Question: Non-disclosure on some expenses

Our school has a PTO and I was recently told that certain events (Father/daughter for example) was "self-funded." I looked on the budget statement, and sure enough there is no monies allocated for it yet there aren't any donations for it listed either. It is a very extravagant event so I'm just wondering if the PTO has to at least disclose donations like that?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
We always recommend that PTOs be transparent about finances. It's a best practice to share information about how much you raise, how you raise it, and how you spend it.

In the case you describe, it sounds like you think there might be an individual donor or several who funded this event. There's no requirement for PTOs to disclose who donated money to them, and certainly some people prefer to keep their donations private.

Is it possible that by self-funded they simply mean that money for tickets and sponsorships, for example, is collected in advance and used to pay expenses? And possibly that carry-over from the previous year's event is also used? If that's the case, I do think that information should be disclosed.