Community Advice

TAB writes:
Who decided to have the Thirty One fundraiser? Was it the entire board or the president? If the president influenced the decision, then it appears to be a conflict of interest, UNLESS she is giving 100% of the proceeds to the school. In other words, she is not making money from the sales. Her business would still get exposure through the fundraiser, but she would donate her income from the sales to the school.

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Community Advice

Valerie Martinez writes:
I don't know when or how it was decided. I just noticed it this week and feel very unsettled about it. I don't know whose attention to bring it to so that we could get all the facts about the proceeds. Nor how to go about doing it without causing drama or attacking someone's character. I know that this could potentially be a sensitive subject. Especially when you doubt someone's intentions, but I don't think someone should profit when they are on the board, and it is supposed to be a fundraiser.

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Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
So, it sounds like this is well underway. Without knowing all the details, it is hard to say if it is, in fact, a conflict, but certainly it would be reasonable for any member to ask the questions on how this came about at your next meeting. You could even contact the board sooner (if you next meeting isn't for some time) and ask for them to explain how this will work so there is no conflict of interest.

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Community Advice

celexa writes:
I think it's a win win for her and the school. Find out how much proceeds she's giving back versus her own proceed. As long as the school's is more what's the big deal?

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Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Good point, Celexa, but it's important for groups to check bylaws and policies to make sure there is not conflict.

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Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
There's another issue, too. Business people call it opportunity cost. You can't run an unlimited number of fundraisers. In fact, the more fundraisers you run, the lower your returns will be for each one and the more you'll get a reputation as a group that does nothing but ask for money. The opportunity cost question is this: Is this the best fundraiser you can run, or are you giving up the opportunity to run something better -- something that parents would like more and that would raise more money for your group?

In a lot of cases where a board member is a fundraising rep, the fundraiser isn't necessarily the best choice for the group. The group chooses to run it primarily because they don't want to hurt the board member's feelings.

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