-H clubs are not required to pay sales tax when purchasing items for use by the club if the items are purchased directly by the club through the Virginia Tech purchasing systems. When 4-H clubs buy materials for their educational programs, they do not pay sales tax. The vendor may require they submit Form ST-12, “Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption” (available from your Extension office or from the VA Department of Taxation). All efforts should be made to provide a Sales Tax form at the time of purchase. If an individual purchases items for use by the club and pays sales tax at the time of purchase, the individual will be reimbursed for the purchases and for the tax paid.
Reconciliations and Bank Statements
The VCE Hanover office sends 4-H Clubs monthly bank statements to the Treasurer/Parent Volunteer and Club Leader after reconciling all Hanover Extension office departmental funds. The Treasurer with help from Parent Volunteer are responsible for ensuring that the bank statement reconciles with the Treasurer book expenditure and deposit documentation.
Download guidelines and forms below:
Adults wishing to be 4-H Club leaders and volunteers must attend training and have a background check. 4-H Extension Agent, Jess Soffee and Volunteer Coordinator, Angelette Pryor will be in contact to schedule training and background checks. The following training is conducted:
- Welcome to Extension, 4-H Club Leader and Volunteer, and any other necessary info (COVID)
- Risk management
- Civil rights
- Youth
- Finance
Background checks must be conducted every 3 years for adult volunteers in contact with youth on a daily basis. If volunteers are involved with 4-H camp (overnight), then background checks are conducted annually. The new 4HOnline 2.0 system will now track the type of volunteer you are and when background checks are to be conducted.
Finance training is conducted with the club Treasurer and parent volunteer and club leaders. This training will be conducted when new Adult 4-H Treasurer Volunteers are elected. The Unit Administrative Assistant will be in contact to schedule this training.