Most of the funds we receive through fundraising, corporate partnerships, etc... gets used up each year-- we usually only carry over a small amount-- unless we were working toward a big project goal-- If you find a way to earn Big- big money that can be put away and used in the future, please let us know-- i know fundraising is way down this year anyway, so corporate donations and sponsorships is how we are making our budget work
This is right now "pie in the sky" thinking...I am the fundraising chair for our PTO this year for a school that has been open for three years. I thought if there was a way to have our business liason partner solicit corporate donations that could be put into a long term fund we could ultimately eliminate fundraisers and spend the interest off the endowment. This certainly would not be a short term solution, but just trying to think outside of the box for the future. I was a junior league member and most leagues have begun an endowment to provide such long term funding. Just looking for some thoughts on this.
Wow, a PTO starting an endowment fund! Don't endowment funds usually mean pretty major money, with restricted use such that the principal is invested and left untouched while all or part of the annual investment income is available for the charitable orgs programs?
Much as I respect parent groups and believe in their work, I personally think that's overly ambitious. Or is there another type of endowment fund? In my mind, when you get into that kind or money/fundraising, it shouldn't be managed by a group of voluteers that potentially change year to year. It should be left to educational foundations affiliated with the school district.
Then again, there are certainly atypical parent groups that raise much more money than most of us would ever dream. So "never say never".
In an effort to minimize future fundraising efforts, have any PTO's started an endowment fund with an ultimate goal of funding PTO activities by drawing off of this account?
If so, how did you get started?
How much money did you have to start the endowment?
How much money do you draft out of the endowment annually?
Did you publicize the endowment to look for corporate donors or matching contributions?
Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
