School or club getting a license

If your federation requires organizations (schools, studios, teams) to hold licenses, you’ll apply here. This is different from individual dancer licensing — you’re applying as an organization, not as a person.

What this step is for

You’ll:

  • Understand what license items your federation offers for organizations
  • Submit an application on behalf of your school/club
  • Complete payment (if required)
  • Be approved by your federation
  • Distribute license access to your members

Who does this step

An organization administrator does this. That’s you if you set up the school/club organization in Vote4Dance.

If you’re not sure you’re an admin, check:

  1. Sign in to Vote4Dance
  2. Go to your organization settings
  3. Look for your name in the Members or Users list
  4. You should see your role listed as “Admin” or “Administrator”

If it says “Member” or “Viewer”, ask your admin to upgrade your role.

Important: Organization vs Organizational License

You must have:

  • ✓ An organization created in Vote4Dance (your school/club entity)
  • ✓ Admin access to that organization
  • ✓ Approval from your federation that your organization can participate

If your federation hasn’t approved your organization yet, you may see a “Pending” status in your organization settings. Contact your federation to confirm you’re approved before applying for licenses.

Before you start

Gather this information:

What You Need Example
Organization name “Lincoln High School Dance Team”
Which federation? “Northeast Dance Federation”
What license do you need? “High School Team License” or “Studio Competition Package”
Which season/year? “2026”
How many dancers will this cover? “25” (just estimate)
Will you need to pay? “Yes, $500” or “It’s free”

Step-by-step: Apply for an organizational license

Step 1: Go to your organization’s licensing page

  1. Sign in to Vote4Dance
  2. Go to your organization dashboard (or click Organizations in the menu)
  3. Find and click your organization (example: “Lincoln High School Dance Team”)
  4. Look for Licenses or License Applications in the navigation menu
    • You might see it in: Management Menu → Licenses, or a Licenses tab at the top
  5. Click View Licenses or Manage Licenses
  6. Click + Apply for License or Request License

Step 2: Select your license item

You’ll see a list of available license items your federation offers.

Example items you might see:

• High School Team License — covers whole school team, season-wide
• Studio Competition Package — covers studio members, 5 competitions included
• Affiliate School License — non-member school, per-year
• Workshop Participant Pass — single-event, $50

Pick the right one for your organization:

  • Choose the item that matches your organization type (School, Studio, etc.)
  • Choose the scope you need (season-wide vs. single-event)
  • Choose the cost level you can afford

Example decision:

  • “I’m Lincoln High School, we want season-wide coverage, so I pick High School Team License”

Step 3: Fill in the application form

You’ll see a form like this:

Field What to Enter Example
Organization Pre-filled — verify this is YOUR organization “Lincoln High School Dance Team”
Federation Pre-filled — verify this is correct “Northeast Dance Federation”
License Item Pre-filled with your choice from Step 2 “High School Team License”
Season Year Select the year this license covers “2026”
Number of Members Approximate count of dancers in your organization “25”
Requested Expiration Date Optional; when should this license end? “12/31/2026”
Special Notes Optional special requests or situation details “We have a new coach; previous application was void”

Common fields explained:

  • Organization: This is always your organization. If it’s wrong, go back and select the correct organization first.
  • License Item: This is the specific thing you’re applying for. The federation decides what items are available.
  • Season Year: Pick the calendar year or season (example: “2026 Spring Season” means the year 2026)
  • Number of Members: This helps your federation understand your organization size. Be honest but approximate is OK (“about 20” is fine).
  • Notes: Use this if your situation is unique (“Our school merged with another”, “We’re a new organization applying for the first time”, etc.)

Step 4: Review and submit

  1. Re-read the form to ensure:
    • Organization is correct
    • License item is what you intended
    • Year is correct (not next year by accident)
    • Any special notes are clear
  2. Click Submit Application or Apply button
  3. You’ll see a confirmation message: 
    Application submitted successfully.
Your application ID: APP-12345
Status: Pending Review
  4. Note the Application ID (you may need it for support)

Step 5: Payment (if required)

Some license items are free; others require payment.

If you see a “Pay Now” button:

  1. Click Pay Now
  2. Review the amount (example: $500)
  3. You’ll go to Stripe checkout
  4. Enter payment details:
    • Full Name (your name, as organization admin)
    • Email address
    • Card information (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, etc.)
  5. Review the amount
  6. Click Pay or Complete Payment
  7. You’ll return to Vote4Dance with a success message
  8. Your application status changes to “Paid, Pending Approval” (or similar)

If there’s no “Pay Now” button:

  • The license is free; skip to Step 6

Step 6: Wait for federation approval

Your federation admin will review your application.

Status timeline:

  • Immediate → Application goes to “Pending Review”
  • 1-3 days → Federation reviews it
  • Result: Either “Approved” or “Rejected” (with reason)

To check your application status:

  1. Go back to your organization → Licenses
  2. Look for your active application
  3. See the Status column
    • ⏳ “Pending Review” = waiting
    • ⏳ “Pending Payment” = you haven’t paid yet
    • ✓ “Approved” = Ready to use (you can give to members now)
    • ✗ “Rejected” = Application denied; ask your federation why

If approved:

  • Proceed to Step 7

If rejected:

  • Read the rejection reason carefully
  • Fix the issue (example: “We require member list first”) and reapply
  • Or contact your federation if unclear

Step 7: Distribute license to your members

Once approved, your members need to link it to their dancer accounts.

Provide this info to your members:

"I've applied for your license. When it's approved (1-3 days),
it will automatically show in your Vote4Dance account under
Account -> Licenses. You should see [License Name] listed
with status ACTIVE.

If it doesn't show up after 3 days, tell me and I'll contact 
the federation."

Your members don’t need to do anything — the license shows automatically once approved.

Step 8: Verify before using

Before your members register for events:

  1. Go to your organization → Licenses
  2. Find your active license
  3. Check each member can see it:
    • Have a few members sign in
    • Go to Account → Licenses
    • Confirm they see your organization’s license listed with status ACTIVE

If any member doesn’t see it after 1 hour, check that they’re added to your organization.

Real-world example: High School Team

Scenario: You’re the coach of Lincoln High School dance team (25 dancers). Your federation requires organizations to have team licenses.

Your steps:

  1. You already created the organization “Lincoln High School Dance Team” in Vote4Dance
  2. Sign in, go to organization, click Licenses
  3. Click + Apply for License
  4. See available items; select High School Team License (Season 2026)
  5. Fill form:
    • Organization: Lincoln High School Dance Team
    • License Item: High School Team License
    • Season Year: 2026
    • Number of Members: 25
    • Notes: (leave blank)
  6. Click Submit
  7. See “Pay Now” button; license costs $500
  8. Click Pay Now → Stripe → Enter card → Pay $500
  9. Return to Vote4Dance, see “Pending Approval”
  10. Next day: Federation approves it
  11. Status changes to APPROVED or ACTIVE
  12. You text the team: “Your licenses are live. Check your account.”
  13. Each dancer signs in, goes to Account → Licenses, sees: 
    Lincoln High School Dance Team - High School Team License
Season: 2026
Status: ACTIVE ✓
Expires: 12/31/2026
  14. Now all 25 dancers can register for competitions

Troubleshooting

“I clicked submit but nothing happened”

  1. Wait 5 seconds
  2. Refresh the page
  3. Check if the application appears in your license list
  4. If you don’t see it, try submitting again (may have timed out)

“It says ‘Rejected’ but I don’t know why”

  1. Click on the rejected application to see the reason
  2. Common reasons:
    • “Federation hasn’t approved your organization yet” → Ask federation to approve your organization first
    • “License item not available for your org type” → Pick a different license item
    • “Organization member list incomplete” → Complete your organization profile first
  3. After fixing, apply again

“I’ve been ‘Pending Review’ for 5+ days”

  1. Check federation office hours—maybe they’re closed?
  2. Email your federation admin: “Application [ID] still pending since [date]”
  3. Sometimes approval is manual; waiting is normal

“I applied and paid but members don’t see the license”

  1. Confirm application status is APPROVED or ACTIVE (not “Pending”)
  2. Tell members to:
    • Sign out and back in
    • Go to Account → Licenses
    • Refresh the page
  3. If still not showing after 1 hour, check:
    • Are those dancers listed in your organization? (Go to Org Members)
    • Are they signed in with the right account?
  4. If organization membership is missing, add them, then wait 5 minutes for cache

“I need to add more dancers mid-season”

  1. Add the new dancers to your organization (Organization → Members → Add Member)
  2. They automatically get access to your active license
  3. They should see it in Account → Licenses within 1 hour

When you’re ready

Once your license is ACTIVE and all members can see it:

  • They can register for events
  • They can compete
  • They can earn rankings

Next step

Continue to Applying for a school/club.