It may be your group's way of making sure that the funds they give out are being used in a way that mirrors their mission and goals. We don't get quite that formal. We give each teacher an alloted amount to spend for their classroom and there is a form for them to fill out to get reimbursed. If they need something beyond that fund they simply come to a meeting or speak with a board member who can represent them and tell us what they need and how this item will benefit the students. It then gets voted on right then and there. I don't remember us ever turning down a request. It's kind of the same thing your group is doing but in a simple way without paperwork. Of course, the request would be recorded in the minutes of the meeting so we would have that paper trail to rely on if needed.
Sounds like busy work to me. We do have a check request form that must be filled out and it has a blank to fill in showing what the money was used for. Maybe that's what they are talking about. We have a check request for every expenditure so there's a paper trail of where the money went. There's also a corresponding entry in our quicken files that the treasurer keeps. As long as you have a record of where all the money went, and as long as it's used for legitimate PTO expenses, I don't think you need a separate "grant request".
Hi, first time user here. We have 501c3 status and I was told that when any request for funds from PTO came in, they would have to be a "grant request" and must list the educational objective of the purchase item and then follow up with how this objective was met. Is this the legally appropriate way to ask for funds or just busy work?
