To boosterprez: If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the 2 accounts might have been an "Accountant" suggestion way back when....to help with taxes, perhaps.
Although, as long as we keep a minimum daily balance in our Philanthropy account we will also earn interest in our Operating account. Which works great because we don't always keep the minimum daily balance in the operating account to get interest on its own merits.
To mykidsmom: The money in the Operating account, which is funded by the Membership dues, can only be allocated as much as we raise in Membership. In a way, it restricts the allocation of expenses to reasonableness.
Since the Philanthropy account is funded by the fundraisers that we do, this money can only be spent on requests from the school/teachers/faculty/etc.
To JHB: In years past, they have placed Teacher Appreciation expenses in the Operating account. Teacher reimbursements/checks have been paid out of the Philanthropy account because they were gifts to the teachers to purchase things for the classrooms that would be used by the students.
Misc. gifts, like teacher/admin retirement gifts have been paid out of the Operating account.
With all of that said, thank you for all of your input! It has really helped us in our debate. It is nice to have other people to look to for input and helpful suggestions.
Where do you normally categorize teacher appreciation expenses?
We tend to think of our programs/activities as supporting the school, with most - but not all - efforts targeted directly at the children. Certain activities, such as teacher appreciation, indirectly benefit the children by increasing school spirit and morale as well as strengthening relationships with teachers.
To me, this fits under your "philanthropy account". Personally, I think your group has defined it a bit too narrowly. If ours had two accounts, the one that wasn't operating expenses would have to be everything else. We'd call it something more like "programs".
I see this as a in kind gift and see it as apart as the operational expense as that is what you have ear marked that acount to cover.
An idea, if there can't be an agreement would a parent from each class be willing to help with a collection from each child to pay for a yearbook. OR if you collect membership dues, would that be enough to pay for part or all of the books....
Otherwise, to me in reading your post, you've answered your own question as to were the funds can come from.
ps I think the two accounts are genius! A great way to keep operation expenses separate from raised money ment for the school,etc.
"Operating expenses" are the cost of doing "business"...I don't see this expense in that light, so I would put this under your "philanthropy" account.
Why did you see a need for having two separate accounts? Have you considered, instead, preparing an annual budget, which will outline how much you will spend on certain "operating" expenses before your year begins?
We start our year with a budget that outlines these relatively "known" expenses...teacher luncheon, office-type expenses, enrichment programs, hospitality, etc. Once we back out these items, we know what we have left for wish-list items and teacher/classroom gifts.
Perhaps you already do the same thing, but maintain the two accounts for simplicity?
We are in the process of "categorizing" an expense that is new to our budget and paying it; the expense has already been approved from the general membership. We are split 50/50 on which bank account that this expense should be paid from.
Background info: We use 2 bank accounts. 1 is for operating expenses, which is funded by membership dues. And 1 is for philanthropy expenses, which is funded by our fundraisers.
The general membership has agreed to buy memory books/yearbooks for the teachers and staff at our school vs. having them pay for it as in years past.
Some of us are of the thought that it should be taken out of the Philanthropy account because we are giving the teachers/staff/faculty/etc. a gift from the parents and school. However, it doesn't fit our guidelines of benefiting the children of our school.
And some of us are of the thought that it should be taken out of the operating account because it is a gift to the teachers, not the school. We already have a line item for gifts in our budget in the operating account for teacher retirement gifts, volunteer recognition/appreciation gifts, etc. And we have a line item for teacher appreciation, where this could also fall.
I'd like to hear what other PTO's have done in this case, or at least to hear how other PTO's would categorize this expense. Outside thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Once in a while, it is harder to find a solution when you are immersed in the problem.
