One responsibility of IDC is the approval of charities to which organizations from each school can donate. These charities can have one of two statuses:
- Permanent: School organizations can donate without need of renewal each year; or
- Temporary: School organizations can donate within the school year it is passed, however this status only lasts for that academic year.
When an organization wants a charity to be approved through IDC, they must first receive approval from their Leadership Class. The Leadership Class should refer them to IDC. Respective IDC reps will coordinate with the Student Board Representative, who is a member of the IDC leadership team, to request to present the charity at an upcoming IDC meeting. Please inform your IDC reps when you would like to present and they will coordinate with the Student Board Representative to schedule your attendance at an IDC meeting. When the organization presents to IDC they should be prepared with a brief PowerPoint presentation (3-5 minutes), a nondiscrimination statement from the charity and proof of non-profit status (501c3 also from the charity).
The presentations should be kept brief and concise (5 minute maximum), while including topics such as, but not confined to:
- how the charity spends donations;
- how money will be raised;
- what the donation will go towards; and
- specifics on the charities goals and programs.
If passed by IDC, the Student Board Representative, in coordination with the District liaison to IDC, will schedule a time for the organization to present their proposed charity to the Board of Trustees (at least 2 weeks after the IDC presentation). The Board will have the final decision whether or not to approve the charitable organization (either on a permanent or temporary basis).
The process for approving charities should be started at least 6 weeks prior to the fundraiser.
If a school organization wishes to move the status of a charity to Permanent they must also pass it through IDC. The charity has to have been under temporary approval at least once in the past and donated to by multiple student groups or schools. The presentation to IDC must include information about the years during which the organization has donated to the charity, the amount of money that has been donated and what elements of the charities work have been supported.