We paid for all of our budgeted items, a couple of new programs for the school, and held 2 extra events, and we are still looking at a large balance at the end of our FY (June 30). In fact, we're still selling Memory Books, and I'll make another deposit on the last day of school!

In the past the board talked about a new shade unit for the upper-grade playground, but never put it up for a vote.

So, with 3 school days left, I'm pushing for a meeting to discuss the excess funds. Needless to say, I'm not a very popular person right now because everyone just wants the year to end!

I would worry that a large General Fund carryover could actually hurt fundraising efforts. I, for one, wouldn't feel like giving money to a group who already doesn't know what to do with what they have.

I agree with the other posters who differentiate between general carryover and allocated funds. Allocated funds means you have a plan for it and are working towards a goal. If you're $7,000 into a $10,000 playground plan, I'd donate more. If you had $7,000 just laying around I'd say, "Well, use that first."

It took some doing for my fellow board members to convince me to even allocate committee budgets for next year because I'm a "spend it the year you raise it" person. They showed me how it's not only convenient but responsible to set up the committee budgets if the funds are available. The first year is the hardest. After that, the funds should cycle in and out on a regular basis. I'm stubborn but reasonable. They won me over.

we don't carry over hardly anything, like less than $1000.00 we do have a fall bookfair in September that covers the Fall Festival and that is our first biggest fall costs. We do a fall fundraiser after welcome coffee cart, block party, and open house so it isnt the first thing they see from us. We have a small budget and carrying over doesnt seem to be an option for us, we truly believe that every dime needs to spent down.We have done this for four years and have never had a problem so it works!I think each group needs to look but be careful why raise money and have it setting there if there are no big plans in the making? From a different point of view it doesn't look good, our old pta did this and the parents resented it.

[ 05-25-2006, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: pals ]

Rollover is a great topic. Our school never had any money to carry over and it made for a very tough September. So after our treasurer pleaded the case and informed all members of what was traditionally funded in September we all agreed to hold back $5000.oo. We begain September with teacher clasroom $ and have a big back to school event so we needed money to jumpstart those approved items.
So now every April we look at our funds and account for all preapproved funded items and then put to a vote (in May/June) an amount to rollover for September. The amount may be different each year and all interested parties must submit their possible expenses fo carry over to be approved by a majority vote.
Our other agreement is to spend our profits in the year we raise them (exception being carry over)so that parents who supported a fundraiser can see that it benefits their child and the school while they still are there.

Appropriated money isn't a 'mystery'. It's allocated to specific line items so that, no matter what happens, these events are guarenteed to happen.
I live in central NJ and after September 11th, we had a dramatic decline in the $ generated that whole school year. We had a hard time making budget on any of our fundraisers. We all made hefty donations to the 9/11 fund that year and scaled back on other donations, including those to school. That is one of many reasons we decided to take the cautious approach. You can't count on next years revenue and if you know that you want to run 2 assemblies and a family fun night in the fall, you had better make sure you have the funds to cover it.
Our students lack for nothing and every teacher request is granted each year with PTO monies. Spending down your funds just because you have them makes little sense in the overall scheme of a PTO.

I do agree that every PTO should have a master plan that goes along with all the fundraising that is done. This is something that I have championing for years but have unsuccessful in implementing.

Like some of the other posters, our bylaws require us to carryover a minimum amount(ours is $2000). This was determined by looking at what expenses we incur of the summer and at the beginning of the school year before our first fundraiser. It's really a bit more than we actually need, but it gives us a little cushion in case something comes up.

As for carrying over large amounts in "mystery" accounts-I can't stand that. If you have something to spend the money on the next year, then earmark it for that purchase otherwise, ask your parents, teachers, and principal if they have anything they feel the school needs or would be beneficial for the students. When I fundraise, I want to see that money go to work not sit in an account collecting dust.

We had some surplus this year but most of the items the on the school wish list were above what we had, so we looked at our priorities in relation to the programs we offer and decided to earmark a large portion to cover the costs of our program that gives funds to teachers to buy items for their classroom. It's nice to know that next year is already covered in that area and we won't have to make cuts if our fundraiser doesn't do well. We also allotted some money for some items that will be purchased over the summer for next year. It felt good to know that the hardwork we had all done to raise the funds was going to actually be beneficial to the school and not just be a big number in the checking account.