Our PTO sets a line-item budget in the Spring for the upcoming year. Once we complete our biggest fundraiser of the year(our Fall fundraiser) we set the amounts in each line-item based on L/Y spending and any new projects/goals we have in place. We will be voting on our budget in a few days.
We do hold additional small fundraisers throughout the year i.e. Read-A-Thon, sell bunnies for Easter, car wash and dining to donate events. Any additional funds from these go into a "fundraising" line item to be moved where funds are needed throughout the year.
We do specify to our families at the time of the additional fundraisers where the money is going. We simply state "to raise funds for playground improvements" or "to help cover our end of the year budgeted expenses".
Our PTO determines our budget at the beginning of the year so that we remain aware of all potential programs and events that we want to be sure to provide funding for throughout the year, and we base our spending on our anticipated income from our various fundraising efforts planned through the year. Our feeling (with our current Board, that is) is that the parents are doing a great deal of the work do funraise for our school, we need to honor that effort by spending the money in a way that will maximize the benefit to their kids, particularly for those whose children will not even attend our school next year because they'll move on to the middle school.
My perspective is as a fundraising professional, PTO volunteer and Scout leader.
The most successful fundraising programs I have been involved with are where the parents know upfront what the fundraising will fund.
In the PTO, we share with the parents all of the activities and events that are funded.
With our Scout group, we share the budget for the year and divide that by the number of scouts to show what the per scout cost is that we need to raise.
As a QSP rep, the schools who show their parents what their goal is and where the money that is raised goes have a much better response.
Let your families know why money is needed and they will get behind your fundraiser.
There are two different individuals within our PTO debating how funds should be spent.
One said we should raise funds all year and then at the end of the year have an allocation meeting and determine how the funds will be spent the following year.
One said we should spend money as it is raised and at the end of the year we should forecast at the allocations meeting what we anticipate we'll earn for the next year.
The By-Laws don't specify how or when the funds are spent, just that there should be a Spring Allocations meeting.
How do other organizations determine when the funds are spent?
