My group paid for the treasurer's bonding insurance. We didn't pay for an audit since our books were reviewed along with the school's. Some groups either find a parent who's an accountant to do it for free or they have to pay for the service. Tax-exempt doesn't mean no taxes. Some things, no matter what, require that taxes be paid. I don't know the rules so I can't share any more info than that, but I know some groups do have to pay taxes on certain items.

Regarding the charitable donations like you mention, my group does not do them. I don't know if they're "legal" or not. But, even if they are OK, unless you can guarantee that you can afford to and will offer the same support to 100% of these types of activities for all of your members, you open up a huge problem for your group. There's no real way to make it fair. Feelings are bound to be hurt and you could lose a lot of support from your membership.

We also pay for several things, it all depends on your individual PTO. What does it say in your by-laws and more important what do your members say? Those are the ones who volunteer and participate in the fundraisers and have children that attend the school. You need to listen to their thoughts. I do have one question? Why are you paying taxes? Aren't you exempt? Also what is the insurance for? Isn't the school insured for any events held? And the audit? Are you paying an accoutant? Those are 3 things that our PTO does not pay for. I do have a question about donations. Does anyone donate to a fundraiser in the community? Ex: friend of a PTO member (teacher) dieing of cancer, no health insurance. A fundraiser is being held by another organization and the teacher asked if we would like to donate. $20 p/ticket. I thought maybe could purchase a minimum of 2 tickets and no more than 4 tickets $40 to $80. It was voted at our meeting 23 votes for and 4 against. Unfortunately the 4 against made such a huge stink about it saying it was illeagal and a misappropriation of funds. I have reasearched everywhere on line and can not find anything that backs up their accusations. Can anyone help me?

could u plez tell more about ur coffee cart and scavenger hunt? sounds interesting.

pals;129504 wrote: Let's see:
Coffee Cart Opening Day, Open house refreshments and Scaveneger Hunt, Class picture for each child, Fall Festival, Family Craft Night, Books for every child on Block Party Night, Monthly guessing contests, Read Across America Week, Family Hoe down Night, Family Sock Hop Night, Holiday Diversity Night, Kindergarten Registration Gifts, Secretary Gifts, Staff Apprecaition Week, Positive Behavior School Store Rewards and Special Days, Grandparent Luncheon, Movie Night, Family Reading Night, any supplies for our own use (paper, etc), Pizza Party for Staff/Parent Volleyball night, Storytelling awards, Community task Force booth, Family Reading Night, Game Day.

That is a start, I think it truly depends on what the belief or mission of your group is, there are groups that raise 100,000's of thousands of dollars and it all goes to books, cleaning supplies, computers, etc. That is where they see the money needed, I consider my group very forunate that it was started by a principal who wanted that money to spent on fun things for our students and families, we don't charge for anything we do.

If you feel really uncomfortable bring it up to do something fun, express that family word. For the record out old PTA did a great job funding supplies for the school, we are the opposite big time!

could u plez tell more about ur coffee cart and scavenger hunt? sounds interesting.

Hope your still checking this Jurijeka. I think your principal may be saying that all other PTO's are paying for these items because they want your PTO to do it and it not come out of the school budget. Any school supply that is used for teaching the children and following the curriculum is to be paid for by the school board budget. Your folders can be paid for by the PTO since it is not necessary for kids to have a folder to use to take home their homework, memos, etc. (Our PTO does fund planners for grades 2-5 & folders for K-1) It allows the kids to learn organizational skills.
The PTO is there to fund the extra's that enhance the school day for the kids. Assemblies and school trips that are related to things they are learning in school would be funded by a PTO, but not magazines & books! Also, most PTO's are created to benefit the entire school body. Your one expense only benefits 4% of your school. And although your awards are for the entire school population, if they are for scholastic achievement, then the school should pay for them. You can do so much more for your school if you make the school pay for curriculum-related items and incentive programs.
Reading the lists of what the other PTO's pay for (ours is similar) you can see how much more you can do for your students & staff.

Our PTO has heard the "Thats what PTO's are for" too and when it comes to the fun stuff - I'm ok with it, but when its something that we feel (as parents) that the district should be covering we're not afraid to push back and tell them that they need to approach the district for funding first and in some cases, we've even approached the district ourselves. I think that we ultimately fund the things we can put money towards "in good conscience" for lack of better terms. We take this two-fold approach: First, how severe is the need & is it beneficial to our kids and Second, There is a possibility that we could have to justify this expense to any parent in this school. So we need to be able to tell Mrs. Smith why the PTO paid for computers instead of paying for the gas for her son's field trip. In her mind the computers would be something the district should supply through the tax dollars she pays and the bussing is something PTO should cover through the dollars she paid in to the fundraiser. If we can explore all of our options and make informed decisions about what the district should cover and what PTO should cover so we can feel good about the purchases and able to justify why we took on the expense - we do it. If not, we look for more options and see what we can come up with.
We normally sponsor Back to School Night, Star Tree, Talent Show, Coffee & Kleenex Breakfast, Kindergarten Registration, School Directory, Carnival, Family Movie Mornings, Quarter Store, Staff Appreciation and provide lunch for the Teachers during all day conferences - I'm sure there are more I'm missing. We always start by asking our parent base for donations, then move to contacting our business partners for donations, then ask businesses for discounts, then resort to paying full price and it seems to work well for us. We support our enrollment of 400 on roughly $8k per year.
Also, just wanted to mention the Friday Folders specifically, we tack this on to our school fees at Back to School Night. Each one is $1