You need to look at your group, your school to see what the goals and policies are. Raise funds to meet the goals.

We used to raise $15,000-$25,000 (net) that went into various programs. (500-600 kids) By policy, only two sales type fundraisers per year are allowed and ownership of those has moved around over the years.

A year or so ago, the district directed the schools to take over both sales fundraisers, asked the parent groups to focus more on volunteerism and other programs, and instructed the schools to rely on them less for funds.

We still sell T-shirts, school supplies, host some breakeven family events, and hold an annual Spring Fling. I'm not on the board this year, but I'd guess the net is less than $5000.

As far as our goals, nothing's really changed except less money flows thru our account. The school still has 1-2 sales fundraisers (for which PTO provides volunteers). Funds from those sales still go for "extras".

Our priority goals are still volunteerism, school spirit, support of school programs, and teacher appreciation.

our budget tries to be around 20,000 for a school of 467 kids, we do alot of free family nights! this past year we ended way down but managed to scrap through! we are looking at our whole fundraising picture for next year, see what we can do different.

Our PTO raises about $22k for a school of 700 kids. We budget to spend all but $2,000, the amount required by our bylaws to carryover into next year.

Based on your question, it sounds like your PTO doesn't create an annual budget. Like Scott's Mom suggested, you can figure out where your money came from and how it was spent last year by reviewing the check book register for the year. Have the treasurer photocopy the pages in the register for the past year. Then you can dig through the transactions to figure out what went on. Finally,I'd go one step further and formalize that analysis into a budget plan for next year.

Create a simple spreadsheet with income at the top and expenses at the bottom. List all the expected sources of income (ex: dues, fundraising) along with how much you expect to earn. This info can come from last year's checkbook. Then list all the general categories for expenses (ex:Assemblies, Music productions, etc.) and how much you spent last year. Include an amount that your bylaws says you need to keep on hand from year to year. If you want to fund more activities than you can afford, add more fundraising or scale back the plans. Then tweak all the components until your budget balances. If you start next year with a formal budget, everyone will know the direction for the year. A budget can answer the questions you have as new president, for both you and all the members of the PTO.

[ 05-01-2005, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Critter ]

First, I would go over what was spent in the last year and make a list. This is last year's budget. Take it before your group and ask if anyone has any suggestions about. Take that into consideration and you have your fundraising goal for the year. Our budget for the year was around $18,000 for a school of 476. These amounts very from school to school based on income, participation, donations, and many other factors. Most use last year as a starting point and tweak it to their groups preferences and capabilities.

How much do most schools try to raise in an average year? This is my first year as pto president of an elementary school of about 540 students. I know they have a few projects for this year but nothing that was a large amount mostly assemeblies, music productions, things like that. What questions should I be asking to get things off on the right foot? Thanks for all the wonderful advice from the great website.

Cindy