I would definitely get the word out to get as many opinions/votes as possible. After all, the community, parents, etc are the ones that donated a lot of that money. Sure, you won't be able to please everyone but that's part of the reason for voting, get the majority.

Another thought, something we did last year when we had leftover funds, is you could adopt a local preschool, help them out with some needs. We're in a smaller town with a couple of wonderful volunteer run preschools (teachers are certified, everyone else donates items, time, etc.) and since many of our children had attended them we were aware that they could use some help too.

Good luck, I'm sure whatever you do with the extra will be wonderful and very much appreciated!!

Here's the exact situation we're dealing with......

We needed to raise matching grant funds for a BIG project and had several grant applications pending while we were fundraising.

People were so excited about the project that they gave, gave, gave more than we ever expected. Now guess what? We got so lucky we received every grant we applied for and now have enough money to pay for the project twice.

I've spoken to the grantmakers who have said go ahead and use the grant funds for the project. When people gave donations, they specifically gave towards a certain project and we put it in a seperate PTO fund.

Should we hold a PTO meeting and vote how to otherwise spend their donations? Most of the $ came from the community, not the school families. I can't personally contact everyone who ever bought a brownie or a raffle ticket to make sure they're ok with how we spend the surplus. Should I get the word out through the local media that we are having a meeting and want to hear from the community? We already plan to send a personal invite to each of our 40 voting members and a flyer home in the backpacks.

The words ethical, moral, right-to-know have been big ones at the exec board meetings but we can't seem to come to a consenus....Any thoughts?:confused:

We had this situation one year and this is how we handled it. We let everyone know (teachers, prinicpal, & the members) that we had $5000 extra that we could spend. We invited everyone to come to our meeting to propose what they would like to spend the $5000. What items did we feel we needed and what items would be most beneficial...etc. Everyone voiced their opinions and discussions ensued. We narrowed the playing field to what items we would consider to vote on. Then did reaserch on said items. At the next meeting we discussed it again and held a vote to determine what we would do with the money. It was all as democratic a possible.

I agree with the "do more" concept, but you may want to focus on things like equipment that have long term impact (i.e., things that will benefit the school for years to come) or else explain this is a one-time windfall - for example, if you give each teacher funds for supplies.

This is a great situation in which to find yourself. But be very careful not to set up expectations that whatever you do will be repreated every year or that next year people will think, "well LAST year's kids got to do this, so ours should, too."

The one year we were in this situation, we bought additional equipment and supplies that benefited the entire school: new set of die cuts for resource room, science supplies, lighting for school stage, supplies for music and PE teachers. I think the die cut set cost about $500, but it will be used every day for years and years. The stage lightening was definitely something that never would have made it into anyone's budget.

You might also look at equipment such as a popcorn machine. Those can be pretty pricey, but come in handy so many times during the year.

You didn't say how much, but my sense is that everyone's probably already feeling pretty pumped that your initial project went so well, so you probably have some happy folks. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing something special like bringing in a program or having a party, I'd probably look for good old basics that would have a day to day impact but might not be perceived as the most exciting thing to fund.

In our distict, We have several PTO's that make more than they need for there project or goals. Most of them give to the Title I schools PTO's in the distict. To help those PTO's provide for their kids.

But If that is not something your PTO wants to do. I would consider buying a popcorn, snow cone maching and big items you would use at different events. We have both and It is a great reward to use for the kids during the year as well.

send it my group's way! hee hee. I think D pretty much hit it right on the head, another thing you could do is put aside some of it so you don't have to fundraise alot next year-what a treat to your families. Look around your school and see what it can use, also remember that fun aspect and your families. lucky you...